Deadly Tornado strikes Oklahoma

[GoldenRivet]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/tornado-oklahoma-city-moore-205548879.html

incredible

51 dead so far... many of whom are supposedly school children :nope:

My employer just sent me a message to prepare to be mobilized to the area

[Onkel Neal]

Wow, not good. :-?

[desertstriker]

and counting the state M.E. has not released an updated count yet but has stated he expects more as the searches continue.

[Feuer Frei!]

Very very similar travel path as the tornado in 1999:

http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/05/21/1226647/561812-tornado-path.jpg

The path of this year's tornado is red. Green is 1999. :hmmm:
I understand the Americans tend to call them "Tornado Alley", to describe areas which are frequently hit by tornadoes.
Oklahoma is perfectly placed to cop the full force of tornadoes because it is in the zone where polar air interacts with tropical air.


EDIT: My heart-felt sympathies go out to those people.

[desertstriker]

One of the things I have never understood is why would anybody live in such areas unless they had no other choice... we can only hope for the best now.

Unfortunatly now you won't hear much about the post-disaster crime but it will be there. I have heard from linemen that people can get quite violent if their neighbors power comes on before theirs or for other pity stuff . Or the copper thieves:nope: Golden if you do get mobilized please be careful.

Probably won't get an updated count till morn as the midnight news has run.

[Armistead]

One of the things I have never understood is why would anybody live in such areas unless they had no other choice... we can only hope for the best now.

Unfortunatly now you won't hear much about the post-disaster crime but it will be there. I have heard from linemen that people can get quite violent if their neighbors power comes on before theirs or for other pity stuff . Or the copper thieves:nope: Golden if you do get mobilized please be careful.

Probably won't get an updated count till morn as the midnight news has run.

If we didn't habitat areas because of possible disasters, where would people live. Be realistic, hurricanes across the coast, possible mass earthquakes, forest fires, etc. Car wrecks kill many more people per year, but we still drive cars.

[GoldenRivet]

there is virtually no place upon the earth safe from any sort of natural disaster.

tsunami, floods, tornados, earthquakes, wild fires, volcanos... virtually every place humans occupy is constantly under threat of some sort of disaster.

it is easy when something like this happens to say "why would anyone live there" but such a disaster is not a weekly occurrence.

its not like the eastern shores of Japan deal with tsunamis every 48 hours

its not as if central oklahoma deals with F5 tornadoes every few days

if this were the case i would wonder why people choose to live there.

[Feuer Frei!]

UPDATE: At least 91 people, including 20 children, are dead after a gigantic tornado rips through Oklahoma City suburbs, flattening whole neighbourhoods. Last updated at 05:10 GMT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22604251

Some pics of this:

http://www.tornadotitans.com/wp-content/themes/bigfeature/library/timthumb/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/249102_470256333044893_412953682_n.jpg&w=875&zc=1&a=c


http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1148354/thumbs/o-MOORE-OKLAHOMA-TORNADO-570.jpg?5

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1148336/thumbs/o-MOORE-OKLAHOMA-TORNADO-570.jpg?5

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1148343/thumbs/o-MOORE-OKLAHOMA-TORNADO-570.jpg?5

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1148348/thumbs/o-MOORE-OKLAHOMA-TORNADO-570.jpg?4

[desertstriker]

yeah i just guess i don't like the idea of living in a place where the risk is a little higher than that of Cincinnati OH where we get minor floods but most of the time when a major flood hits the reds don't play for a while and those don't happen very much. think the last one was in 1997... and while we get the typical tornado watch i cant think of the last time we got a tornado.... maybe our perspectives on other locations depends on where we currently live..

Edit 91 and still counting nearly doubled... and for a reported 2 mile wide tornado that damage looks... small. might just be the picture though

[Feuer Frei!]

its not like the eastern shores of Japan deal with tsunamis every 48 hours

its not as if central oklahoma deals with F5 tornadoes every few days

if this were the case i would wonder why people choose to live there.

No but one has to take into account that certain areas or rather locations on this earth are more high-risk, and as such have to be treated with careful consideration before deciding to build or buy in these high-risk areas.
As i pointed out earlier in this thread, Oklahoma is a high(or higher)-risk location.

[Armistead]

No but one has to take into account that certain areas or rather locations on this earth are more high-risk, and as such have to be treated with careful consideration before deciding to build or buy in these high-risk areas.
As i pointed out earlier in this thread, Oklahoma is a high(or higher)-risk location.

That's true in some areas, like the coast, because you know hurricanes hit. However, economics drive where people live. We have made great headway in buildings, warning systems, etc., that's about all you can do.
Even here in NC tornados are common, but usually in the F3 range. I've seen 4 in the last 15 years.

I don't know building codes in the plains area, but you would think in areas like Moore where few basements can be built due to soil, that safe rooms would be required in buildings like schools. It really wouldn't be that expensive to tornado proof restrooms or other rooms.

