John McCarthy, a professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, and at one time an instructor of Smith, was aboard the Chief the following day. “I just looked out the window as the train slowly moved through what seemed like a set from the Wizard of Oz,” he told the media. “I just couldn't believe it.” McCarthy e-mailed Smith to find out if WeatherData had anything to do with the “save,” and learned that it had.

Weather and Transportation

Bad weather — in the form of tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, or blizzards — can wreak havoc on the nation's transportation system. Stories of buses and passenger trains being stranded in a blizzard or blown over, either on the Midwestern plains or in the mountains, are quite common. Occasionally, they can prove fatal. Advance warning of inclement weather can prevent these types of losses, which cause delays in deliveries as well as damage to cargo and the trucks or trains hauling goods.

One way to mitigate losses is for more truck lines to be connected with their national or regional dispatchers. They should also be equipped with global positioning system (GPS) software, enabling a transportation line to monitor the precise location of its vehicles. That way, a transportation line can advise as to locations where weather may pose a problem and help the unit find an alternative route. Some of the GPS navigation systems that are already available for private passenger automobiles contain weather-reporting capabilities to alert drivers to bad weather. The same applies to railroads, where advance notice can allow dispatchers to put a train on a different set of tracks — often with a different railroad — and thereby avoid damage and undue delay.

Certain parts of the country are notorious for weather systems that can be devastating to man and material, including the plains of the Midwest, various river valleys, and certain mountainous areas and highways. For example, Interstate 25 between Denver, Colo. and Cheyenne, Wyo. is famous for high crosswinds that can overturn tractor-trailers or leave motorists stranded in a blizzard for days. This past June, Interstates 80 and 380, as well as parts of 35, were closed for days because of flooding. Iowa's railroads — Union Pacific, BNSF, and others — were immobilized and had to consequently find re-routing as far away as Minnesota or Missouri. Advance notice of potential areas of washouts could aid both the railroads and state highway departments to focus attention on weakened roadways or bridges, preventing collapses and major disasters.

There is even hope that a “reverse 911″ system can be developed. This would allow the NWS to activate land and cellular telephone communication to forewarn people of an approaching storm on a reasonably localized basis. Current tornado alarms allow only minutes for residents to hear a siren and take cover. Advanced weather technology, using Doppler radar, could enable faster notification and ostensibly save multiple lives. Hurricanes and even blizzards are relatively slow-moving, and their directions are reasonably predictable. Tornadoes, on the other hand, are not. They can arise suddenly and travel at great speeds, often in confusing directions. Newer detection technology, however, is helping to predict better direction and speed tracking.

The Killer Tornado

Phillips also recounts the stormy night of May 4, 2007, when a dispatcher ordered two Union Pacific (UP) freight trains to stop several miles from Greensburg, Kan. WeatherData had warned UP that a tornado could hit Greensburg within the next 30 minutes along a path that might cross the railroad anywhere from 10 miles east of town to seven miles westward. “The two train crews, one facing east and the other west on the former Rock Island Golden State route, had a spectacular grandstand seat to one of the most powerful shows that nature has to offer, an F-5-rated tornado, equal to one-half of one [percent] of the most violent twisters that ever form,” Phillips said. “Illuminated by the flash of constant lightning, the eastbound and westbound crews saw a massive tornado rip through the town of 1,400 people, destroying almost every building. Every business in town simply ceased to exist.”

Phillips compared two towns in that storm and the life-saving factors of early warnings. The small town of Udall, Kan. had a population of 505 when the F-5 tornado struck, killing 82 and injuring 260, thus involving 68 percent of the populous. In nearby Greensburg (population: 1,500), 11 were killed and 59 injured, which represented less than five percent of the population.

So what was the difference? “Udall had no warning,” reported Phillips. “Greensburg had a modern warning system that gave almost everyone time to seek shelter. The local CBS station, KWCH-TV, has the WeatherData system, and [it] constantly updated the tornado's progress.”

Phillips related several other railroad stories that demonstrate the significance of a weather warning system. “On July 19, 2006, WeatherData gave its clients a 30 minute warning that a windstorm with gusts of up to 80 miles per hour was headed for downtown St. Louis from the north,” he said. “[The] Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis allowed a train to cross a bridge over the Mississippi River just as the wind hit. The train derailed and piled up on the bridge. The railroad was not a client of WeatherData; it is now.”

The June 2008 shareholders meeting of CSX in New Orleans also piqued Phillips' interest. “CSX acknowledged that it had made a mistake in not moving locomotives and rolling stock out of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit land on Aug. 29, 2005,” he said. “When hurricanes hit the Louisiana and Texas coasts in 2008, mandatory evacuation of New Orleans included use of passenger trains.”

Adjusters See the Difference

The importance of an early storm warning is often apparent to claim adjusters who descend upon the cities and hamlets that have been devastated by wind and flooding, or other natural disasters such as fires and earthquakes. Thus far, no early warning system has been developed for an earthquake, but technology may make this a reality. While early warning may do little to save buildings in the path of a storm, it can save lives. Additionally, in some cases, early notification can allow property owners to salvage high-value items before the storm hits. Hurricane tracking by satellite is now commonplace, but Phillips pointed out that in 1895, Willis Moore, then chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau, determined that the words “hurricane,” and “tornado,” could never be used in forecasting. It is reported that Moore had a phobia of forecasting major storms incorrectly, so he simply banned use of the words.

Incorrect forecasts can be costly, and the National Hurricane Center in Miami often waits until it is relatively certain as to when and where a storm may hit before giving warning. An unnecessary evacuation of a coastal city could result in millions of dollars in claims. This would obviously be less than if the storm did strike, but loss that might well be claimable under certain business interruption coverages if an evacuation is deemed mandatory. Further, a mass evacuation may trigger other problems as well, such as a series of accidents on crowded and gridlocked freeways.

WeatherData and AccuWeather are not the only private weather forecasting services. Many local TV stations also have expensive weather radar systems that can track incoming storms. One storm, however, took the city of Atlanta by surprise in 2008, blowing the roof off a crowded sports arena and severely damaging downtown skyscrapers, showering those below with glass shards. There was virtually no warning of the storm, which suddenly blew in from the west in the early evening and left large parts of the city in darkness.

Other weather-related disasters can also be predicted, including ice storms and hail, both of which can cause significant damage to buildings and property. Ice often weighs down trees and power lines, resulting in extensive electrical outages that can take weeks to restore. In cold weather, many furnaces will not function without power, leaving residents to shiver with dangerous space heaters that can trigger fires or asphyxiate residents with poisonous fumes.

Businesses and governments could learn from the railroads. Early warnings save lives. If a storm of any sort is approaching, then a business can warn employees to take cover immediately. If the storm is slow-moving, then the company can release workers to return home before the storm hits and highways become impassable. It is a safe prediction that as storm-warning technology continues to improve, it will affect millions of people in positive ways. In addition to saving lives, in many cases, early notification will allow alternative routing of cargo to save both time and property, as well.

Ken Brownlee, CPCU, is a former adjuster and risk manager based in Atlanta, Ga. He now authors and edits claim-adjusting textbooks.