Storm!
21/05/13 05:15
There isn’t much information that I can add to the story of the massive tornado that killed at least 91 persons, including 20 children, in Oklahoma yesterday. The details are spread across the Internet, television, newspapers and other media. Once again our country is called to respond to a tragedy of massive proportions with whatever means we have at hand. The best way to help is to give in advance. Red Cross, Church World Service and other agencies are already responding with funds that they had in hand. Now is a good time to donate to replenish those funds and increase preparedness for the next disaster. And disaster will come.
It was a day when a weather radio is a good investment. The EF-4 tornado (166-200 mph winds) was being closely observed by the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma. A tornado warning was issued at 2:40 p.m. local time. The storm touched down at 2:56 and cut a mile wide swath for 20 miles in the next 40 minutes. Debris from the storm was found over 100 miles away. The important number in all of that is that there were 16 minutes between the time the warning was issued and the the storm touched down. 16 minutes to seek shelter. 16 minutes to save lives. As awful as the storm was – as devastating as is its aftermath – it could have been worse. It would have been worse if not for the warning that was issued.
People ignore warnings, however. I don’t know how many video clips have shown up on YouTube of people filming storms while the sirens are going off and they should be heading for shelter. Leave the filming to the professional storm chasers.
I was, for the most part, unaware of the storms while they were going on. It was windy here all day yesterday and I decided to leave my lawn mowing for another day even though this week is very busy. I did a little work in the garden and tried to catch up with some things at home and run errands before heading off to an evening meeting. During the meeting, my daughter placed two calls to my cell phone and so I exchanged a few text messages with her to make sure that she was OK. After the meeting we had a conversation. It turns out that she had quite a day. She lives a long ways from Oklahoma in Warrensburg, Missouri, but it is an area where there are plenty of severe storms. Warrensburg is about 150 miles northeast of Joplin, where a tornado in May of 2011 caused $2.8 billion in damages – the most expensive tornado yet recorded in the United States. So we make sure our daughter has a safe area in the basement of her home and knows what to do when a storm threatens.
Still it was a frightening day for her. She works in a child development center and the sirens went off as funnel clouds were sighted in their area. The children were escorted into the safe areas of the building and their buildings are safe and secure. Still there is video footage of the funnel clouds at Whiteman AFB on YouTube, so some people headed outdoors to look, while others were taking care of their children’s safety.
The pictures of the storm clouds that our daughter sent us from her drive home later that afternoon are frightening enough. She was never in direct danger, but it was a frightening day in Missouri yesterday.
It is easy to be smug when you live in a place that doesn’t see many tornadoes. There is no record of a tornado touching the ground at our elevation in the hills. The threats of natural disaster in our area come from wildfire and flash flooding. Of course when the super volcano that lies under Yellowstone National Park erupts, we are in exactly the wrong address.
The citizens of Moore Oklahoma know that they live in tornado alley. In May of 1999, they experienced a tornado that killed 36 people and injured 583. That storm damaged or destroyed 8132 homes, 1041 apartments, 260 businesses, 11 public buildings and 7 churches. The footprint of the storm that went through their area on a similar but different track yesterday is easily twice as large as that 1999 storm. When they add up the damages, yesterday’s storm is one for the record books.
And it is easy to ask, “Why don’t they just move away?” as if people have total control over where they live and the ability to just pull up stakes and go to some other place. People live where they do because of a wide variety of reasons including historic links to the land, the jobs that they have, family ties and a host of different reasons. It isn’t always possible to simply change the place where you live.
Besides, it is too late to assign blame at this point. There is a terrible mess that needs to be cleaned up and the mess includes sifting and sorting through the overlapping grief that occurs when so many are lost. Every one of those victims had a life that impacted many different people. The circles of grief and mourning extend far beyond the immediate area of the storm. According to one of the weather blogs that I read, yesterday’s storm is likely to be one of the five most damaging tornadoes in history.
