Observations On Community Coordination During The May 27, 1973 Jonesboro, Arkansas Tornado

Early in the morning of May 27, 1973 a series of three tornadoes struck Jonesboro, Arkansas causing three deaths and extensive property damage. A two- person field team from the Disaster Research Center (DRC) arrived in the community the next afternoon and began observing community attempts at coordination and recovery. Relevant organizational officals were both formally and informally interviewed and numerous meetings were affected. On Wednesday, May 30, an additional field team from DRC came to Jonesboro. The combined teams interviewed most of the local and non-local officials involved in the community's disaster response as well as talked with a number of private citizens and tornado victims. The following report is a preliminary assessment of the community's reaction to this disaster, and observations may be later modified after a more systematic and intensive examination of the data.