I am not a believer in public shelters, so we need more people to take advantage of state and county rebate programs to get their own shelters. Turner High School, Texas Bill Would Make Illegal Voting a Felony, City Council To Discuss Allowing Neighborhoods To 'Opt-In' for Short-Term Rentals in Dallas. But forecasters could pinpoint a relatively compact geographical region that would feel the effects of the hurricane, and they could do so with 24-48 hours notice. Roughly speaking, this is the equivalent of driving down the highway at several tens of miles an hour and suddenly flipping, three or four times. Deadly profession: Storm chasers Tim Samaras (center) and crew member Carl Young (right) were killed on Friday in a tornado that ripped through El Reno, Oklahoma, Dangers: Paul Samaras, 24, (left) and Carl Young, 45, (right) were killed as they conducted research during the tornadoes in Oklahoma this weekend, On the edge: The storm chasers were killed as they followed the tornado in Oklahoma on Friday as the death toll rose to 18 today, Deadly twister: Three storm chasers were among at least 18 people killed following the tornado which touched down near El Reno on Friday. I decided to let the comments speak for themselves, because, after all, this post was written three or four days after the event, and the comments reflect more recently available information and analysis. Saying "Stay out of moore" wold just turn the would-be chasers in another direction that a storm or twister could emerge from. Rather, his team would predict the path and drop machines on the ground designed to directly measure variables such as temperature, humidity, wind and so on, but with the team and their vehicles getting out of the way before the tornado comes. The one thing in your article I see that you failed to address is the number of chasers in the past that have been killed by the storm while chasing them. Tim Samaras, 55, along with his son, Paul Samaras, 24, and Carl Young, . Since then, multiple versions of what happened have been claimed, and as far as I can tell, all of that is laid out in the various comments on this thread. Do not rely on others, including the T.V. And now Hoadley has been in the business for 57 years and pursued the El Reno twister. ', Danger: A series of violent storms and tornadoes have killed nine people as they swept through Oklahoma City and its suburbs on Friday, Damage: People survey the damage at the Canadian Valley Technology Center's El Reno Campus after it was hit by a powerful tornado on Friday, Crash: An airplane from the Aviation Technology department lies upside down on the lawn at Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno. Five tornadoes battered the Oklahoma City area on Friday, while another tornado hit the Tulsa area early Saturday. When she emerged from the freezer her car windshield had been shattered by the hail. Academic Postmortem of Tornado that Killed Tim Samaras Is Chilling Brantley Hargrove October 1, 2013 1:50PM The American Meteorological Society has released a preliminary version of its. For those suggesting regulation on storm chasing. But Fridays massive tornado avoided the highly populated areas near and around Oklahoma City, and forecasters said that likely saved lives. At the same time, many helpful comments have been added to the post. I would say to such folks the same thing a fire chief would say to people who are not trained, qualified, or equipped to study burning office buildings but feel that somehow being close to one would help them provide insights about fire safety: "Move along, you're not helping but just getting in the way here. So, if you live in Oklahoma City and figure there may be tornadoes coming later in the day, there is nothing to guarantee that driving north to Aunt Millies house in Enid, OK will not put you in the path of one of the tornadoes that happen to form that day. That would stop several people right there. For example, a highly irresponsible storm chaser endangers an innocent bystander, then that danger comes to fruition. The KFOR anchor should have said "if you are in your vehicle (head south). It made all the difference that it was out in the country.'. "I don't know if I would say I worried about it because one of the biggest things he stressed was safety. Local news reported an estimated 1,200 people were at the airport. Myers said the man left for work early Saturday and his vehicle was found empty near East Hefner Road and Dobbs Road just after 6 a.m. 'His vehicle was found washed off the road,' Myers said. Also, read the wikipedia on Tim Samaras for more details, and watch this YouTube video (embedded below as well). The spot a few yards off Reuter Road where the body of Tim Samaras was found inside the crushed vehicle (his son. Of the mother and baby who were tragically killed, Betsy Randolph said: 'We know that the storm picked them up and swept them away.' According to meteorologists about six to eight inches of rain fell in a 12 hour period between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. Was the chaser causing harm? Which, I think, was one of Greg's original points. If they had tried to drive away their cars would have surely been torn apart, and again just last summer a tornado ripped through the forests close to home demolishing hill sides and houses in its path. Very few professional storm chasers "work for the government" really, none. 'Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it.'. I remember Pa wearing this Civil Defense helmet and he was chirping on this big ol' walky talky! 