(Though I'm not so sure that restrictive law re tornadoes is the first or best strategy - simply ensuring that emergency personnel of all kinds have the authority to control traffic might be OK so long as they are adequately trained and backed up with good links to forecasters.) That's really all I have to say on that issue. The weather service initially rated the Friday tornado that hit El Reno as an EF3. I've been in a tornado, when I was six! I doubt that the new law would save lives. When the NWS uses phrases such as "You will not survive, neighborhoods will be flattened" no one in their right mind is going to stay at home and wait out the tornado in their bathroom or closet above ground. ScienceBlogs is a registered trademark of Science 2.0, a science media nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. A two-and-a-half mile wide tornado would not look like a tornado to a lot of people, Smith said. Tens of thousands were without power, and only eight minor injuries were reported. The article was entitled, disturbingly, Scientists, Give Up Your Emails. A small tornado in Kansas, photographed during Tim Samaras's lightning expedition in August 2009. Television cameras showed debris falling from the sky west of Oklahoma City and power transformers being knocked out by high winds across a wider area. independent local journalism in Dallas. Become a member to support the independent voice of Dallas 'We were very concerned this would move into downtown. 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 newscaster's advice was appalling. The Death of Tim Samaras, Lightning Chaser. Tornadoes happen in bunches and clusters. A total of five tornadoes struck the Oklahoma City metro area, the National Weather Service said. In this country, if a cyclone alert is issued, all roads are closed. Tim Samaras, a native of Lakewood, Colo., holds the Guinness World Record for the greatest pressure drop ever measured inside a tornado. NBC News reported that the passengers were herded to the basement and told to put their hands on their heads as they waited out the storm. 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. 3) "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." But let us not let the fact that Samaras and his crew were killed in a manner that did not relate to traffic obviate further consideration of the "drive to the fire" problem. What is it that causes some people to react to every tragedy in life by trying to legislate the risk out of living in a free country? At least six semis on their side at a weight station on I-40 near Oklahoma City, photographer Jim Beckel reported. 'The car was probably about 60 to 70 per cent of its normal size because it had been pushed and mauled and compacted as it was tumbling down the road. Or was it a rotating thunderstorm (a supercell) with small- to moderate-sized tornadoes swirling about one another? 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. 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. Northeast of St. Louis and across the Mississippi River, the city of Roxana was hit by an EF3 tornado, but National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said it wasn't clear whether the damage in both states came from the same EF3 twister or separate ones. That might be preferable because making a new law to address particularistic new circumstances that are already covered by existing law, regulation, and best practice is probably a bad thing. Unauthorized use is prohibited. That's why safety experts say you need a plan. What is wind chill, and how does it affect your body? It's just news. There is only so much space to get away and so many roads to use, many in poor repair. We cannot separate it from other compounds on earth (like we can, say, hydrogen), we cannot combine other elements to manufacture it (like we can, say, gasoline). Let me post a reply to many of the above comments and suggestions. I've been reading Jeff Masters' blog regularly. Having been in law enforcement some years ago I don't think you understand how unenforceable those laws would be. They need to better forecast for a chaser convergence and prepare to block roads. Samaras holds the Guinness World Record for the largest measured pressure drop inside a tornado. Oklahoma schools are not properly educated on how to shelter children. But that is not a reason to not have the laws. Enough said. All rights reserved. I realize you say in general terms such laws probably aren't enforceable and my question is then why make the laws? Invoking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a federal conspiracy law devised to ensnare mobsters, the suit accuses the organizations, as well as several green campaigners. But if the Acme Office Building, on Main Street, is on fire, broken glass is blowing out of windows and fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are trying to gain access to the building and nearby fire hydrants, and ambulances are trying to get in to pick up injured, and out to bring them to hospitals, you cant walk down Main Street. Note the comments that 22% of the fatalities at Tuscalousa were head injuries and in general a majority of tornado fatalities where head injuries. I could not agree more with the statement in this article saying that driving away is not the best option. 1) "Three experienced tornado chasers actual meteorological scientists were killed when their truck (one of the vehicles depicted above, probably) was destroyed by the tornado." The family sheltered from the storm in a hospital parking garage. Second, the point is still valid. Debris: This aerial photo shows damage in the Rolling Meadow Estates neighborhood on Friday in Broken Arrow, Okla. after a tornado had passed the area, Dangerous: Forecasters warned of a 'particularly dangerous situation,' with ominous language about strong tornadoes and hail the size of grapefruits 4 inches in diameter. Pete, Born: I think this is a difficult question. 