The government made a tornado PSA so intense it feels like found-footage horror.
Commissioned by the U.S. Government Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, the film describes the elements of a modern tornado warning system as was developed at the Texas Tornado Warning Conferences in 1953 and included radar detection of tornadoes, a spotter network, and improved communications between the U.S. Weather Bureau, spotters, and public officials to better disseminate warnings to the public. In the 1960s TV changed the way tornado safety and preparedness information was disseminated and this film is likely a product of that development. This film opens with vignettes of people in a small town somewhere in America’s suburban midwest. It then goes on to display the moments before and after the onset of a tornado and informs the audience of appropriate safety response measures.
Direction
Uncanny 1970s government filmmaking that accidentally achieves Lynchian horror.
Production
Radar footage and reenactments merge into surreal time capsule.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This emerged from 1953 Texas Tornado Warning Conferences that pioneered the modern warning system still used today.
The Defense Civil Preparedness Agency also produced nuclear attack films—tornadoes were their 'gentle' disaster content.
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