'It was chaos Everybody was running for their lives,' Terri Black, who lives in Moore, said. The Weather Channel's severe weather expert, Dr. Greg Forbes, knew Tim personally. The shredded pieces of the car hook to the south then across the road to the northeast: I have difficulty fathoming the violence implied in that paragraph. Debris was tangled in the median's crossover barriers, including huge pieces of sheet metal, tree limbs, metal pipes, a giant oil drum and a stretch of chain-link fence. That is the speed at which they rotated around the tornado, not their recorded windspeed. In the case of the El Reno tornado, traffic in combination with road bottlenecks (over a river) did in fact cause a number of storm chasers (and go watch the video to get an idea of how many storm chasers there were!) The men worked as a team and Tim Samaras had received 18 grants from the National Geographic Society for work in the field. I remember my wife telling me a few years ago about her retail stores tornado policy which was contrary to everything I knew about safety during a storm. Such a law or regulation could be more general, specifying that police have the authority to direct people generally in relation to emergency disaster zones that have not happened yet. In fact, while writing this post I wondered what the three scientists were thinking as their car, and other cars, were hemmed in with a traffic jam that seems to have been caused by inappropriate reactions by a large number of people. In 2013, Tim Samaras died in one of the epic storms he'd spent decades chasing. So, I think this particular weather caster did come up short in his responsibilities to provide good safety information but I'm not sure that his comments in and of themselves constituted explicit instructions to leave one's house, get in a car, and drive. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph heard the panicked voices of the crew over her patrol radio right before the storm turned into their car. Damage: An Oklahoma home destroyed, its roof partially torn off after the tornado rips through, Salvaging: Residents retrieve belongings from a home destroyed by the tornados that tore through central Oklahoma. They were killed near El Reno in an EF3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph that ripped through the Oklahoma City area during rush hour. None of them contributes to the scientific research and experimentation going on. A National Geographic team has made the first ascent of the remote Mount Michael, looking for a lava lake in the volcanos crater. Or, amateurs could get to a good viewing area well ahead of anticipated severe weather, and then stay put and off the road. I also agree that people should not be allowed to drive through tornadoes for the safety of others, however if people were not allowed to escape I believe that more shelters should be provided for individuals in the path of the storm. This advice sounds reasonable, but it really isnt. Everybody was running for their lives,' said Terri Black, 51, a teacher's assistant in Moore. People started driving over the grass.'. Road closures exist now, but there are lots of roads. Drivers were encouraged to stay off the roads on Saturday, as emergency crews started to repair the flood-damaged roads and bridges, and began clearing trees and other debris from roadways to make it easier for first responders to get to the areas hit by the tornadoes. Using the unfortunate but unrelated deaths of well known storm chasers to rail against people trying to seek safety from a storm by getting out of the way strips any slight merit or credibility from your already weak and less than well thought out argument. Thacker, as you might recall, wrote a highly biased article with Charles, Every timeyou follow the motion of a spacecraft, moon, planet or other object through the Solar System, you're putting the theory of gravity to the test. The result, even in dry, acronym-heavy academic language, manages to serve as both an enlightening and horrifying account of storm chasing's worst day. 'Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. Some of my colleagues stayed, where there is a basement. There are some similarities to people doing volcano research, in that people doing it know they have a high risk of death if they happen to be on duty when the eruption occurs. But that brings in another issue doesn't it? And if people are close enough to a tornado so that a car gets thrown at them, then that might just be natural selection as well. 'If you live in downtown Oklahoma City, please go below ground. Lighting up the sky: The storm chasers work was featured on National Geographic and the Discovery Channel as they tracked violent weather systems, 'Tim's research included creation of a special probe he would place in the path of a twister to measure data from inside the tornado; his pioneering work on lightning was featured in the August 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine. Of those who did I dont know how many of them were primed to use drive away as a strategy by earlier chatter in major media outlets, and elsewhere such as twitter and other social media. Tornadoes happen in bunches and clusters. I have heard that some professional storm chasers offer package tours. When told to seek shelter, many ventured out and snarled traffic across the metro area - perhaps remembering the damage from May 20. I dont think they realize how lucky El Reno was.. Now they've got cameras that take a picture showing the red light, showing your car going through the red light, and showing the license plate on your car going through the red light. