An engineer by training, Samaras was known for devising instruments that offered the first views inside live tornadoes. Video taken by a number of storm chasers showed debris pelting vehiclesFriday. You are absolutely right, that this tornado was a particularly monstrous one. 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. A four-year-old boy died after being swept into the Oklahoma River on the south side of Oklahoma City, said Oklahoma City police Lt. Jay Barnett. That would stop several people right there. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it believed the deaths were the first time scientific researchers were killed while chasing tornadoes. ISBN 978-1426203022 Did you know Edit Or, perhaps, you are driving down the highway at 40 mph along with a dozen other cars also driving down the highway and suddenly you are all flipped. Waiting: Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport was evacuated. October 31st 2015, 7:11 PM PDT. That's why safety experts say you need a plan. Like diving into the bath tub with a mattress on top for cover. Thus the bigger the projectile you will make, the worse the fine. 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. Law enforcement in a tornado emergency already has immense priorities safeguarding the areas affected, treating the injured, rescues, ascertaining what equipment is needed, etc who would be pulled off those duties to chase down minor traffic violators? So maybe take the time to authorize a few specialists that take recreational tours storm chasing, and keep the rest of them off of the roads. I answered in good faith. Tornado watches tend to cover a larger area, and the lead time is much shorter. This is my last post at Scienceblogs.com. the same thing happens every year with both tornadoes and hurricanes, how many people ignore the wanings and do not evacuate coastal areas, to only try to call 911 in the middle of the storm panicking and 911 tells them sorry cant help you. Washington, DC: National Geographic. 2) "But the hundreds, or even thousands of non-professional storm chasers are probably not contributing to the science of tornadoes and tornado safety." Can we bring a species back from the brink? They can't have this, because the traffic is a factor, but yes, Samaras and his crew were not killed this way. This report indicates he's more right than he could have known. In the case of the El Reno tornado, traffic in combination with road bottlenecks (over a river) did in fact cause a number of storm chasers (and go watch the video to get an idea of how many storm chasers there were!) Having grown up in Wichita, Ks., I'm well aware of the unpredictability of tornadoes; though technology has greatly improved forcasting, tornadoes will remain highly unpredictable. This advice sounds reasonable, but it really isnt. What if we could clean them out? 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. An element. But once your car is inside an F3 or F4 tornado, that is no longer your problem alone. It seems to me that we should be collecting equivalent data from storms that do and storms that do not drop tornadoes, because, after all, one of the things we want to know more about is the difference between those two types of storms. Of those areas mentioned in this quote, Downtown OK city has about 7,600 people living in it. Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" CBS from Dallas agrees with Dorothy from KC and OL from OKC. Nine were confirmed dead in the Oklahoma City area on Friday evening, though the death toll has since risen, and flash floods in Arkansas caused additional fatalities, including a sheriff trying to rescue people from rising waters. 'Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. Enough said. Officials described parts of Interstates 35 and 40 near Oklahoma City as 'a parking lot.'. I don't know what Reed has ever done for science with his stuff. It almost stopped, then went East. Today three brave, highly experienced, storm chasers were honored in El Reno. It's even worse if you are an amateur tornado chasing on your own--at least the tour groups have an experienced person to warn them that the tornado is coming straight at them and they need to hit the dirt NOW! The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months. I dont think they realize how lucky El Reno was.. Shooting tournament: People search a field for guns near a destroyed RV at a state shooting tournament that was destroyed in El Reno, Weapons displaced: Shotguns recovered from a field lay against a overturned trailor at a state shooting tournament that was destroyed in El Reno, Devastation: When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled right down Interstate 40 for more than two miles, ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames. 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. But telling everyone to leave their homes and drive is not advised, if that is actually what the newscaster did. His body was found but the wildlife officer is still listed as missing. I doubt that the new law would save lives. In his writeup of this event, meteorologist Paul Douglas made this point: Every time I went down to Oklahoma [with storm chasers] I was struck by the number of people tagging along. The deaths of Mr. Samaras, his son, and Mr. Young had absolutely nothing to do with the horrendous traffic affecting other parts of Oklahoma on May 31. None of those fancy schemes work. 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. So in a free country, it is possible to do as you suggest. Were 20 of those people storm chasers? Just then the power went out and I heard what sounded like a freight train. El Reno Mayor Matt White said that while his city of 18,000 residents suffered significant damage including its vocational-technical center and a cattle stockyard that was reduced to a pile of twisted metal he said it could have been much worse had the violent twister tracked to the north. Apply that technology to license plates instead of faces. 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." Hail and heavy rain pelted the metro area to the point that emergency workers had trouble responding to 'widespread' reports of injuries. But Fridays massive tornado avoided the highly populated areas near and around Oklahoma City, and forecasters said that likely saved lives. Public safety workers already enjoy wide latitude in the execution of their jobs. Mr. Robinson also had forward and side facing dash cams operating that day and the Twistex crew's Chevy is the only other vehicle visible in any direction on Reuter Rd for the last 15 or 20 minutes of the chase. 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. 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. It airs at 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The debris field created by Samaras' wrecked car, the report concludes, corroborates the footage, which shows the subvortex moving across the face of the larger tornado at about the time Samaras' headlights disappear. There is no certainty. In fact, one could argue that a new law is not needed and this power is already available to police and emergency response agencies. I refer you'all to this: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/19/pilger_nebraska_torn, I think the only thing storm chasers should do is be apart of the new pioneering field of tornado disbursement, its a idea I had years back in the field of weather modification using scaled up drone quad copters to deliver large quantities of helium gas to new forming tornadoes. ', Danger: A series of violent storms and tornadoes have killed nine people as they swept through Oklahoma City and its suburbs on Friday, Damage: People survey the damage at the Canadian Valley Technology Center's El Reno Campus after it was hit by a powerful tornado on Friday, Crash: An airplane from the Aviation Technology department lies upside down on the lawn at Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno. I'm not saying I agree with it, but this is not something he suddenly started doing. He did not say "don't get in your car" and he did not say "a car is a bad place to be, and if you find yourself in a car do this and that" which is what he should have said. Regarding the rest of your comment. Officials added five victims on Monday to the confirmed list of dead from the tornadoes and from storms that caused severe flooding: three adults and two unidentified children, the medical examiner's office said. 'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. Mike Bettes, a member of the Weather Channel Tornado Hunt Team, was driving in his SUV when it was picked up and thrown 200 yards by the monster rain-wrapped tornado near El Reno. He said "you need to be below ground [pause] if you can drive south bla bla bla", Does this mean "you need to be below ground, but if you are in you car in the path of the tornado you can drive south", Or does this mean "you need to be below ground or if you can drive south, go and drive south". If you watch the Discovery Channels Storm Chasers show, you will notice that as the seasons progress the professional storm chasers encounter more and more traffic as they try to move to the predicted path of oncoming tornadoes to drop data collecting probes or carry out direct intercepts (where the specially modified vehicles equipped with data collection devices are directly hit with a tornado). I was in the northern part of the metro and we were nervous because most tornadoes through here track NE eventually. Our community has suffered a terrible loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones. :) There is a large university team with a NASA/NOAA grant that I know of, and a number of professional chasers are grad students at a university, but that is not the same thing. But the main circulation was crawling with smaller tornadoes, some moving at speeds of 260 feet per second (177 mph), according to the report. I am thinking these scientists were blaming the storm track far more than the traffic. Not according to biology or history. I would like to see some repercussions for the idiotic weather personalities who suggested running away. The American Meteorological Society has released a preliminary version of its after-action report on the El Reno, Oklahoma, tornado, which killed noted storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul and chase partner Carl Young. A 51-year-old teacher's assistant who also tried to run from the storm said she quickly regretted her decision, after becoming stuck in traffic in the path of the tornado. A total of five tornadoes struck the Oklahoma City metro area, the National Weather Service said. You can also shop using Amazon Smile and though you pay nothing more we get a tiny something. The one thing in your article I see that you failed to address is the number of chasers in the past that have been killed by the storm while chasing them. They are pictured along with fellow storm chaser Tony Laubach, Avid explorer: Emotional tributes have been made to scientist and storm chaser Tim Samaras, who died doing what he loved, friends said, Destroyed: The Chevrolet Cobalt, pictured, driven by Tim Samaras was thrown half a mile in the terrifying storm, Tragic: Tim Samaras was found dead inside the car, pictured, while the other storm chasers' bodies were discovered half a mile in either direction. However, the men's deaths have shone a spotlight on the dangers of storm chasing. The latter group tend to get in the way. Take multiple pictures of vehicles "in the way" of emergency responders at tornado or other emergency sites. In the freezer some people were freaking out and crying, while some comforted others and few told jokes, revealed Beverly Allam, 57. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous. Let me post a reply to many of the above comments and suggestions. Tim Samaras of Storm Chasers 5 7 (1.70 m) Born November 12, 1957 Lakewood, Colorado, USA Died May 31, 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma, USA (tornado) Spouse Kathy Samaras? We have strong public service announcements for months before and during fire season about making a fire safety plan for your household and how to listen for public safety messages on high fire risk days - and those announcements for the duration of the fire are very cautious about advising people to get away only if it is safe to do so. On the one hand, researchers have to pay the bills somehow, and this is one way to do it. Local news reported an estimated 1,200 people were at the airport. But it is a free country, and if people want to be foolish then so be it. That is not my argument either, it is simply what all the experts say. Having a law about something means that society wants certain things to happen or not happen. Pay attention to what he says. Then, when the car is done flipping, it gets flipped again. Big fires are also pretty unpredictable and they can drop burning embers many kilometres away from the fire centre. The tornado caught up with him and his crew and ended them. But, since we (we here discussing this) don't really know the laws and how they work regarding emergency response, traffic, etc. The men spent years capturing and sharing storm videos with TV viewers and weather researchers. Contributions are fully tax-deductible. 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. The thing is, this tornado was heading roughly from west to east into a highly populated area. 'He was either washed off the road or tried to get out of his car. 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. Rather than wishing for the cops to block storm chasers from going to work or giving untrained hayseed sheriffs deputies the responsibility of predicting tornado behavior and rerouting traffic accordingly, maybe instead of getting stuck in traffic the next time an F5 rolls through town how's about using that time digging a nice cozy little family sized hole in their back yard and stocking it with a weather radio and a couple of 12 packs of whatever passes for beer in Oklahoma. Those media outlets need to do a more professional job and take their responsibility as journalists rather than entertainers more seriously (generally, not just with respect to tornadoes). On Tuesday, Storm Chasers star Joel Taylor died at 38. ScienceBlogs is a registered trademark of Science 2.0, a science media nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This advice sounds reasonable, but it really isnt. Also, there are nearly no public shelters anymore, due to liability issues. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed following Friday's EF3 tornado in El Reno, Okla. But volcanoes usually give fair warning that an eruption is likely to occur in the next several weeks, and in most cases (at least in First World countries) authorities can control the few access routes to the volcano. One more thing: at the point the tornado lifted, it was heading more or less directly eastward along I-40 (again, Jeff Masters is my source here). This, in turn, would require storm chasers to make their case that they are professionals that are doing something worthwhile, and that they take appropriate action related to their own safety and the safety of others. Watch: It is not inforceable. 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. 'For reasons that are not clear to me, more people took to the roads, more than we expected. Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma. For the record, an "enigmatic" lack of shelter in Oklahoma has to do with cost. As for the accuracy of the cause of death of the Twistex team, I report here what was said at the time.
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