Huge tornado in Moore, Okla.

[MPerce]

So, today's been a pretty crappy day in my home state.

If you haven't heard, a 2 mile-wide tornado scorched through Moore, a suburb just south of Oklahoma City. So far, 51 are confirmed dead, including several kids in an elementary school that was completely destroyed, and that number is expected to go up.

First off, to my fellow Okie Escapists: are you all okay?

Secondly, if you wanna help out, the following link has a lot of donation options.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/20/18381508-how-to-help-oklahoma-tornado-victims?lite


Pretty horrible day, overall. Let's hope things start to look up from here.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Not in OK, North Texas here, and last spring I almost was hit by an F4 myself going home, seeing cars flying through the air and am thankful to have survived. The damage and loss is devestating, I cannot even watch the coverage without being ill and tearful at the same time. My heart goes out to all. I am terrified that we will be hit the next day, as the risks have shifted south to our area now, and they are listing a neighborhood near here as a high population area at risk for 5/21, same time of day. I am just east of Mesquite listed here:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html

Mesquite is just east of where on this map http://www.tornadoalleylive.com/subindex/weather/forecast they have those two tornado markers stating "Large Tornados possible" for 5/21/13. I do hope this is finally over, and we do not see a repeat of this at 3pm here today as well. Edit 2:Looks like they moved the markers south to us for now. I can't even watch this it is horrific.

I truly hope that we can somehow expand the tornado shelter grants and also ensure that all schools are equipped with proper in place shelters to withstand 200+ mph winds to prevent this many lives lost from happening again. Tornados can come down on top of you at any time, and we need to have more in place shelters to ensure less lives are lost. Something does need to be done to protect communities, people need somewhere to go to survive, and that needs to be made available to all.

Currently Texas FEMA grant program will cover 1/2 the cost of a shelter up to $3,000, if you can even get one, but when shelters cost an average of $9,000- $10,000, and with the case of in ground, which is what is necessary to survive an f4-f5 is even more expensive, that even with the grants, they are still not affordable for the majority of people. There should be a combination of both private and community shelters in order to provide adequate facilities for people to survive.

Really this should be considered necessary for everyone residing in Tornado prone areas.

EDIT 1: They changed the first map, and listed Garland, even closer to me than Mesquite. I don't know if I am going to stay here today, sounds like a good day to have a vacation somewhere else, anywhere else but here...

 

[J Tyran]

A terrible tragedy, hitting a school like that. I feel for the families of the victims.

 

[piinyouri]

*looks out the window at the remnants of the OK storm tearing our shit up*
Yup, it's finally spring.

My heart truly goes out to the people who lost their possessions, family, friends and livelihood.
Living in this region of the country, it's something you kind of sort of learn to deal with, except not really.

I still hate having to crowd around the TV every other night from March to June, praying and hoping my little town isn't obliterated by a wrathful storm.

 

[uchytjes]

I'm really glad I don't live in OK, I mean, I already get more than enough of this stuff up here in Iowa.

It really is sad that weather patterns are just perfect for storms like this to occur in the midwest.

Quick question: Are there any other "tornado alley"s in other parts of the world or is it just unique to the midwestern US? I know tornados can happen almost anywhere, but are they at all common in any other place?

 

[VoidWanderer]

Having moved away from Christchurch before the big earthquake hit, I offer my hopes and prayers to those caught in the wake of this disaster.

 

[J Tyran]

The BBC news are saying that 91 people have been killed and 120 injured now.

 

[piinyouri]

Here in Arkansas it's not too bad, so perhaps schools could go without, but absolutely no question, any school in the brunt of tornado alley should have a structurally proven storm shelter or shelters, period.
Like years ago.

It's like if someone built something in Japan and didn't put any earthquake countermeasures in it's design.

 

[RicoADF]

*looks out the window at the remnants of the OK storm tearing our shit up*
Yup, it's finally spring.

My heart truly goes out to the people who lost their possessions, family, friends and livelihood.
Living in this region of the country, it's something you kind of sort of learn to deal with, except not really.

I still hate having to crowd around the TV every other night from March to June, praying and hoping my little town isn't obliterated by a wrathful storm.

As someone who lives in Sydney Australia and thus just has rain from time to time and the the occasional bushfire,I have never understood why people live in places known to be in disaster prone areas. Why don't the towns move?
OT: Sad story and hope most of the kids are found safe. Why aren't the schools properly equipped??

 

[chozo_hybrid]

That sucks, I hope things settle and people can start getting on with the lives, dealing with their losses and so on, my thoughts are with the families and friends of those lost in it

 

[piinyouri]

*looks out the window at the remnants of the OK storm tearing our shit up*
Yup, it's finally spring.

