Tragedy puts focus on better radar and safety procedures

While efforts continue to find any survivors on the ship that capsized in the Yangtze River near Jianli county in Central China's Hubei province on Monday, there has been much discussion and speculation about what caused the accident and how to prevent another tragedy. Comments:

Reports say that a severe storm on the Yangtze River was a major cause of the tragedy. China needs a better weather forecast system. In the United States, there are 158 WSR-88D radars in service, of which 42 can transmit real time data to the US National Weather Service, thus it is possible to send a warning 16 minutes before a tornado hits. China might not need so many radars but it needs better equipment, because every life is precious.

Zhang Tiankan, deputy editor-in-chief of Encyclopedia Magazine, June 3