Washington, DC — Republican Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson recently joined with Democrat Congresswoman Cindy Axne in sending a letter to the National Weather Service after reports of technical delays in warnings of severe storms.
Those delays came earlier this month on the day that seven people died in tornadoes.
The delays in tornado warnings on March 5th were due primarily to a damaged fiber optic cable. National Weather Service staff came up with a workaround and a warning that a tornado was likely to hit near Winterset was issued 20 minutes in advance. Hinson says they hope to hear back more from the NWS on how things can be improved.
Hinson says her conversations with local and state officials indicate the damage will not rise to the level needed to be approved for a federal disaster declaration.
Governor Kim Reynolds has issued STATE disaster proclamations for the ten counties hit by the tornadoes on March 5th. Those counties are Adair, Benton, Decatur, Jasper, Lucas, Madison, Polk, Tama, Warren, and Wayne counties.