So be careful out there – wherever you live. Be aware of the risks. Pay attention to the weather. Listen for the sirens. Invest in a weather radio. Have a plan to get to shelter quickly if necessary. And remember that you are not alone.
And please be generous with your gifts to help with the recovery and prepare for the next storm. Charitable giving in the US runs at about 2% of GDP. Another ½ of one percent would make an incredible difference. It might well be the best investment you can make.
It was a day when a weather radio is a good investment. The EF-4 tornado (166-200 mph winds) was being closely observed by the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma. A tornado warning was issued at 2:40 p.m. local time. The storm touched down at 2:56 and cut a mile wide swath for 20 miles in the next 40 minutes. Debris from the storm was found over 100 miles away. The important number in all of that is that there were 16 minutes between the time the warning was issued and the the storm touched down. 16 minutes to seek shelter. 16 minutes to save lives. As awful as the storm was – as devastating as is its aftermath – it could have been worse. It would have been worse if not for the warning that was issued.
People ignore warnings, however. I don’t know how many video clips have shown up on YouTube of people filming storms while the sirens are going off and they should be heading for shelter. Leave the filming to the professional storm chasers.
I was, for the most part, unaware of the storms while they were going on. It was windy here all day yesterday and I decided to leave my lawn mowing for another day even though this week is very busy. I did a little work in the garden and tried to catch up with some things at home and run errands before heading off to an evening meeting. During the meeting, my daughter placed two calls to my cell phone and so I exchanged a few text messages with her to make sure that she was OK. After the meeting we had a conversation. It turns out that she had quite a day. She lives a long ways from Oklahoma in Warrensburg, Missouri, but it is an area where there are plenty of severe storms. Warrensburg is about 150 miles northeast of Joplin, where a tornado in May of 2011 caused $2.8 billion in damages – the most expensive tornado yet recorded in the United States. So we make sure our daughter has a safe area in the basement of her home and knows what to do when a storm threatens.
Still it was a frightening day for her. She works in a child development center and the sirens went off as funnel clouds were sighted in their area. The children were escorted into the safe areas of the building and their buildings are safe and secure. Still there is video footage of the funnel clouds at Whiteman AFB on YouTube, so some people headed outdoors to look, while others were taking care of their children’s safety.
It is easy to be smug when you live in a place that doesn’t see many tornadoes. There is no record of a tornado touching the ground at our elevation in the hills. The threats of natural disaster in our area come from wildfire and flash flooding. Of course when the super volcano that lies under Yellowstone National Park erupts, we are in exactly the wrong address.
The citizens of Moore Oklahoma know that they live in tornado alley. In May of 1999, they experienced a tornado that killed 36 people and injured 583. That storm damaged or destroyed 8132 homes, 1041 apartments, 260 businesses, 11 public buildings and 7 churches. The footprint of the storm that went through their area on a similar but different track yesterday is easily twice as large as that 1999 storm. When they add up the damages, yesterday’s storm is one for the record books.
And it is easy to ask, “Why don’t they just move away?” as if people have total control over where they live and the ability to just pull up stakes and go to some other place. People live where they do because of a wide variety of reasons including historic links to the land, the jobs that they have, family ties and a host of different reasons. It isn’t always possible to simply change the place where you live.
Besides, it is too late to assign blame at this point. There is a terrible mess that needs to be cleaned up and the mess includes sifting and sorting through the overlapping grief that occurs when so many are lost. Every one of those victims had a life that impacted many different people. The circles of grief and mourning extend far beyond the immediate area of the storm. According to one of the weather blogs that I read, yesterday’s storm is likely to be one of the five most damaging tornadoes in history.
So be careful out there – wherever you live. Be aware of the risks. Pay attention to the weather. Listen for the sirens. Invest in a weather radio. Have a plan to get to shelter quickly if necessary. And remember that you are not alone.
And please be generous with your gifts to help with the recovery and prepare for the next storm. Charitable giving in the US runs at about 2% of GDP. Another ½ of one percent would make an incredible difference. It might well be the best investment you can make.