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months. When the winds were at their most powerful, no structures were nearby, said Rick Smith, chief warning coordination meteorologist for the weather services office in Norman. The debris field created by Samaras' wrecked car, the report concludes, corroborates the footage, which shows the subvortex moving across the face of the larger tornado at about the time Samaras' headlights disappear. Emergency officials reported numerous injuries in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. So maybe take the time to authorize a few specialists that take recreational tours storm chasing, and keep the rest of them off of the roads. This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. Vented to the atmosphere, it eventually makes its way to the exosphere and is light enough to escape to space. Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. But once your car is inside an F3 or F4 tornado, that is no longer your problem alone. Here is all you want to know, and more! If you want to make this about Tim Samaras, how about you contact his family, colleagues, or friends and ask them what he would have wanted. local news and culture, Brantley Hargrove 10th St. and Radio Rd. The breathtakingly fast subvortex -- the tornado within a tornado -- is visible to the south in footage captured by fellow chaser Dan Robinson's rear dashboard cameras as he fled several hundred yards ahead of Samaras. I know this from my own children being in Norman public schools. Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. His pioneering work has made it easier to warn people about tornadoes. Specious arguments at best. The sudden acceleration to NE caught several folks by surprise. The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. Friday night's storm formed out on the prairie west of Oklahoma City, giving residents plenty of advance notice. I've looked at video and have counted 458 people outside their vehicles in that small strech of road. It encouraged all, including the media and amateurs, to chase safely to avoid a repeat of Friday's deaths. His video consisted of really high quality camera work of weather and the focus wasn't on him. Tornado warnings were also posted Friday night near Tulsa and near St. Louis. "We still don't know why some thunderstorms create tornadoes while others don't," he . Because of the circumstances on the two-lane road, it appears that he could not get out of the way, and, basically, the tornado picked up his vehicle, Jim Samaras told the Today show. And, just like a tornado, the last place you want to be caught in a fire is in your car. That's why safety experts say you need a plan. Sheriff Cody Carpenter and a wildlife officer had been checking on houses that were in danger of being flooded. Officials described parts of Interstates 35 and 40 near Oklahoma City as 'a parking lot.'. Tim Samaras, 55, was found dead still belted into the mangled wreck, while the bodies of his son, 24, and Young, 45, were flung a quarter-mile away in opposite directions. (MORE: Tornado Hunt Team Takes Direct Hit by Tornado). Most of the difference in predictability of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and the waters around Australia is that the North Atlantic has both a longer climatology base and a higher density of surface observations. Their deaths may not seem surprising; storm chasing, as you might expect, has its risks. It may be only a matter of seconds before you have time to find shelter. Which travel companies promote harmful wildlife activities? If you live there, there should be no excuseyour life depends on your knowledge. During the United States tornado season, it seems that we experience repeated tornadoes and other severe storms in a given area over several days. Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? These animals can sniff it out. Two and half miles has been the widely accepted dimension, but if you measure wind speeds, the tornado could have been anywhere from three to 4.5 miles across. In some but not all cases, this advice was qualified; If you know several hours in advance that there is a high probability that a tornado will come through your area, then it is a good idea to just go away and be somewhere else. I'm not saying these circumstances are sensible or humane, but they are the case nonetheless. (MORE: Reaction from Dr. Jeff Masters of Weather Underground). But seriously, I'll be talking about the story of the current, In every area of life, but especially in the overlapping realms of technology, science, and health, misunderstanding how things work can be widespread, and that misunderstanding can lead to problems. He set a world record in 2003 which still stands today when he recorded an 100 millibar pressure drop from an F-4 tornado. In fact, the general wisdom is that if you are unlucky enough to be in a car when a tornado hits, you should pull over, get OUT of the car, and find a low place to hide. In St. Charles County, at least 71 homes were heavily damaged and 100 had slight to moderate damage, county spokeswoman Colene McEntee said. I agree, Chris, that the specific suggestion that I made in the post that existing protocol should allow emergency personnel to keep roads clear. I'm not saying I agree with it, but this is not something he suddenly started doing. Flash floods: Two pickup trucks are pictured stuck in high water along NW 23rd Street in El Reno. (KFOR TV). Note the story of the HS football team that was viewing videos when the storm approached and the coach said put on your helmet. I could not agree more with the statement in this article saying that driving away is not the best option. They were caught off guard not by traffic, but by an extremely powerful and erratic multi vortex tornado that grew from a mile wide multivortex into a 2.5 miles in diameter behemoth as it also accelerated and turned north toward the ill fated chasers. 