My heart truly goes out to the people who lost their possessions, family, friends and livelihood.
Living in this region of the country, it's something you kind of sort of learn to deal with, except not really.

I still hate having to crowd around the TV every other night from March to June, praying and hoping my little town isn't obliterated by a wrathful storm.

As someone who lives in Sydney Australia and thus just has rain from time to time and the the occasional bushfire,I have never understood why people live in places known to be in disaster prone areas. Why don't the towns move?

: Sad story and hope most of the kids are found safe. Why aren't the schools properly equipped??

That's a lot of land to just up and leave unfortunately.

That aside, you've got folks who have lived where they are for generations. It's pretty tough to get some people to leave that.
My other answer is I have no idea.
Though it holds true to some extent that no matter where you go you're going to be in the path/known stomping grounds of SOME kind of disaster.

At least in the US:
Southwest - Terrible droughts during the summer, and dust storms. California has a seismic history as well.

Mid west and central mid west - Tornado's, storms that can produce straight line winds
Anything along the Mississippi river is in danger of a flood during the rainy seasons

Eastern coast - Hurricane season is devastating.

Far north-Snow storms that can bury your house and leave you without electricity for weeks.

 

[capper42]

That's a lot of land to just up and leave unfortunately.

That aside, you've got folks who have lived where they are for generations. It's pretty tough to get some people to leave that.
My other answer is I have no idea.
Though it holds true to some extent that no matter where you go you're going to be in the path/known stomping grounds of SOME kind of disaster.

At least in the US:
Southwest - Terrible droughts during the summer, and dust storms. California has a seismic history as well.

Mid west and central mid west - Tornado's, storms that can produce straight line winds
Anything along the Mississippi river is in danger of a flood during the rainy seasons

Eastern coast - Hurricane season is devastating.

Far north-Snow storms that can bury your house and leave you without electricity for weeks.

The US seems to be a lot more hostile than a lot of people give it credit for. I can't imagine living somewhere where some random devastating unpreventable natural disaster could just wipe out everything you own, and even kill you. Say what you will about the weather in England, at least we don't get literally blown away.

 

[piinyouri]

The US seems to be a lot more hostile than a lot of people give it credit for. I can't imagine living somewhere where some random devastating unpreventable natural disaster could just wipe out everything you own, and even kill you. Say what you will about the weather in England, at least we don't get literally blown away.

I have heard that it rains rather frequently in the UK. Is there any region that has issues with flooding, just out of curiosity?

 

[Andy Shandy]

As usual, my sympathies go out to anyone affected by the disaster and hopefully they can get back on their feet at soon as possible.

 

[capper42]

The US seems to be a lot more hostile than a lot of people give it credit for. I can't imagine living somewhere where some random devastating unpreventable natural disaster could just wipe out everything you own, and even kill you. Say what you will about the weather in England, at least we don't get literally blown away.

I have heard that it rains rather frequently in the UK. Is there any region that has issues with flooding, just out of curiosity?

It generally rains pretty frequently, but I think the main characteristic of our weather is that it's so changeable.

Actually, now you mention it, I've completely forgotten that the past few years we've had several pretty bad cases of flooding. I just wasn't affected because I live on a hill. Because the country is so small, there's only small variations in our weather between regions. The South-East is a bit drier I think, and the West in general is pretty wet. It's a bit colder up North (even more so in Scotland).

I'm hardly the best person to ask though, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to the meteorological goings on in the rest of the country.

 

[PeterMerkin69]

I don't understand how something like this could happen in tornado alley, particularly the school collapse. Some casualties are inevitable due to the size of the population and strength of the tornado, but why didn't the administrators have a better plan than "go drown in the basement?" Perhaps Barry will renew the call to action and demand a dedicated tornado shelter in every school--is that something any of you will be demanding on Internet message boards?--or call on Congress to ban tornadoes outright. Because if we can save just one life, we owe it to ourselves to try. Rite?


Oh well. At least now we know that God loves the little children. He probably just dropped a school on a couple dozen of them so he can hug them in heaven.

 

[Kyrian007]

Wichita, Kansas (north of the OKC area for those who aren't familiar with the area) here and we had our first tornadoes of the year on Sunday. But they were weak (EF1 in rural area,) nothing like the EF4 that hit Moore. And as support for local media outlets and having stood in the rubble that once was Haysville, KS; Joplin, MO; and Greensburg, KS... what's going on in Moore is a kind of devastation and destruction that's hard to experience when you're right there. And as much as we Kansans are friendly rivals with our neighbors to the south... they'll rebuild it (probably better and faster than we would.) They'll take in and take care of their neighbors who lost it all, they'll mourn for the ones they lost, and they'll build it again and better than it was before.

