Tornado May 20, 2013 Moore, OK

[Daedalus]

I'm not sure if this counts as science news, but I live in Norman, OK (it's just 7 miles south of Moore), and my best friend, Dustin, lives right behind the Warren theater where the tornado hit. I went to see the new Star Trek movie at that very same theater last night.

 

*Edit* I just found out that my friend, Amanda, was seeing the movie, Mud, at the Warren theater today. The tornado hit right before the end of the movie. If it hit 10 minutes later, she might not be alive tonight! The following image was taken by her.

 

 

According to KOMO News, there are at least 51 people confirmed dead.

 

 

Today's tornado was comparable to the May 3, 1999 tornado that also went through Moore. Both tornadoes were close to each other in size and in the path they took as shown in the following image.

 

 

The May 3, 1999 tornado is rated as an F5 (261–318 mph winds) and the May 20, 2013 tornado is rated as an EF4 (166 to 200 mph winds).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=40fon8AEYII

Edited May 21, 2013 by Daedalus

[Moontanman]

Horrific, I am glad you weren't in the path I've seen a tornado from a distance but never in a populated area. We get hurricanes but at least we get a few days notice.

[Daedalus]

Horrific, I am glad you weren't in the path I've seen a tornado from a distance but never in a populated area. We get hurricanes but at least we get a few days notice.

 

Me too!!! However, I do have a few friends who were not so lucky. I'm just thankful that they are still alive. I was two blocks away from the May 3, 1999 tornado off of 4th street and Santa Fe in Moore, OK. Today, I was at my brother's house in NW OKC.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Daedalus

[Daedalus]

Here are some pictures that my friends, family, and local news stations are posting on FB :' (

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[michel123456]

My sympathy.

How devastating!

I am wondering, why do you build your houses with wood and not with concrete? On the photos all over the net it can be noticed that all wooden structures have disappeared, even the metal structures seem unable to sustain.

Here in Greece we have no tornadoes or hurricanes but we have earthquakes. Building regulations about seismic protection are very strict and have a huge impact on building costs. Don't you have building regulations in Oklahoma?

[imatfaal]

Sympathy and best wishes.

 

But amidst the devastation cannot help but agree with Michel. He is the architect who could advise knowledgeably ; but I would believe that the reinforced concrete structures (iff constructed properly) that fill mainland Greece and the Islands would be much more proof against heavy winds than almost any wooden structure.

[EdEarl]

Tornadoes create terror and destruction. I have been lucky, not having been in one. I remember as a child having tornado drills in school. An a few years ago, a tornado came through my town, about a mile from me...a much smaller one. Nonetheless, it left a path of destruction.

 

Please accept my sympathy and hope that everyone injured makes a full recovery, including those who survived the ordeal without a scratch, but were terrified. And, I offer condolences to those who lost friends and family members.

Edited May 21, 2013 by EdEarl

[michel123456]

Also a remark from a constructive POV.

 

One must know that buildings are not self-sustaining structures. A building is not a car or an airplane that you can put upside-down.

If you put a building upside-down, it collapses.

That's what happen with a tornado. The tornado "sucks" the building, introducing a pressure from down to up (maybe from in to out, I am not sure).

With an earthquake something similar happens. The earth shakes the building up (that's not so bad because its the same direction with gravity) and down (that's very bad) or horizontally left and right (that is as if you rotated the building 90 degrees with the ground vertical - that is very-very bad).

Generally the concern here is to avoid a full building collapse and save lives.

It seems in Oklahoma there is some concern saving lives with protected basements but not to avoid full building collapse. There must be some reason I guess.

[Ophiolite]

Sympathy to all impacted by this natural force.

 

Regretably I think the simple explanation for the less than robust construction is economy. Flimsy houses cost less to build. My home has granite walls over one foot thick and is almost two hundred years old. (My main concern is radioactive radon, not a structural collapse.)

 

Again, my sympathy to anyone who suffered through this. I have a number of colleagues with friends and family in Oklahoma city and am waiting to hear from them as to how they fared.

[Phi for All]

Thanks for sharing this, condolences for those lost and best wishes for a speedy recovery for your area.

 

This was a really bad one. Glad you're safe.

[overtone]

That part of Oklahoma is tornado central in North America (which is tornado central on planet Earth) and the early pioneers there dug "storm cellars" routinely, next to the house. See the movie "Wizard of Oz" for an example.

 

The later subdivision housing was put up wholesale by large building contractors, who found such cellars to be unnecessary expenses and a competitive disadvantage. People in Oklahoma are not in general wealthy, to be fair, and things like basements and cellars do add significant cost if you are paying for the labor.

 

At this point government regulation is the normal response - if every housing contractor had to build in storm refuge it would not be a competitive disadvantage, and would be made much cheaper by economies of scale. The money would more than break even overall, then, through cost and life savings in the wake of disastrous event.