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. This was one of the highways that really did have a traffic jam thanks to the TV people who encouraged locals to attempt to flee in their cars. Say you are sitting in your home and you know there is a tornado coming and you are watching TV and the following breathless reporting is happening. @Hamish: One reason that can work in Australia is because most of the region that is vulnerable to tropical cyclones (a hurricane is a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of at least 64 kts/74 mph/118 km/h) is sparsely populated. Sheltering in place should always be recommended. 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. Skip Talbot makes this point. 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. 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. They are acting in the interests of public safety. Inside was Tim Samaras, one of the country's most respected tornado scientists, who had built his career by placing sophisticated probes in the paths of oncoming tornadoes. Now that would be an effective law. In a separate incident, Brandon Sullivan and Brett Wright captured heart stopping footage of their exploits getting too close to the powerful twister near Union City, in southwest Oklahoma City. I agree that telling people that the safest thing to do is to get in their car and drive is wrong. Pay attention to what he says. But that. So, lets go back to the advice again. I don't think the scientists who died in this storm would agree with you on that. Obviously it's hindsight now that Tim and his crew were not caught up in any traffic jam and in fact the opposite. Tornado watches tend to cover a larger area, and the lead time is much shorter. Storm chasers being killed by storms isn't even a problem. You do raise many good points about how such a law would be implemented, and some I can thing of answers to, some not so easily. Like diving into the bath tub with a mattress on top for cover. Storm chaser Tim Samaras died Friday doing the work that made him so well-known: following tornadoes. Officials described parts of Interstates 35 and 40 near Oklahoma City as 'a parking lot.'. Well before Oklahoma's first thunderstorms fired up at late afternoon, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman was already forecasting a violent evening. Keith: I know, I hate words! You can also shop using Amazon Smile and though you pay nothing more we get a tiny something. Another two sets of storm-chasing meteorologists had lucky escapes on Friday night after their vehicles got too close to the multiple tornadoes that hit the Oklahoma City area. >>> I support this 100%. 2006-2020 Science 2.0. Further with this ridiculous drive away strategy and the inability to predict small movements how do you parse the storm chasers from the poorly directed refugees? My humble opinions: The National Geographic Society made 18 grants to Tim for research over the years for field work like he was doing in Oklahoma at the time of his death, and he was one of our 2005 Emerging Explorers. Tim Samaras, 55, along with his son, Paul Samaras, 24, and Carl Young, 45, died on Friday in El Reno after a tornado that packed winds of up to 165 mph picked up their car and threw it, somersaulting, a half a mile. The tornado caught up with him and his crew and ended them. Three experienced tornado chasers actual meteorological scientists were killed when their truck (one of the vehicles depicted above, probably) was destroyed by the tornado. Rather, they are jamming roads in the very places where a traffic jam can be deadly if a tornado happens to pass over the gaggle of cars stuck in place. OKLAHOMA CITY The deadly tornado that struck near Oklahoma City late last week killing 18, including three storm chasers, had a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles and was the second top-of-the-scale EF5 twister to hit the area in less than two weeks, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday. 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. In fact, it isn't just the mathematical curiosity known as the Mandelbrot set that's full of irregularities and ever, How three storm chasers died, and what to do about it, http://news.yahoo.com/tornado-coming-grab-helmet-084500057.html, http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTornadoChaser, http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/19/pilger_nebraska_torn, The Lab Leak Theory Was Dismissed As Trump Xenophobia - Now Deniers Say It Was Not Accepted Because of Trump Xenophobia, DAN5/P1: Homo Erectus Early Cranial Capacity Was More Like Australopiths Such As 'Lucy', DART Made A Big Difference In Ability To Accurately Calculate Asteroid Deflections, The Subsidies Paradox: Affordable Food Versus The Environment, Degrowth communism as asolution for climate change, On that chilling law suit against the environmental groups, Watch Jeff Merkley Wipe Floor With Trump's William Wehrum, "Transparency" should not equal a license to harass scientists. They never follow the same track. I remember Pa wearing this Civil Defense helmet and he was chirping on this big ol' walky talky! What if we could clean them out? I did not make the argument that storm chasers cause cars to fly through the air and hurt people (though that could happen) I made the argument that amateurs who are just out to see the tornado jam traffic this is not something I've discovered, it is something that professional storm chasers have claimed to be true. The region was fortunate because the storm touched down mostly in rural areas and missed central Oklahoma City. Many of us were fortunate to have worked with them and have great admiration for their work. "We're trying to collect as many observations as possible, both from outside and from the inside. Storm chasers with cameras in their car transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and toward downtown Oklahoma City. Also my brother was forced to move to Oklahoma for a job just last week only days after the tornado in this article struck Oklahoma city. Samaras attended Lasley Elementary and O'Connell Junior High in Lakewood. The officers had to contend with hail and strong winds as they worked to help motorists. William Wehrum is a lawyer and once, apparently, worked for the EPA. Emergency officials reported numerous injuries in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. 