Warm spring, more tornadoes? Meteorologists raise red flags.

Although trying to respond to the disasters, federal officials are also attempting to get communities to plan and prepare better. On March 3, Craig Fugate, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) warned that the nation will ultimately reach a point where it can no longer afford to subsidize risk that is not mitigated.

“We cannot afford to continue to respond to disasters and deal with the consequences under the current model,” said Mr. Fugate in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington.

In fact, FEMA has turned down Illinois’ request for federal aid after a Feb. 29 tornado ripped through Harrisburg, Ill., killing seven people. "Based on our review of all the information available, it has been determined that the damage was not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the State, affected local governments and voluntary agencies," wrote the agency in turning down the state’s application.

Illinois officials have 30 days to appeal the ruling.

One of the new buzz words among some community organizers is “resilient communities” to describe places that can respond more quickly and effectively to extreme weather.

“We are talking about a place that can take a punch and get back up,” says Michael Schmitz, executive director of Local Governments for Sustainability USA, which is made up of 550 US communities concerned with clean energy and climate action. “We cannot avoid the extreme, so we have to prepare and plan.”

One of the places that has taken this lesson to heart is Parkersburg, Iowa, which was devastated by an EF5 tornado on May 25, 2008.  For example, almost every house has a storm shelter, says Christopher Luhring, a city administrator.

In addition, Parkersburg added two storm shelters for city hall and is still in the process of backing up its town records. “It took months if not years to get the record back so we could function as a city,” says Mr. Luhring who was police chief when the tornado hit.

Luhring, who freely offers his advice to communities that are stricken, says it can be especially difficult to talk about ways to improve the community after a disaster. But, he says, it is essential. “We always said, we wanted a rapid recovery in the right way,” says Luhring.

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