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Published March 16, 2009 08:47 pm - When a twister threatens the village of Airport Drive, Don and Lanette Striegel are among the first to hear the warning. “The tornado siren is in the yard next door,” Lanette Striegel said. “We hear it inside our house loud and clear.” Tornado season returns to area By Wally Kennedy wkennedy@joplinglobe.com When a twister threatens the village of Airport Drive, Don and Lanette Striegel are among the first to hear the warning. “The tornado siren is in the yard next door,” Lanette Striegel said. “We hear it inside our house loud and clear.” The Striegels do not have a basement. When the siren sounds, they take shelter in an interior hallway in their house and hope for the best. There is no village storm shelter. That changed on Monday, when the Striegels had a concrete storm shelter installed in their back yard. The 6- by 8-foot shelter can hold several people. “We’ve been thinking about doing this for years,” Don Striegel said. “We saw that storm that hit Carl Junction (in May 2003). It passed over that way, and we could see the debris flying in the air. “It just seems like we’re getting storms more frequently lately and that they are more powerful.” Above the average Striegel is right about that. The United States logged 1,690 tornadoes in 2008 that caused damage in excess of $1.8 billion. The number of twisters in 2008 was well above the 10-year average of 1,270, and it ranks as the second highest annual total since reliable records began in 1950. The tornadoes caused 1,700 injuries and 125 deaths, making 2008 the 10th deadliest year since 1950, according to the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The record was set in 1953, when 519 people were killed. The May 10 tornado that swept through Picher, Okla., and across Newton County was among the 10 most powerful tornadoes to strike in 2008, according to the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. The tornado, which packed winds of nearly 175 mph and tracked for 74 miles, claimed six lives in Picher and 14 in Newton County. Lee Sandtorf, who installs the concrete shelters, said business is always brisk after a tornado like that one. “Typically, we don’t hear a thing till we get a storm and people are reminded what a tornado can do,” he said. “We had a lot of interest and people asking about them after that tornado last year, and then it gradually tapered off. It’ll pick up again after the next storm.” On average, Southwest Missouri experiences 10 tornadoes per year, with Jasper County leading the state in the total number of confirmed tornadoes, according to Gene Hatch, a climatologist with the National Weather Service station in Springfield. 
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