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Concerning the tornadoes of May 24, 2011. Does anyone know specifically where in OK they touched down and what the damage was?

PB

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There were several long

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There were several long track tornados. The longest, reaching EF4 size, began in Caddo County near Hinton, paralelled I-40 to just west of El Reno, then crossed the hwy and began a north east track toward Piedmont, Seward, parts of Guthrie (west) and towards Stillwater where it roped out doing little damage.

Another began in Chickasha, doing damage, then tracked along hwy 9 near Middleberg, then turned left and went to Newcastle, hitting the town but most damage was on the west edge of town, then moved toward Moore but decreased in intensity and lifted before getting there. It was an EF3 or 4; they haven't decided yet.

A shorter track began about Canton Lake, turned north toward Fairview, but lifted before damage. It was impressive and about an EF3, and fortunately got into Canton Lake and the water seemed to cool it down so it decreased.

Another started near Dibble, (EF4 to EF3 at times, did damage to farm houses, struck Goldsby rather directly and damaged lots of houses, and crossed the Canadian south of Noble, proceeding toward Shawnee but turned northeast from that track and went toward Choctaw. It started skipping before it got there and sorta decreased to occasional touch downs.

There were other brief touchdowns of other tornados, mostly small, and doing little damage. Several EF0 and EF1s. There were large circulations in other storms, but didn't spawn any serious tornados.

CaroL

CaroL

Thanks...

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Just what I was hoping for. News outlets up here (SW Ont) were rather vague on specifics for this latest round of storms, mentioning only the States as opposed to the specific towns.

PB

Like most of the EF3 and

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Like most of the EF3 and above, the tornados were cleaning off houses and garages down to the slabs, so lots of loss. 15 or so deaths reported so far, but still looking for some missing around Piedmont.

CaroL

CaroL

They have dropped the death

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They have dropped the death toll to 7. Guess some came back to life? Sadly, the 3 year-old boy has yet to be found, and his 15 month old sister died of head trauma. Her pregnant mother and her other sister are due for head surgery to relieve pressure on the brain from trauma.

One person in Chickasha died, had a neighbors trailer dropped on top of her as she stood on her porch.

For the violent type of the tornados, Oklahoma got off light on the death toll.

CaroL

CaroL

One was not far from Zoe Taylor

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littlerocksilver's picture

There were three deaths in Arkansas. A late night tornado struck several communities including Denning, Altus, and Bethlehem. The owner of an Arkansas winery, no that is not an oxymoron, watched one from his front porch. Today looks bad for storms. The weather bureau said, "This is a particularly dangerous situation." for the area just west of Little Rock to the boot heel of Missouri.

Girl.jpg
Portia

Portia

Karen_J had one pass a few miles from her part of Tornado Ally

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We've had some tornados in Wisconsin but nothing near me in the Milwaukee area. La Nina has the bulk of the seriuosly shitty weather down south at least three or four hundred miles south from my area much of this year.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

Tornado "Ally" John?

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I really doubt I'm ever going to be accused of being a Tornado "Ally", even though I live in Tornado "Alley"! :)

* * *

"Girls are like pianos, when they're not upright they're grand!" Benny Hill

Karen J.

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

But are they complete?

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Even the local media give certain areas (including mine) short shrift, you expect the national media to do better? At the point the tornado was approx. six miles away and headed straight for the most densely populated part of town, the media was covering what had already occurred near OKC and Joplin. A timely degree or two shift in the twister's path saved most of us from having our homes and/or lives destroyed, but you wouldn't have known we were even threatened by watching the four network stations.

BTW, I knew the situation that was happening because I'm the Asst. Disaster Chair for the local American Red Cross chapter. The person above me is also a member of the local Emergency Response Team and has first responsibility to them, so we have an understanding that in the event something big happens I'll be the person in the hot seat for the ARC. So I was sitting in front of three two-way radios and a police scanner monitoring the situation in realtime.

I've had more than a little bit of training over the years, I understand the traffic coming over the radios, and I was scared shitless! But the news aggregators like Yahoo, Google, and the major networks only know what the local outlets report, and you can see how that affects what is reported.

* * *

"Girls are like pianos, when they're not upright they're grand!" Benny Hill

Karen J.

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Yes and no

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Yes, there are more tornados than "average", average being a crucial factor. In addition, as farmland is taken over and converted to housing or commercial use there are more eyes to see and report them, and more property to be destroyed.