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. Later analysis of the situation indicates that there was indeed a traffic jam enhanced risk for several storm chasers, caused by the ill advised comments from local media (as described below) but that this happened after Samaras and his crew were killed, in a different location, and that this happened to not cause any deaths. This included CNN. Saying "Stay out of moore" wold just turn the would-be chasers in another direction that a storm or twister could emerge from. The worry soon turned to flash flooding and floodwaters topped four feet in Oklahoma City on Saturday morning. Tim Samaras was found inside his car with his seat belt still on. Police urged motorists to leave the crosstown Interstate 40 and seek a safe place. meteorologist. How did Matt die in Storm Chasers? -Benoit Mandelbrot In Missouri three people died in three counties after rivers rose to dangerous levels, and in Arkansas a sheriff was killed by flooding in Scott County on Friday. Tim was a couple of miles south of interstate. I won't be joining them on the roads. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous. Storm chasers should absolutely pull off the road and yield to emergency vehicles as well as people trying to escape. All rights reserved. The spot a few yards off Reuter Road where the body of Tim Samaras was found inside the crushed vehicle (his son. If out of the many decades that chasers have been in the field only 3 have ever died then I'd say chasing is safer than many other dangerous events. Following their passion: Storm chasers Tim Samaras (right), his son Paul Samaras (left) and Carl Young (second left) were killed on Friday by a tornado. And if public safety is truly the issue at hand here then instead of telling people to get in their cars and trying to figure out some sane and responsible way to evacuate from the path of a tornado mandate better public and privet shelters in areas more prone to this kind of weather. It will NEVER happen. I assume those are passed to make legislators feel good about their jobs. It made all the difference that it was out in the country.'. And, just like a tornado, the last place you want to be caught in a fire is in your car. Also we MUST push for adqueate shelters. Having a law about something means that society wants certain things to happen or not happen. In 2013, Tim Samaras died in one of the epic storms he'd spent decades chasing. I have not suggested that storm chasing be illegal. Education may help, but first we need to educate Meteorologists in the media, the brilliant minds out there need to come up with a set of definitive standards on what to do and what not to do and hold the TV weather accountable, develop an educational program for the public, but most of all give people a place to go, public shelters or something for safety, if people have a shelter they more than likely wont get in their car in the first place. Note the story of the HS football team that was viewing videos when the storm approached and the coach said put on your helmet. Tim shared data and results. Pay special attention to what the weather forecaster says starting at 4:35: if you can drive south, anywhere around Whitewater Bay, State Fair Park, the Ballpark, downtown Oklahoma City, southwest Integres, US Grant District, Rose State college, Midwest City regional medical center, Midwest City, and Parts of Del city, you need to drive south now. (approximate transcript). Unless you wish to legislate God, I recommend you rethink your proposal. Bart, the fact that the tornado was extreme is certainly the biggest factor, but I did not overlook the fact that this event (these storm chasers getting killed as well as three others luckily surviving a badly rolled over car). Driving away several hours ahead of time is one thing, but this guy was telling people to drive at the same time he was saying the tornado was impending! Samaras was born November 12, 1957 in Lakewood, Colorado, to Paul T. and Margaret L. Samaras. Getting into a ditch can apparently also be fatal. Paul (1925-2005) was a photographer and model . It isn't just the clouds that appear smooth, but aren't if you zoom in close. 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. 'What got me scared was being stuck in traffic with sirens going off,' she said. Until I see good evidence to the contrary, I will be strongly against regulations on this activity. The amateur storm chaser who was killed mentioned, in the cell phone conversation he was having with a friend (who was in a safe location and urged the storm chaser to get out of there), two local TV news vans passing him. At 6:23 p.m. on May 31, 2013, Samaras, his 24-year-old son Paul (a photographer), and TWISTEX team member Carl Young (a meteorologist), 45, were killed by a violent wedge tornado [19] with winds of 295 mph (475 km/h) near the Regional Airport of El Reno, Oklahoma. 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. would have made the storm hard to recognize up close. When does spring start? But what I would really like to ask is this. This kind of movement is nearly unheard of in a tornado and that paired with the fact that the tornado was 2.6 miles wide, moving at an accelerating speed, turning 45 degrees suddenly, and had recorded winds of up to 295mph in it created the perfect scenario that no one could have predicted. Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. Let's create MORE laws to regulate something we really do not know if it is a problem. Hail and high winds were the chief threat, though a tornado could not be ruled out, forecasters said. ISBN 978-1426203022 Did you know Edit Another thing I noticed that was looked over in this article was the unique conditions that were present at the time that Tim and his crew were killed by the storm. Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area. Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm's fury didn't match that of the tornado that struck Moore. This tornado was a once in a decade if not longer event that we have truly never seen anything like. It gets logistically harder to do this if the affected area includes Cairns or Brisbane, because if you are evacuating people from low-lying areas you have to leave the roads open long enough for them to get out. Their car was found upright in a ditch with its wheels blown off and the engine a quarter-mile away. There are places in this country that I have almost no tornados This law would only allow people who "***work***" for the government to be there. He was best known for being a Meteorologist. But it is a free country, and if people want to be foolish then so be it. Hoadley has been in the business for 57 years and pursued the El Reno twister. We are still burying children and victims, so our emotions are still strong,' he added. Though the state's transportation authorities strongly advised citizens not to drive, some interstate highways in Oklahoma were jammed with stalled traffic, as heavy rains drenched roadways and flooded low-lying areas. The majority of schools are built from concrete blocks that are not reinforced. 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. 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? One minute you're sitting there watching TV, the next minute your whole neighborhood looks like it was jammed through a meat grinder. 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. Do not rely on others, including the T.V. 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 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. Meteorologist Mike Bette is nursing minor injuries after his 'tornado hunt' car was thrown some 200 yards by the storm. Television images showed downed power lines and tossed cars as the storm systems dumped at least three inches of rain, stranding motorists in flood water. - Toxicology results have revealed the cause of death of a well-known storm chaser. Since I wrote this post, I've received many emails telling me that the premise is wrong, that traffic from too many storm chases did not contribute to the death of Samaras and others. This storm was erratic and there will be more storms just like it in the future. 'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. They were screaming, Were going to die, were going to die,' Randolph told USA Today. The update from the National Weather Service means the Oklahoma City area has seen two of the extremely rare EF5 tornadoes in only 11 days. Of those areas mentioned in this quote, Downtown OK city has about 7,600 people living in it. Not according to biology or history. 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. The apparent fact that individuals don't take on the personal responsibility of doing the sensible thing is a tragedy. Hard to know what to do. So in a free country, it is possible to do as you suggest. Discovery Channel said it will honor the three veteran storm chasers, who regularly appeared on its show Stormchasers, with a special airing this week. 10th St. and Radio Rd. The tornado then hurled the light Chevy Cobalt to the ground, leaving it looking as though it had been rammed through a trash compactor, police said. I'm reminded of Grand Island, NE in 1980, when the tornadoes defied everything we supposedly know about them. Making a law which makes it illegal to chase storms will make it practically impossible to get enough data to understand tornadoes. We need sensors in place, in advance of the storms. Del City has 21,000 people in it. IRS used taxpayer money to fund $4M conference with free d Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, Buster Murdaugh got 'very drunk' with dad 2 months after mom, brother murdered: source, Prince Harry was scared to lose Meghan Markle after fight that led to therapy, Prince Harry says psychedelics are fundamental part of his life, Inside Scheana Shay, Raquel Leviss heated confrontation about Tom Sandoval affair, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant allegedly flashes gun at a strip club, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce. 'They had no place to go, and that's always a bad thing. People were going southbound in the northbound lanes. An engineer by training, Samaras was known for devising instruments that offered the first views inside live tornadoes. I would just add that other media outlets had apparently been talking about "outrunning" as a strategy for a couple of days before this particular tornado, so the idea was perhaps already in people's minds. The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. A mans world? Another example of this on a NATIONAL level and not just a local level is Season 5 episode 6 of Storm Chasers (The discovery channel show that followed three chaser groups) where Joel Taylor, Reed Timmer, and Chris Chittick all call friends and family on their cellphones advising them to drive away from Yukon, OK and Norman, OK. Actually pointing those in Yukon into the path of the Pidemont, OK tornado.