Tornado outbreaks in Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee killed over 150 people on March 21, 1952. As a result of an ensuing public outcry for a national tornado warning system, Congress authorized the creation of the Severe Local Storms (SELS) Center within the Weather Bureau. It became operational in June 1953, but it was not soon enough to save hundreds of lives lost that same year. On May 11, 1953, a tornado killed 114 people in Waco, Texas. A few weeks later in early June, a cold front moved across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. With the Jet stream creating an upper-level wind shear, a tornado formed and touched down at Flint, Michigan, on June 8th. It killed 115 residents. Consider the case of the F5 tornado of May 3, 1999. There were more than a dozen tornadoes that touched down on that spring day in Oklahoma. This funnel stayed on the ground for hours, strengthening as it travelled northeast toward Oklahoma City. By the time the vortex reached Midwest City, a suburb of the state capital, it was massive. The F5 produced a superlative 318 mph hour wind velocity, the highest wind speed ever recorded. How effective was the warning system in saving lives?