The National Weather Service's Tulsa Forecast Office joined other partners in dedicating Disaster Alley on May 3, the second anniversary of the May 3-4, 1999 tornado outbreak in Tulsa. Over 60 tornadoes hit Oklahoma on those two days. One traveled nearly 38 miles and remained on the ground for a highly unusual 1½ hours. Costs from this tornado alone totaled almost $1 billion.

Tulsa World/reprinted with permission

As a permanent exhibit in a large mall, Disaster Alley is an innovative route to promoting disaster resistance and mitigation. The weather service's address in Disaster Alley is on Tornado Alley, near the corner of Safe Street. Steve Piltz, meteorologist-in-charge of Tulsa's forecast office, said he hopes the weather service's prominent participation "will help Tornado Alley visitors learn how to help themselves when severe weather strikes."

Visitors will also learn about the National Weather Service's critical role in protecting life and property. Using a streetscape façade, the displays include monitors with continuous radar and other real-time weather information, displays and information on tornado-resistant construction, home safety information, examples of "safe rooms" (below- and above ground tornado shelters), and mockups of Red Cross and National Weather Service Offices. The weather service exhibit comes complete with safety brochures and posters, and even a mockup of two warning forecasters watching a 6-hour radar loop of the May 3, 1999 Oklahoma severe weather event.

"The Disaster Alley project is a working model of corporate and volunteer dedication, a tribute to the public and private sectors working together to build a better city," said Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage.

Meteorologist-in-Charge Steve Piltz and Mayor Susan Savage