SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — Thursday was the first anniversary of the tornados and storms that ripped through Sioux Falls.
KELO.com News spoke with Mayor Paul TenHaken about his recollections, lessons learned, and how the recovery has proceeded.
“My family and I didn’t get to our basement in a timely fashion,” TenHaken said. “And one of the tornados hit about 200 yards from my house.”
After escaping damage–or worse–to his home and family–Mayor Paul TenHaken walked into the makeshift emergency operations center at Fire Station 3, he knew the city was in for a long day.
“I remember seeing that list of priority calls and just thinking, wow, this thing is just starting,” the Mayor said. “I mean, we literally are less than an hour from these tornadoes hitting the ground, and I’m just watching these calls, just roll in and roll in.”
Tenhaken also addressed two matters that did raise controversy.
One was the failure of some tornado sirens to sound in parts of the city. He said that was a “human error,” a miscommunication between the National Weather Service that issued the warning and Metro Communications. Tenhaken said he immediately took the blame for the miscue, as he said he is head of the Metro Communications board.
He said the problem has been addressed in training at Metro Communications. He understands that the results could have been tragic because some of the sirens did not sound.
Another issue that he took some heat for concerned the clean-up effort. While the City of Sioux Falls did some cleanup, TenHaken urged citizens to help each other. He says there was also a practical reason for this: The contractors they would normally hire to help with clean up could not commit to a week or so while they were finishing up construction and road projects at the end of the summer construction season.
TenHaken said citizens helped each other clean up debris in the city in short order. The city provided drop-off locations for debris and trees.
In the days following the storm, the Mayor said the city showed just how resilient it was in the face of adversity.
Click here or watch below KELO.com News Director Todd Epp’s interview with Mayor TenHaken.
