The tiny town of Roanoke is in Central Illinois nine mile east northeast of Peoria. It is home to the Parsons Company. Parsons make metal parts of heavy earth moving equipment. Its main plant is a sprawling 230,000 square foot complex that rises out of the rich farmlands of rural Woodford County. On Tuesday afternoon, July 13, 2004, dozens and perhaps hundreds of lives were saved when preparedness met disaster head on.
The roots of the preparedness go back to 1974, when Bob Parsons, the founder of the company, witness a tornado in 1974. When he built his first plant in 1975, he made sure that there was a reinforced bathroom for his employees to use as a tornado shelter. As his business grew and his plant expanded, he added additional tornado shelters. In 2000, a formal severe weather safety plan was instituted. It called for monitoring of NOAA All-Hazards Radio by the accounting department. They listen for tornado or severe thunderstorm warnings for Woodford County.
When one is issued, the plan kicks into high gear. Spotters are placed outside the facility, a key part of the plan. These trained spotters know what to look for and provide instant recognition of dangerous weather. When the spotters sight threatening weather approaching, they communicate to the Emergency Response team and an announcement is made advising employees to move to the designated storm shelters. Sweeps would be conducted of the plant to ensure that all employees and visitors had heard and heeded the announcements. The goal was to have everyone in shelter within four minutes. Tornado drills were held at the plant in the spring and fall each year.
On July 13, 2004, a tornado watch was issued for the area at 10:55 a.m. CDT. The alert was communicated to the plant’s safety officer. Outside the plant, skies were clear. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued by the NWS in Lincoln, Illinois at 2:29 p.m. CDT for Woodford County. At 2:32 p.m., the plant’s spotter, who had just received severe weather spotting training, identified a rotating wall cloud and then a funnel cloud with the approaching thunderstorm. The safety manager asked that the severe weather announcement be made About the same time, at 2:34 p.m., the severe thunderstorm warning was upgraded to a tornado warning. It took only three minutes for the 140 employees and ten visitors in the plant at the time into safe shelter. Mr. Bob Eastman, of the plant’s emergency response team, took one last look outside and saw the violent tornado bearing down on the factory before he headed to shelter.
The tornado hit the Parsons Facility directly, causing extreme devastation. Despite the fact that the plant was totally destroyed, there were no fatalities and no injuries at the plant. The incident is a model example of how the four elements of disaster preparedness work.
1. Planning: the company’s owner had the foresight based on past experience to build a structure that could protect his employees. An Emergency Response team was implemented along with a severe weather plan. 2. Practice: Drills were held on a twice a year basis. 3: Monitoring: a plan was in place to monitor NOAA AHR and post spotters when a warning was issued. 4. Action: The plant’s plan was executed immediately, which is critical when second counts. There was no hesitation in decision making, no uncertainty among the team, no credibility issues. The plan kicked into gear and it worked.
The Parsons plan not only saved lives at the plant, but serves as a model across the country for companies and organizations. Severe weather safety plans work. All of the elements of the Parsons plan should be implemented by schools, churches, companies and other organizations everywhere that severe weather threatens.
– Bill Murray
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