[soopaman2]

Such sadness and condolences.


I hope that relief funds are not politicized and delayed as much as it was for Sandy relief. My insurance company, FEMA........*mutters*

Heh, nevermind, if ya thought the storm was bad, wait until you actually try to collect on your insurance, or get help.

[Oberon]

I don't know how well the best tornado proof room will protect against debris from an EF5. Ideally, in an EF5, the best place to be is underground.

How difficult is the ground around Moore? Could heavy equipment be used to create large scale shelters in the school grounds? In the style of the air raid shelters we used to have in the cities during WWII. EF5s are rare yes, although Moore is particularly unlucky, but the schools should ideally have underground shelters. Still, all boils down to money, doesn't it?

Terrible day for Oklahoma.

[soopaman2]

I don't know how well the best tornado proof room will protect against debris from an EF5. Ideally, in an EF5, the best place to be is underground.

How difficult is the ground around Moore? Could heavy equipment be used to create large scale shelters in the school grounds? In the style of the air raid shelters we used to have in the cities during WWII. EF5s are rare yes, although Moore is particularly unlucky, but the schools should ideally have underground shelters. Still, all boils down to money, doesn't it?

Terrible day for Oklahoma.


The thing is these things pop up so fast, and even if you evacuated at every tornado watch, it would have a "boy who cried wolf" effect eventually.

Tornadoes are horrid weather phenominon, as the likelyhood can be predicted, but the location, path and size cannot.

And if you are there, you are just screwed.

Sad, but it is something people who live in "tornado alley" have to contend with, same as me with the occasional hurricane, or the more common nor'easter (which always destroys crap with storm surge, only with blizzard snow and wind, rather than rain and wind) same as people in Cali with quakes.

I have faith in the south, especially Okies :D

[desertstriker]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/21/us/severe-weather/index.html

from CNN sounds like they found some of the children too and lowered the death count to 24..

[Oberon]

The thing is these things pop up so fast, and even if you evacuated at every tornado watch, it would have a "boy who cried wolf" effect eventually.

Tornadoes are horrid weather phenominon, as the likelyhood can be predicted, but the location, path and size cannot.

And if you are there, you are just screwed.

Sad, but it is something people who live in "tornado alley" have to contend with, same as me with the occasional hurricane, or the more common nor'easter (which always destroys crap with storm surge, only with blizzard snow and wind, rather than rain and wind) same as people in Cali with quakes.

I have faith in the south, especially Okies :D

Oh, aye, this is true, and this one in particular. In comparison to the track of the 1999 F5, this one came down and intensified a LOT closer to Moore than the other so the warning time was very short.

[RickC Sniper]

I don't know how well the best tornado proof room will protect against debris from an EF5. Ideally, in an EF5, the best place to be is underground.

How difficult is the ground around Moore? Could heavy equipment be used to create large scale shelters in the school grounds?


The soil there is a red clay, and is very unfriendly to basements, or rooms underground.


http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/why-arent-there-more-storm-cellars-in-oklahoma/276073/

[Jimbuna]

Been following this on the news since yesterday and words almost fail me...terribly tragic :nope:

[desertstriker]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/us/oklahoma-tornado.html?nl=afternoonupdate&emc=edit_au_20130521&_r=0

More news...

[Jimbuna]

Latest news in the UK is stating sources in the US are 98% certain their is nobody else in need of rescue.

[August]

Looks like the Okies have got hit with round two (save the Fox news comments):

Link: Multiple tornadoes touch down near Oklahoma City. (http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/05/31/unstable-air-mass-prompts-tornado-watch-in-central-northeast-oklahoma/)

Prayers out to those folks.

[Oberon]

Indeed, a pretty nasty tornado, multiple vortex. Shaping up to be a violent season this year.

[Jimbuna]

How tragic :nope:

[Platapus]

Just what these people need. NOT

I hope they are getting all the assistance they need. What a terrible thing to have to endure.

[Jimbuna]

Five reported dead so far:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22739637

[Oberon]

The death toll now stands at twelve.

I don't know if anyone here used to watch the Discovery Channels series 'Storm Chasers', in the later seasons the 'TWISTEX' team were featured:

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110102084708/stormchasers/images/3/31/Tim1.jpg

This man, Tim Samaras, and his team members Paul Samaras and Carl Young. Tim was probably the most cautious chaser of the series, however the unpredictability of mother nature has resulted in his and his teams deaths. He was chasing the tornado on an easterly route when it swung north, straight into him.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2334683/Oklahoma-tornadoes-Storm-chasers-Tim-Samaras-son-killed-El-Reno-12-dead.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWISTEX

May he, and the other victims of this outbreak rest in peace.

[WernherVonTrapp]

The death toll now stands at twelve.

