All this about tornadoes is very reminiscent of fires in Australia. This is not an especially enforceable regulation but having such a thing on the books would probably encourage amateur storm chasers to think twice about putting others in danger by contributing to blocked roads. It wasn't what I would consider a traffic jam under normal circumstances, but when you have a tornado coming straight at you those seconds are important. Everybody was running for their lives,' said Terri Black, 51, a teacher's assistant in Moore. Do not rely on others, including the T.V. Writing new laws on the books is useless, even before the news agencies started this new trend which is disturbing you have people hiding under overpasses and pulling stupid stuff, Chasers have complained about this issue for years, notice numerous videos of truck drivers who even drive into the funnel, enforcement will be non existent because this puts law enforcement in a position of risk and is irresponsible, i agree with the tours, but again many people cannot afford the tours that are out there now and so they figure its cheaper to go it themselves, we can blame people for the groups death but the fact is that there were several unusual factors that caused this. At the time that Samaras, his son, and his colleague, were crushed to death inside their tornado-chasing car, which was apparently rolled by the force of 200-300 mile an hour winds over a. People started driving over the grass.'. Too many words! Specious arguments at best. Ironic how his own community of chasers would throw him to the wolves but won't put themselves in that category. I have heard that some professional storm chasers offer package tours. You can also shop using Amazon Smile and though you pay nothing more we get a tiny something. Since this post went live Jeff posted about another storm chaser, an amateur, who was killed in this tornado. Pete, Born: I think this is a difficult question. 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. For the record, an "enigmatic" lack of shelter in Oklahoma has to do with cost.
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. Emergency officials reported numerous injuries in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. Storm chaser Tim Samaras observes a blackening sky in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. 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. 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. In other words, it is now probably legal and appropriate for police or fire departments to close off roads or direct traffic or tell people not to drive in a particular area where there is currently a major fire, explosion, storm devastation, and so on. "Tim was a courageous and brilliant scientist who fearlessly pursued tornadoes and lightning in the field in an effort to better understand these phenomena," the society said on its website. 'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. 'It's not even close to anything like what we had last week,' Smith said. To me the real imperative is to get a tornado shelter in most homes and businesses and educate the general public about what to do and what not to do. On the one hand, researchers have to pay the bills somehow, and this is one way to do it. Thanks for contacting us. The EF5 storm that hit Moore decimated neighborhoods. I am stunned that that any forecaster indicated people should drive anywhere after 5pm that day. And two, the chaser would have to carry a business license on his person to prove he had a need to be there for whatever his business reason might be. It dumped around 8 inches of rain on Oklahoma City in the span of a few hours and made the tornado difficult to spot for motorists trying to beat it home. Good day to you sir. The men worked as a team and Tim Samaras had received 18 grants from the National Geographic Society for work in the field. The other chaser killed was caught in traffic but I find it sad that the community never claims him as a chaser but rather a thrill seeker. There was no place to hide.. Like wadded up,' he told the Washington Post. Its a free country - youre obviously free to drive when and where you want, and I certainly dont want that to change, but something has to be done to avoid another tragedy like the one that killed 9 motorists Friday evening, including 3 professional tornado researchers Tim Samaras, his son, and intercept partner. 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. Storm chasing is definitely in the "Don't try this at home, kids!" Contributions are fully tax-deductible. These devices, which he . Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. I'm one state north from tornado alley, and I can't imagine anyone from my state saying that it's okay to drive during a tornado alert. What is wind chill, and how does it affect your body? What if we could clean them out? Scientists have to accept that.
Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? What was that point that I missed? The National Weather Service said the severe weather threat would shift into neighboring Illinois and Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Friday. Also we MUST push for adqueate shelters. People found driving on closed roads are fined over $1000.00 per wheel. If you were turned away from Main Street due to a fire, and instead took Elm, would the state be responsible when a fire spontaneously breaks out on Elm as well and sprays glass on you?
Please be respectful of copyright. This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. An outright ban is prolly a bad idear too. With the severe weather knocking out power to nearly 120,000 customers in Oklahoma, according to electricity provider OG&E. One of the first rules you hear about what to do in a tornado is "Do not try to outrun it." Waiting: Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport was evacuated. However the generic advice makes a lot of sense. Here is what the tornado did: It grew from a big tornado to a bigger tornado, to what might be the largest tornado ever observed with instruments, in a matter of seconds, and it made a fast jog to the right, not an unusual thing for a tornado to do, but unanticipated by the storm chasers. And now I made the decision to go home since I have a shelter, and i was able to leave work and be home close to 4pm. Getting into a ditch can apparently also be fatal. "This is a very sad day for the meteorological community and the families of our friends lost. Oklahomans can handle a day or two of this, but after a week plus of watching families with lost loved ones on the news they start getting jumpy.
Tim Samaras dies: Tragic last words of father-and-son storm chasers Any house would have been completely swept clean on the foundation. Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" We have many many laws that are more or less unenforceable. Fifty people took shelter in the freezer at a Sinclair gas station in south Oklahoma City. Common sense will tell you to collect the data that meteorologist have had for years about how tornado's form and come up with an idea that makes these conditions less favorable maybe even do tests on a smaller scale. I've heard horror stories about the attempt to partially evacuate Houston in advance of Hurricane Ike. Greg is definitely right about the distinction between researchers who need to be close to the storm to do their research (people like Samaras) and people who are doing it just for fun. Even if the people who are at risk of vehicular projectiles are innocent bystanders, chances are they're at more risk from the tornado than the cars in them. There are many chasers who do stop to render aid and time and time again they are often the first to reach the victims in crucial first moments with skills to save lives. I was streaming the weather warnings at work throughout that afternoon, and the KOCO weather forecasters distinctly advised driving home if you could make it by 4pm and if you had a sturdy shelter at home. from a major non profit, click through the the X Blog to read the press release. Being stuck in traffic during a tornado outbreak is obviously unfortunate, but unless you can find a way to outlaw tornado formation in cities during rush hour, sporting events, concerts, accidents,or anything else that causes traffic to snarl, getting hit by a tornado while stuck in traffic is simply a risk one assumes by living in tornado alley and choosing to drive a car. Keith: I know, I hate words! If it was two more miles this way, it would have wiped out all of downtown, almost every one of our subdivisions and almost all of our businesses, White said. Were all the people blocking the road amateur chasers? Yes, chaser convergance has been a huge problem over the last few years. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind. 'Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it.'. But that brings in another issue doesn't it?
Which Storm Chaser Killed Himself - BikeHike Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman, said that while the storm packed a powerful punch, it wasn't as strong as the Moore tornado. . The KFOR anchor should have said "if you are in your vehicle (head south). It will NEVER happen. 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. 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.