Let's start naming our tornadoes, too

As a nation, we suffer from hurricane-phobia. Because of the massive destruction of Katrina and Rita last year, not just the Gulf Coast but the entire nation is fixated on the prospects of some massive killer hurricane that will turn Florida into a wasteland and bury Louisiana under 12 feet of water.

For the past two days, all attention has been focused on Alberto, the first "named" hurricane of the season. As hurricanes go, Alberto has proven to be a bust. And I'm afraid there's a danger in that. If forecasters keep predicting doomsday events and none occur, people will begin to ignore the forecasts. That's OK until another big one hits and then all hell will break loose.

I don't know the statistics, nor do I care, but I can't help but wonder why equal attention is not directed at tornado country, such as the Midwest.

Tornadoes can do their share of destruction and, by sheer numbers alone, there are dozens of times more tornadoes than hurricanes. I can only assume that we have a coastal bias in our news reporting and thus, the "farmland" of mid-America is often relegated to second-class status. Rest assured if New York or Los Angeles were prone to tornadoes then hurricanes would be a news brief and tornadoes would make front page headlines.

Maybe we should demand that the National Weather Service start giving names to tornadoes like they do hurricanes. Granted, with hundreds and hundreds of tornadoes striking every year in the Heartland, coming up with that many names could prove a problem. But there's something fascinating about a forecast of Tornado Bubba that piques my interest. It would bring more attention to our natural disaster potential if the talking heads of television had to warn of Tornado Roy Lee Jr. or Tornado Billy Bob.

The real reason hurricanes get the attention that tornadoes lack is because hurricanes are more predictable. Weather experts can tell us days in advance just when and where a hurricane will strike. They make mistakes but, more often than not, they're pretty close to accurate. Tornadoes don't work that way. And because of that lack of predictability, tornado news coverage is almost by accident.

I watched a news story this week that said a hurricane could well kill a million or so folk if one struck New York City. And the story was not farfetched either. Well, what would happen if a major tornado struck Chicago or some other Midwest megalopolis? I can only assume it might impact the entire nation as well.

I really think in the end that we Midwesterners need to lobby for naming tornadoes. That to me is the only way we're going to generate attention for our concerns since we're hurricane-challenged in this part of the country.

And how could anyone not be fascinated with the prospect of Tornado Ethel Mae?