As for it being an effect of global warming, the more reasoned minds say we simply don't have enough data to link the two. Even without global warming tornado outbreaks have occurred before. It might seem obvious that global warming is making things worse, but what seems like common sense doesn't always prove to be correct. In an interview with a global warming activist and researcher she stated there is simply not proof either for or against the possibility that the active season is being triggered by global warming. Don't forget, there have been seasons that were duds during what would seem to be active global warming occurrences.

In other words, the jury's still out on this one, and more research is needed.

* * *

"Girls are like pianos, when they're not upright they're grand!" Benny Hill

Karen J.

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Why don't Americans -

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Build their houses out of concrete like in lots of other countries. I'm always shocked at the extent of the damage and flying debris when looking at videos of these storms. Yes I can accept that much stuff gets lifted, uprooted and smashed into mobile debris but surely the houses can be concrete framed at least like houses all over the middle east.

The Japanese build houses to withstand earthquakes (and in some instances build defences against Tsunamis,) so why don't Americans build stronger houses to withstand storms? When you see pictures of the damage it usually seems to be the larger, concrete buildings that survive. Additionally, if stronger concrete frames were erected, it would be easier to install storm shelters. Furthermore a more extensive 'concrete culture' would grow up in Tornado Ally thus reducing damage, flying debris and subsequent loss of life.

I'm just surprised that the Federal government has not stepped in and declared multi-state planning and construction laws to enforce more concrete homes nation wide where ever the big risks exist.

It just seems strange to me that so many houses are built of timber.

Bev.

Growing old disgracefully.

bev_1.jpg

I'm by no means any kind of

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I'm by no means any kind of expert on this, but if I had to guess (and that's all this is) I'd say the reasons against it are cost (wood is relatively cheap to acquire and assemble, concrete might cost more), aesthetics (inside and outside), and the low chance a particular area will get hit directly by a tornado in a person's lifetime (a earthquake hits a much larger area compared to the typically narrow path of a tornado).

As for federal government involvement, the amount of the country that can and do see tornadoes regularly is quite large (maybe 20-30%+ of total land mass not counting Alaska) thus it might not be economically viable to significantly increase building regulation.

Personally, I am all for

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Personally, I am all for earth sheltered homes or underground homes. Unfortumately shallow ground water in many places where jobs are available make it less than optimal to build them. They are, though, more energy efficient and do protect against things like tornados. And they do take up more land, something that our local realtor just can't see allowing. Zero property lines are the ticket to riches for them. If you do build one, twice the property size and good sump pumps have to be installed, and have back up power for power losses to keep them from flooding.

CaroL

CaroL

1) it's expensive. 2) it's

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1) it's expensive.
2) it's ugly.
3) you can't do additions, modifications, or even decent repairs. It's a demolish and start over building.
4) If you use blocks or slab, rather than the 'pour at once', you end up with a building that's just as vulnerable to a tornado as a wood house. Even more so, as it's extremely rigid. strong buildings hold up to winds from one direction just great - TWIST the sucker, and they shatter.
5) Unless they're sealed, they are filthy. Concrete is NOT a solid, it's an aggregate that behaves in a solid manner. Bits are constantly moving out with every vibration, causing a non-stop dirt coating.
6) it's enormously heavy. They require 18" slab foundations, if at all possible. Many frame houses are built on what is called 'pier and beam' construction - especially if they have a basement.

As for hiding in the basement? If those doors come unsealed, you can be sucked straight out of the basement because of the pressure differential.

Tornadoes are smaller than hurricanes, but they can be insanely more powerful in a more localised area. Hurricanes spawn tornadoes as well, which usually cause more damage than the sustained high winds.

Pflugerville, Texas, knows all about that.

I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Point taken.

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Your points are taken and in the main accepted. I've actually been through a tornado, (Water Spout) in the Mallaca Straits Between Malay and Indonesia. It occurred at night and we didn't see it coming in all the rain cluttter. (<em>Even the 3 cm Radar failed to pick it up because of all the heavy rain clutter and it was very dark.) Fortunately the winds were probably only about 200 mph and we were a tanker. These ships are pretty tough buggers and can certainly withstand a lot of battering.

Fortunately, we were in Ballast going from Japan back to the Gulf and our tank lids were open so there were no (Well much reduced,) vacuum effects in the tanks. Had we not had the tank lids open for tank cleaning, (It goes on 24 hours)some of the decks might have been split or ruptured by sudden pressure changes. Or the tank lids might have 'blown.

Ships are designed to withstand about a gradual,dynamic impact of about 3 Cums (3.03 tonnes)of water per square metre but an almost instantaneous prsssure change of just 5 lbs per square inch is more than that, and it's working outwards instead of inward thus acting against the design strength of the ship's steel. (It's the dynamical forces that are a bastard.)

