More than a dozen twisters accom­pa­nied by vio­lent storms have left a trail of death and destruc­tion. At least 30 deaths occurred in Okla­homa, Alaba­ma, Arkansas, Mis­sis­sip­pi and Tennessee. 

Mike Corey KI1U, the ARRL Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness Man­ag­er, said he had reports of weath­er obser­va­tions from SKYWARN radio ama­teurs help­ing time­ly tor­na­do warn­ings issued by the Nation­al Weath­er Service. 

Many peo­ple heed­ed those warn­ings shel­tered in under­ground bunkers as homes and build­ings buck­led above them. 

For exam­ple, SKYWARN traced twister move­ment through­out Arkansas. While fore­cast­ers watched the radar, their ears heard reports from SKYWARN that had one of its most pro­fes­sion­al nets. 

The obser­va­tions come from very reli­able on-the-ground obser­va­tions. All are well trained and called upon by the Nation­al Weath­er Service. 

The Ama­teur Radio Emer­gency Ser­vice (ARES) was also involved and pre­pared, as flood warn­ings had been issued for some areas.