 

But OK has politics similar to those of Texas, where public schools are built a couple of blocks from ammonium nitrate fertilizer plants which are not held to even the rudimentary fire codes that do exist. As it played out, the citizens of Moore can thank the adults in this country that the current Federal administration has had a few years to rehab FEMA from the vandalism of Oklahoma's choice of politician, and has succeeded somewhat despite frankly vicious and unprincipled and heedless opposition from Oklahoma's citizenry and representation.

 

As far as masonry vs wood, etc, note that the school destroyed was not built of matchsticks, and the kids had been taken to the strongest place in it - a direct hit from a tornado like this one is really difficult to build against. With things like avalanches or tsunamis, one can avoid the major hazard zones and barrier the rest - not with tornadoes.

Edited May 21, 2013 by overtone

[Daedalus]

Thanks for all the condolences. Having been in a tornado (in a cellar) and near several of them, I appreciate all the comments.

 

My sympathy.
How devastating!
I am wondering, why do you build your houses with wood and not with concrete? On the photos all over the net it can be noticed that all wooden structures have disappeared, even the metal structures seem unable to sustain.
Here in Greece we have no tornadoes or hurricanes but we have earthquakes. Building regulations about seismic protection are very strict and have a huge impact on building costs. Don't you have building regulations in Oklahoma?

We have building codes and regulations, but you have to remember tornadoes, at least F4s and F5s, have no problem leveling reinforced concrete structures. Just look at the last pic in post #4. That is a school that, by law, is built with such reinforcement. The problem is that it's not the wind that destroys the homes per say, but what the wind is blowing. The funnel pretty much can pick up almost anything, even semi-trucks and other houses, and slam it into buildings. Just imagine being in a reinforced concrete structure that is being slammed by pieces of reinforced concrete structures and hoping that your building can hold up to the abuse.

So, it's mainly the debris ball that destroys other structures. We even build reinforced concrete structures, safe rooms, inside homes of all types, especially wooden ones. However, the only truly safe place during a tornado is underground in a reinforced concrete cellar with a steel door that latches / locks down from the inside.

That part of Oklahoma is tornado central in North America (which is tornado central on planet Earth) and the early pioneers there dug "storm cellars" routinely, next to the house. See the movie "Wizard of Oz" for an example.

 

The later subdivision housing was put up wholesale by large building contractors, who found such cellars to be unnecessary expenses and a competitive disadvantage. People in Oklahoma are not in general wealthy, to be fair, and things like basements and cellars do add significant cost if you are paying for the labor.

 

At this point government regulation is the normal response - if every housing contractor had to build in storm refuge it would not be a competitive disadvantage, and would be made much cheaper by economies of scale. The money would more than break even overall, then, through cost and life savings in the wake of disastrous event.

 

But OK has politics similar to those of Texas, where public schools are built a couple of blocks from ammonium nitrate fertilizer plants which are not held to even the rudimentary fire codes that do exist. As it played out, the citizens of Moore can thank the adults in this country that the current Federal administration has had a few years to rehab FEMA from the vandalism of Oklahoma's choice of politician, and has succeeded somewhat despite frankly vicious and unprincipled and heedless opposition from Oklahoma's citizenry and representation.

 

As far as masonry vs wood, etc, note that the school destroyed was not built of matchsticks, and the kids had been taken to the strongest place in it - a direct hit from a tornado like this one is really difficult to build against. With things like avalanches or tsunamis, one can avoid the major hazard zones and barrier the rest - not with tornadoes.

 

I would like to point out that the government does, in fact, help with the cost of safe rooms and cellars. We also have public cellars in areas, such as trailer parks, that do not have cellars or safe rooms. Also, I'm not aware of any schools in Oklahoma that are built next to fertilizer or oil and gas plants, but you never know.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Daedalus

[Moontanman]

I have often wondered if a concrete dome home would survive a tornado, they are advertised as being earthquake proof and hurricane proof as well as tornado proof. Both the concrete construction and the shape is supposed to contribute to their durability. Would the shape of a structure really be a significant factor in surviving such storms?

[Daedalus]

I have often wondered if a concrete dome home would survive a tornado, they are advertised as being earthquake proof and hurricane proof as well as tornado proof. Both the concrete construction and the shape is supposed to contribute to their durability. Would the shape of a structure really be a significant factor in surviving such storms?

 

I have seen the dome and underground homes here in Oklahoma. I imagine the dome would survive better than traditional homes, but I do not have any data to support that claim other than the fact that debri has a better chance of being deflected by the dome versus a vertical wall. I am not sure how they would hold up against a F5 considering that during the May 3, 1999 tornado Gary England told us to flee our homes or we would not survive. This has more to do with the size of an F5 tornado in that they can be anywhere from 1 - 2 miles wide if not wider.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Daedalus

[michel123456]

The birth of the monster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XMF22_MEMJU#!

Edited May 22, 2013 by michel123456

[Daedalus]

The May 20, 2013 tornado that hit Moore, Ok has been upgraded to an EF5:

 

http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-central/tornado-f5-ef5-rarity-20130521

 

The May 20 tornado in Moore, Okla. was upgraded to a rare EF5. Tornadoes of EF5 intensity have top winds of over 200 mph on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

 

The death toll has also been revised. Fortunately it went from 51 to 24. However, 9 children are included amongst the dead, including a 3 month old baby and it's parents :' (

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/oklahoma-tornado-kills-51-including-20-children-death/story?id=19222656

 

First responders are in a race against time in the search for any survivors of a devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., while the medical examiner's office has revised the death toll from 51 to 24, including nine children.

 

Here is a link with some very heart breaking photos of the destruction :' (

 

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/21/photos-oklahoma-after-the-tornado/

 

The following two photos should let you know why concrete structures provide little protection again an EF5 tornado:

 

 

We can see the rebar protruding from the concrete in this photo:

 

 

Of course, as Michel123456 has pointed out, wood structures provide even less protection:

 

 

Here is a pic of the storm as seen from space. The red line is the path of the tornado:

 

http://www.universetoday.com/102282/oklahoma-tornado-on-may-20-2013-as-seen-from-space/

 

 

Here's a cool 3D image of the tornado right as it was crossing I-44. Newcastle, OK is about 9 miles southwest of Moore, OK:

 

Edited May 22, 2013 by Daedalus

[michel123456]

The first 2 pictures do not show reinforced concrete. They show bearing block walls and metallic roof.

 

I don't want to insist though. It is clearly visible that damages can't be avoided in any kind of conventional construction. It is just too destructive, the windows blow out anyway and the flying objects are too dangerous.

Here below a link showing conventional building in Greece.

Reinforced concrete.

http://filon-kataskevastiki.com/serv03.htm#%CE%A3%CE%BA%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%84%CF%8C%CF%82_%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%B4%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%AE%CF%82_

[ewmon]

If we put students in the ground before the tornado, we won't need to put them in the ground afterwards.

 

Funerals for the tornado victims will begin soon, with ten elementary school students among the dead. It boggles my mind and infuriates me that officials say that adding a storm cellar to a school greatly increases it's cost. We're not talking about a long-term executive-type nuclear bomb shelter, just something simple where a couple hundred students can stand up (or even sit on the floor) for a half hour at most. Each person needs about a 2×2-foot space. A 20×20-foot room for 100 people. A 40×40-foot room for 400 people. One entrance inside the school and another entrance outside. How expensive could that be? Compared to ten child-sized coffins.

Edited May 23, 2013 by ewmon

[Daedalus]

The first 2 pictures do not show reinforced concrete. They show bearing block walls and metallic roof.

 

I'll defer to your expertise. I'm definitely not an expert on construction materials or techniques beyond building cabinets.

 

If we put students in the ground before the tornado, we won't need to put them in the ground afterwards.

 

Funerals for the tornado victims will begin soon, with are ten elementary school students among the dead. It boggles my mind and infuriates me that officials say that adding a storm cellar to a school greatly increases it's cost. We're not talking about a long-term executive-type nuclear bomb shelter, just something simple where a couple hundred students can stand up (or even sit on the floor) for a half hour at most. Each person needs about a 2×2-foot space. A 20×20-foot room for 100 people. A 40×40-foot room for 400 people. One entrance inside the school and another entrance outside. How expensive could that be? Compared to ten child-sized coffins.

 

I agree with you 100%. I never thought it was a good idea to have students simply go into a bathroom or hallway during a tornado.

[Daedalus]

I'm sure most of you know that we had another outbreak of tornadoes on May 31, 2013. The numbers are finally in and channel 9 has reported that the tornado that hit El Reno was a record breaking 2.6 miles wide with winds of 295 mph. NBC news also reports the same.

 

The tornado that struck El Reno, Okla., on Friday night is believed to be the widest on record in the United States at 2.6 miles across, the National Weather Service reported on Tuesday.

 

Luckily, I was in Norman, OK at the time and took shelter at Norman Regional Hospital. They have underground facilities, and are equipped to handle such emergencies. However, veteran storm chaser, Tim Samaras, his son Paul, and thier collegue Carl Young were killed during the storm when the tornado turned and struck their vehicle.

 

The tornado outbreak that swept through Oklahoma Friday night moved in quickly, for the second time in two weeks, and the cluster of twisters were deadly. In the storm's aftermath, 13 people have been confirmed dead. Among them were three veteran storm chasers.

 

Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras and their colleague, Carl Young, were all killed while trying to document and research the storm.

 

Tim was found inside his car with his seat belt still on. Paul and Young were pulled from a car by a tornado. One of them was found dead a half mile away.

Tim Samaras, who led the storm chasing team, was an esteemed scientist. In the storm chasing community, he was known, not only as one of the best, but one of the most cautious. He chased because he wanted to learn, find out how to improve warning systems and help meteorologists do a better job of forecasting tornadoes.

 

Much of Samaras' recent research was funded through National Geographic, which issued a statement today that said, "We are shocked and deeply saddened... [samaras] was a courageous and brilliant scientist who fearlessly pursued tornadoes and lightning ... in an effort to better understand these phenomena."

 

With 13 people confirmed dead from this latest storm, May 2013 was a deadly month for Oklahoma with two confirmed EF5 tornadoes within a two week period.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Daedalus