'That's a very unwise thing to do because it's the absolute worst place you can be during a tornado.'. Today three brave, highly experienced, storm chasers were honored in El Reno. So when an alert is issued the authorities only have a few roads to close, and not much population to evacuate. The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Saturday that Oklahoma City-area hospitals treated 104 people. Discovery Channel said it will honor the three veteran storm chasers, who regularly appeared on its show Stormchasers, with a special airing this week. Your freedom ends at my nose if your presence endangers me. 'They had no place to go, and that's always a bad thing. Regarding the rest of your comment. The chaser can be quite the problem but yet quite the provider of care in a situation where the emergency scene can span a few hundred yards to over a hundred miles. I don't know what they were thinking in a state packed with cars and almost no other transportation options and few shelters. Personally it does anger me when you see chasers, pro or amateur, driving past people who may be potentially injured and most certainly in need just to keep getting the shot. There is no certainty. They were just miles from the city of Moore, which was devastated by a massive tornado that killed 24 people on May 20. I've literally sat bumper to bumper with chasers on a five mile strech of road. Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. With all due respect, the citizens of tornado alley, especially Oklahoma, need to better educate themselves on severe weather. Laws are really challenging to enforce. Probably not. The majority of schools are built from concrete blocks that are not reinforced. A small tornado in Kansas, photographed during Tim Samaras's lightning expedition in August 2009. The program, 'Mile Wide Tornado: Stormchasers Tribute,' will feature scenes of Tim Samaras, his son Paul and Mr Young. His website Twistex has been integral to understanding how tornadoes work and improving warning times for those living in Tornado Alley. If you want to walk down Main Street, in downtown America, you can do that, because it is America. Renowned researcher and storm chaser Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul Samaras, 24, and his chase partner Carl Young, 45, passed away after they were overtaken by the multiple-vortex tornado,. I know cyclones are slightly more predictable than tornados (but much less predictable than hurricanes) they also have the habit of suddenly randomly changing direction. I was in Warr Acres, just next to Bethany in OKC on Fri. May 31. The bodies of another motorist and the Discovery Channel storm chasers, Tim Samaras, his son Paul, and Carl Young, were found in a three-mile diagonal path near N.W. One thing in your favor: Tornadoes do not have politically powerful, wealthy backing, so it should be easy to enact laws regulating how people enjoy them :-), "I suggest that law makers in tornado alley states consider legislation making it a violation to intentionally drive into or near the path of known or likely tornados. 'I'm wondering if the tornadoes from a couple of weeks ago didn't frighten people so badly that this time they were taking no chances and trying to evade it by car,' said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young died Friday night when an EF3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph turned on them near El Reno, Okla. After years of sharing dramatic videos with. How did Matt die in Storm Chasers? Amy Williamson, who lives just off I-40 in the western Oklahoma City suburb of Yukon, said when she heard the tornado was heading towards her home, she put her children, baby sitter and cats in her car and drove away. Even if we could predict hours in advance that the storms would hit a particular county (and as you correctly point out, this is not true--there may be several distinct tornadoes in a single outbreak, so it's quite possible that Oklahoma City and Enid could both be hit the same day), this would not help in a major metro area like Oklahoma City. Pete, Born: I think this is a difficult question. I do regard some of the complaints I've gotten, especially some of the really nasty ones I've gotten by email, to be excuse making. Reed Timmer and Sean Casey and their crews modified vehicles that successfully survived being in powerful tornados (for Mythbusters fans, you may have seen these two teams vehicles go head to head with a jet engine to see how they would survive tornado strength winds on the episode Storm Chasing Myths). October 1, 2013 Tim Samaras, 55, was found dead still belted into the mangled wreck, while the bodies of his son, 24, and Young, 45, were flung a quarter-mile away in opposite directions. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed following Friday's EF3 tornado in El Reno, Okla. Amateur chasers don't want there to be strong evidence that what they do endangers themselves or others, so they want chaser-enhanced traffic jams to be taken out of the picture. I hope that newscasters are better informed about the advice they should give and that this tragedy is never repeated. In Fridays storm, many of the deaths were caused by heavy flash flooding following the storms. This in the super rare category because we dont deal with things like this often.. Sher told ABC News: 'When the troopers found them, they were both deceased.'. Terrible things they are! category. With better data, we could get better forecasts of Southern Hemisphere storms. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC.
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