It may be time to bid farewell to the Oklahoma Standard.
Last weekend, The Oklahoman published an in-depth feature about the lack of severe weather warning systems for Oklahoma's large and growing Spanish-speaking population. The piece focused on nine Guatemalans who tragically lost their lives in the May 31st tornado outbreak, and examined what needs to be done to better inform, prepare and warn Spanish-speaking residents about our state's deadly tornado outbreaks.
Overall, it's a good conversation to have. All you have to do is look at the numbers to see something needs to be done:
At least 42,000 Hispanic people in Oklahoma City do not speak English well, according to research from the Pew Hispanic Center, a branch of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in Washington.
The agency conducted a survey of Hispanic people and found most Hispanics believe immigrants should have to speak English to be a part of American society, though a significant minority disagreed.
When it comes to severe weather, language difficulties can be fatal, Aragon said.
“They speak enough English to get along in their jobs, but there is still a language barrier, enough so there's always a risk for miscommunication and lives that could be lost,” Aragon said...
Oklahoma City's Hispanic population is about 100,000, or about 17 percent of the total population, according to 2010 Census figures. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates undocumented residents living in Oklahoma City number at least 44,000.
Telemundo is a small station with a fast-growing audience, and the only Spanish TV news station in the area, news director Martinez said. Telemundo's live 5 and 10 p.m. programs began in 2006, making the tornado outbreaks May 19, 20 and 31 the first time the station had covered disasters of that scale. Overall, tornadoes and storms killed 49 people.
Educating its audience about severe weather basics — what the sirens mean, what the storm warnings and watches mean — is key.
“Some have only been here for a couple of months and they don't know what a tornado is capable of doing,” Martinez said. “We try to break it down.”
Of course, NewsOK.com posted the article on their Facebook Page along with the following note: