Now that would be an effective law. But yes, I agree that people deliberately in the wrong place at the wrong time should be penalized. We have many many laws that are more or less unenforceable. I also think that storm chasing is not necessarily a bad idea, of course it has its risks but imagine the benefits we could reap if we understood these monsters enough to harness the energy they release rather than letting it do nothing but cause a mess. 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. Vented to the atmosphere, it eventually makes its way to the exosphere and is light enough to escape to space. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car.'. As we wrote a while back, the National Weather Service downgraded the tornado from an EF-5 to an EF-3. Keith: I know, I hate words! Police believe the woman was driving an SUV near El Reno when the powerful twister flipped the vehicle over. 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. 'It was chaos. 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. 'I'm not sure why people do that sort of stuff, but it is very dangerous. Here's a new law we can make: Whenever there is an emotional tragedy, no laws related to it can be made for at least 5 years. Early aerial images of the storm's damage showed groups of homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the ground for blocks. Damage from Friday night's severe weather was concentrated a few miles north of Moore, the Oklahoma City suburb pounded by an EF5 tornado on May 20 that killed 24 people. I'm not sure about your claim that there was not a traffic jam, that conflicts with everything else I've heard. 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,. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed following Friday's EF3 tornado in El Reno, Okla. That seems to be what happened here. 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. 'I think we are still a little shaken by what happened in Moore. pauline taylor seeley cause of death; how does this poem differ from traditional sonnets interflora; airmessage vs blue bubbles; southside legend strain effects; abd insurance and financial services; valenzuela city ordinance violation fines; my summer car cheatbox; vfs global japan visa nepal contact number; beaver owl fox dolphin personality . Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. Yes, chaser convergance has been a huge problem over the last few years. They all unfortunately passed away but doing what they LOVED. Take note at 3:09 - that's the edge of the tornado visible in the right side of the frame as it grows to nearly 2.6 miles across - the largest ever recorded. 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. 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? Washington, DC: National Geographic. I dont think the scientists who died in this storm would agree with you on that. Tim Samaras was a pioneer and great man," he wrote. I can at least understand why news crews were in the vicinity, but they didn't really need to be there either. This is a free country and public space is public. I hope that newscasters are better informed about the advice they should give and that this tragedy is never repeated. Regarding the rest of your comment. 'We're scrambling around,' said Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the local ambulance agency. And that traffic jam was probably caused by the exodus of people following very bad advice, and possibly as well as non-professional storm chasers moving in on the likely path of the storm. ', 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. If you want to walk down Main Street, in downtown America, you can do that, because it is America. You can read the preliminary version here. Thus the bigger the projectile you will make, the worse the fine. 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. Run them through the DMV and send out those tickets. It isn't just the clouds that appear smooth, but aren't if you zoom in close. and help keep the future of the Observer, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, The Last Ride of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras. 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. Not according to biology or history. 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). Joel Taylor starred . They sheltered at St Anthony's Hospital which was only about 1/4 mile from where the tornado touched down. Dallas' independent source of I have a feeling that Scienceblogs will not last long without me. During the United States tornado season, it seems that we experience repeated tornadoes and other severe storms in a given area over several days. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. One of Earth's loneliest volcanoes holds an extraordinary secret. I hold a degree in atmospheric and oceanic sciences. As for highway patrol and local police their cars NEED to have radar installed and they need lessons on how to use it. 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. I doubt that the new law would save lives. Drivers were encouraged to stay off the roads on Saturday, as emergency crews started to repair the flood-damaged roads and bridges, and began clearing trees and other debris from roadways to make it easier for first responders to get to the areas hit by the tornadoes. And, how exactly is an officer supposed to know the area to keep any car (stormchaser or not) out of? It is fairly safe to say, that Mr. Samaras, his son, and Mr. Carl Young, sustained injuries when the sub-vortex of the El Reno storm directly impacted their vehicle on Reuters Road, west of the intersection with Radio Road. Second, the point is still valid. Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" Thankfully, I got out of it with just a few minor injuries and broken windows, but if a monster tornado happens people will not be as lucky as I was. 'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency. Stop having idiots chase things. 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Apply that technology to license plates instead of faces. Alliteratively, if you are in a car and hit by the vortex of an F3 or stronger tornado, your chances of survival are much lower. Such a regulation or law would also require consideration of a certification of professional status for actual professional storm chasers. The men worked as a team and Tim Samaras had received 18 grants from the National Geographic Society for work in the field. Most new laws seem to be rehashes of existing laws that can be adapted. Samaras, 55, his son Paul, 24, and Young, 45, were all killed while trying to document and research the storm. 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. 'He was either washed off the road or tried to get out of his car. Video taken by a number of storm chasers showed debris pelting vehiclesFriday. 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? If idiots who don't know what they're doing want to drive into a twister, let them. So, if you live in Oklahoma City and figure there may be tornadoes coming later in the day, there is nothing to guarantee that driving north to Aunt Millies house in Enid, OK will not put you in the path of one of the tornadoes that happen to form that day. I've been reading Jeff Masters' blog regularly. We were fine. The Life and Death of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras Books The Man Who Caught the Storm Tim Samaras was a legendary storm chaser whose work informed what we know about tornadoes. 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. Roughly speaking, this is the equivalent of driving down the highway at several tens of miles an hour and suddenly flipping, three or four times. Their car was found. Hail and heavy rain pelted the metro area to the point that emergency workers had trouble responding to 'widespread' reports of injuries. Tornadoes do neither. In Fridays storm, many of the deaths were caused by heavy flash flooding following the storms. A storm chaser who heeded the bad feeling in his gut and decided to hang back that day told me the tornado was "designed to kill storm chasers." Also, we all have to take responsibility for our own safety and try and do what's best for you. Other professional meteorologists, from The Weather Channel, were injured. There are many chasers who do stop to render aid and time and time again they are often the first to reach the victims in crucial first moments with skills to save lives. Biography - A Short Wiki People who tried to get away in their cars faced potential dangers from flash flood waters as well as tornado-force winds. To make this point, here are photographs from major media of a handful of examples of cars that got hit with the vortex, most but not all from this latest tornado: I admit that a flattened house may look pretty bad, may even look worse than a mushed up car, but generally speaking the interior lower floor room in a house that is badly messed up by a tornado is a survivable shelter, while there is no such shelter in your car. The morning after: Wilburn Shaw looks for personal items in the remains of his kitchen the morning after Friday night's storm that passed through St. Charles, Mo, Power outages: Tornado-damaged power lines hang separated from its pole after tornadoes that swept through central Oklahoma on Friday, Shattered dreams: A couple in St. Charles embrace as they look over their destroyed home after a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes swept across the Midwest, Together: A mother holds her three children after fans at the Barons game were evacuated to the parking garage under the Cox Convention Center due to severe storms in Oklahoma City on Friday. The . Though the tornado alert expired, the powerful rain continued to hit the area and floodwaters were collecting in the streets. The thing is, this tornado was heading roughly from west to east into a highly populated area. It is probably true that Samaras abandoned attempts at dropping probes more often then strictly necessary, cautiously avoiding rain-wrapped tornadoes where they would not have been able to see where the tornado was, in order to be extra safe. That sort of delay could have been the difference between the Samaras team escaping and being caught in the tornado. 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. It will NEVER happen. 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. Its very scary I dont think a normal person can fathom just how scary. That is not my argument either, it is simply what all the experts say. Interestingly motorcycle helmets are cheaper than football helmets due to liability reasons. It may well be that entirely different approaches are better. I am stunned that that any forecaster indicated people should drive anywhere after 5pm that day. 'The trees were leaning literally to the ground. Watch: More than 200,000 were left without power in the impacted areas. After a large and violent tornado went through Moore Oklahoma a few days ago, several people in various media outlets including CNN mentioned that given the (seemingly enigmatic) lack of good shelter in homes and public buildings in Oklahoma, that a good option to protect yourself in case a tornado comes your way is to drive away. Pay attention to what he says. Okay, fair enough. I dont think there has been a single case (correct me if im wrong) of external injury or property damage due to a chasers car getting picked up by a tornado. Twistex Memorial dedicated to 3 killed in El Reno. Myers said the man left for work early Saturday and his vehicle was found empty near East Hefner Road and Dobbs Road just after 6 a.m. 'His vehicle was found washed off the road,' Myers said. None of them contributes to the scientific research and experimentation going on. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car. Del City has 21,000 people in it. Most of the difference in predictability of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and the waters around Australia is that the North Atlantic has both a longer climatology base and a higher density of surface observations. The boy and other family members had sought shelter in a drainage ditch. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. With the regulation that you are proposing, what would you suggest to someone who doesn't have the tools or money to contribute their chasing to science, but simply would like to witness the beauty of mother nature, and is educated enough on storms to make smart decisions to not pose a danger to others? The scene was eerily like that from last week, when blackened skies generated a top-of-the-scale EF5 storm with 210 mph winds. If you are directly hit by a strong tornado, ending up in the vortex, and you are in the bathtub of your home on the lower floor, youve got a pretty good chance of survival. It is fairly safe to say, that Mr. Samaras, his son, and Mr. Carl Young, sustained injuries when the sub-vortex of the El Reno storm directly impacted their vehicle on Reuters Road, west of the intersection with Radio Road. Long-time friend of Tim Samaras, meteorologist Mike Nelson, told the Denver Channel: 'I have known Tim for over 20 years, he was the most brilliant and most careful severe weather researcher of them all. 564K views 9 years ago June 3, 2013Tim Samaras spent more than 30 years researching tornadoes. That would stop several people right there. These animals can sniff it out. 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. In the freezer some people were freaking out and crying, while some comforted others and few told jokes, revealed Beverly Allam, 57. 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. The spot a few yards off Reuter Road where the body of Tim Samaras was found inside the crushed vehicle (his son. 'Tim was a courageous and brilliant scientist who fearlessly pursued tornadoes and lightning in the field in an effort to better understand these phenomena. More cars on the roads also meant more trouble for Highway Patrol officers responding to automobile accidents during the storm, Randolph said. In the area of voting, the main problem seems to be the expenditure of great amounts of outrage and, which I've posted on before there are new developments, summarized at Inside Climate News: 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. One minute you're sitting there watching TV, the next minute your whole neighborhood looks like it was jammed through a meat grinder. Waiting: Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport was evacuated. They said to stay at work if you had better shelter there. It needs to be taught FREE for the public as well. I won't be joining them on the roads. But once your car is inside an F3 or F4 tornado, that is no longer your problem alone. Though the tornadoes were not as strong as the EF-5 twister that killed 24 on May 20, fear drove many people to attempt to flee the area in their cars only to get caught up in heavy rains and flash flooding. In Canadian County, Okla., where the men died, Undersheriff Chris West noted the three were hoping to help understand violent storms. I recently found the article on the el Reno tornado you wrote several years ago and I was struck by the naivety of your arguments on laws banning chasing. In fact, one could argue that a new law is not needed and this power is already available to police and emergency response agencies. 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. It still came down to the fact that you have to do what you feel is right (especially if it conflicts with what you are being told to do) and not just become a helpless lemming during an emergency. The tornado caught up with him and his crew and ended them. One is that people may have been encouraged via chatter in a number of places to use "driving away" as their strategy for getting away from this particular tornado. And, just like a tornado, the last place you want to be caught in a fire is in your car. But please, do we need new laws? I don't think so! Police/authority do have the power to stop vehicles/storm chasers from continuing down a road if there is an immanent threat. 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). The Death of Tim Samaras, Lightning Chaser. Samaras, his son Paul, and colleague Carl Young died in late May in El Reno, Okla. while chasing an EF5 (winds above 200 miles per hour) tornado, which was later estimated to the be the widest . Troopers requested a number of ambulances at I-40 near Yukon, west of Oklahoma City.
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