We were extremely lucky and we had to put into Sri Lanka, Colombo for minor repairs to the upper superstructure. The worst damage was to some wooden 'weather doors' high up on the superstructure where one would not expect heavy seas to hit. All the heavy, dogged watertight doors on the lower decks withstood the pressure differential and only a couple of windows were cracked high up on 'top-side'. Fortunately, in the days before air conditioning, lots of cabin doors and windows were open despite the rain, it being the hot tropical waters of Mallaca. Lot's of the pressure differnetial was unwittingly relieved throughout the accomodation by this simple situation.

The strange thing is that instead of the deafening roar reported by earthbound observers, waterborn tornadoes tend to shriek and whine more. I suppose it''s the lack of the all destructive debris that earthbound twisters 'suck up. The surface being just water.

Being mariners and more alert to the dangers of tornadoes, (The main one for ships being rapid pressure changes, (differentials,) affecting the watertight and mostly airtight steel construction.) we understand the dynamics of Tornadoes if not the exact mathematical principles of the cloud physics. (Very complex maths.)

Mariners, like most other sensible people, invariably steer to avoid them (IF THEY SEE THEM COMING!)

I see your arguments against concrete, yes it is expensive and ugly but for safety of life it's infinitely more effective.

I suppose American's get used to living with the risks.

Cheers and hugs.

XZXX.

Bev.

Growing old disgracefully.

bev_1.jpg

Here are some links to those storms

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PB here are some links that may help you

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/pos...

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/joplin-tornado-death-to...

http://www.google.com/search?q=tornadoes+of+May+24%2C+2011&i...

Jayme Ann
The answers to all of life's questions can be found in the face of a true friend

The answers to all of life's questions can be found in the face of a true friend

Highway Patrol Turn Around

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I'm not from here,(OHIO) and tonight encountered what I thought was a Tornado coming right up the street at me. At least it looked that way, and I must say that even a front wheel drive Corolla can turn around quite rapidly with the use of the emergency brake.

There were things flying all around and they seemed to be circling and when I saw what looked like a small tree flying across the road, that was enough for me. I managed to drive out of the worst of it, and coming back through a couple hours later, I did not see damage but the power was out.

Not having previous experience with insane weather, I was crying by the time I got to the book club. Now I know why I am leaving here and going back to Oregon.

Gwen

Living in Tornado Country

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When I was in The US Army I was station at Ft Knox, Ky and also In Alabama at Ft Rucker. Both of these Forts are in Tornado Country. And anytime I mension where I was from I was always told they wouldn't live in California and it's Earthquates. I will admit that they do sometime severe damage and I have seen some of that damage. But, everytime I've seen the damage from Tornatos and they o'cure at least twice every year and I've seen more damage in one season of Tornatoes then all the Earthquates I've seen in person as the one with the bridge collaspe on I-80 in Oakland, the two different times the San Fernando Valley was hit about Twenty years apart and even the latest one in Imperial County along the Mexico Border this past year, None have done the damage that that one Tornado did to Joblin, Mo. or even the Tornados that hit Moore, OK South of OK City about 12 years ago. And these people go thru this twice a year every year. I'll take my Earthquakes anytime. Now, even with all the strength that has been built into the buildings here in San Diego, if a Tornado hit here like hit Joblin, Mo there would be all kinds of severe damage just like that hopital there that took a direct hit you would find the same kind of damage here. The big problem is the amount damage cause by the depriy pickup by the revolving winds in a Tornado that it uses those items like Battering Rams on other structures such as windows and the get inside even the concrete strutures and starts destroying those building with less strength walls in there interiors, which are usually only plaster board which doesn't take much to destroy when a 2x4 is being thrown at it. A building design for earthquakes usually is design to shake to absorb the energy from the earthquake, But these same designs would not take the winds of a Tornado as there saying that the main Tornado in Joblin was 3/4's of a mile wide and stayed on the ground for over Six Miles and it's height was of over Eighteen Thousand Feet High, and some of the winds inside that cone were probally over 300 MPH, even though they had measurements of the outer edge winds of only 190 MPH. Thats why they found ExRay pictures from that Hospital over Sixty miles away. Tornato's are pretty much only found in the United States as you have the Cold Air from the North that meets the Warm Air coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, and when these different winds meet they create the spining air that become Tornado's. I'll stop here as I will admit I would love to live in the Lexington Area of Kentucky that would put me in to and area that can have Tornados. Richard

Richard

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