I don't know if anyone here used to watch the Discovery Channels series 'Storm Chasers', in the later seasons the 'TWISTEX' team were featured:




Whatever happened to that series? I used to watch it all the time. I think it was born out of a National Geographic documentary (I have on DVD) called (I think) "Storm Chasers" featuring the TIV. Almost all of the old episodes are on streaming video at Netflix.

[Wolferz]

My condolences to those who lost life and property. Tornadoes don't play and they definitely don't play favorites.

I was living in Louisville Kentucky back in '74 when that tornado cleared landscape. I stood on the back porch of my parents' home and watched the system coming in from the southwest. In that area, storms tended to follow the Ohio river. It quickly grew dark, rainy, windy and then the hail started to fall. I could see the tail of that twister starting to form on the back side of the wall cloud As it passed over me. It touched down on a ridge to my east. Taking the roof off of several homes on top of the ridge. Due east of that ridge lay the Louisville airport and two very busy interstate highways. It passed over the airport and touched down again just across I-264 onto the Ky state fairgrounds. Ripping pieces of roof off the complex. On the eastern border of the property was I-65 and a large billboard that stood on four I-beams that were hammered into the ground. The sign was smacked flat bending all of the I-beams in half like they were made of play-doh. The twister continued towards the northeast, carving a path of destruction through very heavily populated urban sections of the city, through two parks and exited crossing I-64.

I've seen some strange phenomena in my day but, that day took the cake. Moments after the system had passed over me, the rain, wind and hail suddenly stopped and the sky turned the oddest shade of green. It was calm as a tomb and the sun came out a short time later, turning the sky blue again.

Pictures of the destruction filtered in days afterward. In addition to the four I-beams bent in half and the sign flattened against the ground, there was a shot of a solid oak front door with a broom straw shoved all the way through it with six inches of broom straw sticking out on both sides. The two parks looked like someone had taken a lawn mower to the trees, cutting a wide swath through both of them. Louisville looked like an atom bomb had gone off in the southern and eastern sections of the city. Thank God it missed down town where all the big buildings are.:huh:

I guess our home was in just the right spot. Not too far from the river. Every storm system coming in from the southwest seemed to split along the path of the river and skirt around us to the north and south.

Mother nature is not always the mothering type and she frequently humbles us all. Louisville recovered. The Okies will too.

[Platapus]

I used to think that when people said that a tornado sounded like a freight train that they were exaggerating.... until I experienced my first tornado. :nope:

It did sound exactly like a freight train. When we got hit with a microburst in Omaha, I remember that a few seconds before it hit, the wind died down. All I could think about was that this is nature taking a deep breath before slamming us.

I hope these people can rebuild and rebuild with the proper type of basements. I know it costs more, but it might just be worth it.

And the sad thing is that the season is just starting.

[Oberon]

Whatever happened to that series? I used to watch it all the time. I think it was born out of a National Geographic documentary (I have on DVD) called (I think) "Storm Chasers" featuring the TIV. Almost all of the old episodes are on streaming video at Netflix.


Discovery Channel cancelled it sadly. Reed Timmer does his own series called Tornado Chasers (http://tvnweather.com/ondemand) and uploads a lot of videos to his youtube site (http://www.youtube.com/user/TornadoVideosdotnet?feature=watch). Sean Casey is still going strong, he has done a few intercepts lately (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LobCDYO78Us), and Josh Wurman is still working with the labs behind the VORTEX projects IIRC.

[Onkel Neal]

When you play with fire. (http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/weather/2013/06/01/nr-bpr-storm-chaser-sullivan.cnn.html)...

[Vince82]

At least they died chasing their storm. RIP

[Oberon]

When you play with fire. (http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/weather/2013/06/01/nr-bpr-storm-chaser-sullivan.cnn.html)...

That's the strangest thing, Tim was usually a very cautious chaser, but I guess we'll never know why he was that close to the tornado. Still, like you say, it is like playing with fire, but they knew the risks and were prepared to take them for scientific data.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Tim did what he did in order to help save lives. He was one of the few researchers who actually collected data and was highly regarded in the meteorological field. In his last interview he said that there were perhaps 5 "storm chaser" teams that were out in the field to actually collect research data, and that the other storm chasers were there for "other" reasons.
There are a lot of people who put their lives on the line in order to help improve public safety or save lives.

[Oberon]

New data has upgraded the El Reno tornado to an EF5 as wind speeds of near 300mph were recorded on doppler and through damage recording ground surveys. The tornado apparently expanded from a mile wide to over two and a half miles wide in about thirty seconds, making it the widest recorded tornado in history. Tim and his team never stood a chance.

This was a monster alright.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Astonishing footage of the 2.6 mile wide (record breaking) tonado that struck El Reno on May 31st.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX8o2loAMhY:o

[Oberon]

Daaamn...

That was a monster, that rapid widening...the Twistex team really didn't stand a chance. Rest their souls.