As someone who lives in Sydney Australia and thus just has rain from time to time and the the occasional bushfire,I have never understood why people live in places known to be in disaster prone areas. Why don't the towns move?
OT: Sad story and hope most of the kids are found safe. Why aren't the schools properly equipped??

Public schools in conservative dominated areas (like KS and OK) tend to be underfunded (so Republicans can pay for tax breaks for the rich) and therefore less likely to be built to the highest safety standards. But really all politics aside... it was an EF 4. That's the "blender" level of tornado damage. Whatever it eats, it grinds into chunks not much bigger than your head and spreads it pretty evenly over the landscape. A building has to be built like a bunker with reinforced walls, special pressure regulating ventilation, and all safety glass windows to be able to stand up to power like that. And really why go to the expense of all of that when you could get hit with the EF 5 which would just leave the exposed foundation and take everything else no matter how well built something is?

 

[New Troll]

I don't understand how something like this could happen in tornado alley, particularly the school collapse. Some casualties are inevitable due to the size of the population and strength of the tornado, but why didn't the administrators have a better plan than "go drown in the basement?" Perhaps Barry will renew the call to action and demand a dedicated tornado shelter in every school--is that something any of you will be demanding on Internet message boards?--or call on Congress to ban tornadoes outright. Because if we can save just one life, we owe it to ourselves to try. Rite?


Oh well. At least now we know that God loves the little children. He probably just dropped a school on a couple dozen of them so he can hug them in heaven.

You can come up with the absolute best, all-purpose survival system for any possible situation, but without resources it's all moot. I'd love to say every single building in all of "Tornado Valley" needs to be tornado-proof (at least to some degree) but at the same time I know first hand I can't afford to live in a "truly secure" building and can't afford taxes to pay for "truly secure" government buildings (i.e. schools.) We do the best we can under the circumstances we live within.

That goes for everyone world-wide. I'm certain the thousands of people starving to death in agriculturally poor areas didn't choose those conditions for themselves. I'm certain the thousands who died during the tsunami last year didn't expect for it to happen as it did. The world is a wild and crazy entity that for as hard as we as a race try, humanity will never have control over. Especially since we have a complete lack of global organization and refuse to work peacefully with each other.

 

[Cette]

I don't understand how something like this could happen in tornado alley, particularly the school collapse. Some casualties are inevitable due to the size of the population and strength of the tornado, but why didn't the administrators have a better plan than "go drown in the basement?"

Don't you know that in Oklahoma all we teach the kids to do is duck and cover in the hallway where there'll be less broken glass flying around. Basements suitable for a tornado shelter that can fit the student body would require actually thinking ahead and spending money on infrastructure. And we can't do that while we're busy trying to cut taxes. I mean after all there are priorities to consider!

Sorry I generally try not to rant political on things like this but seeing such completely foreseeable and avoidable things go down has a way of causing carrying on cranky.

We'll rebuild and it won't be done any better than the first time and it'll all happen again. If you live here and haven't made your peace with the fact that this place can kill you or destroy everything you own at any time then you just lack basic pattern recognition or need to move.

Here have this as a spoon full of sugar to go with the medicine.

http://news.sky.com/story/1093711/tornado-survivor-finds-dog-during-tv-interview

 

[PeterMerkin69]

Don't you know that in Oklahoma all we teach the kids to do is duck and cover in the hallway where there'll be less broken glass flying around. Basements suitable for a tornado shelter that can fit the student body would require actually thinking ahead and spending money on infrastructure. And we can't do that while we're busy trying to cut taxes. I mean after all there are priorities to consider!

Sorry I generally try not to rant political on things like this but seeing such completely foreseeable and avoidable things go down has a way of causing carrying on cranky.

We'll rebuild and it won't be done any better than the first time and it'll all happen again. If you live here and haven't made your peace with the fact that this place can kill you or destroy everything you own at any time then you just lack basic pattern recognition or need to move.

Here have this as a spoon full of sugar to go with the medicine.

http://news.sky.com/story/1093711/tornado-survivor-finds-dog-during-tv-interview

It's not sexy enough because it's much harder to lay blame on something nebulous like the atmosphere. What are you going to do? It's an act of God, a force of nature. Tornadoes don't play video games, you can't sign an assault weather ban. There's no quick fix other than, yes, spending a lot of money or just not living there, and no one really cares enough to do that. They see things on the television that upset them, shrug their shoulders then go back to doing whatever.

That's really what it's about, too. Not the victims, not the survivors, but the audience's feelings. That dog story is a great example. Saying that they'll rebuild bigger and better is another. It's self deception to feel better in the here and now in response to minor emotional turbulence, and no lasting solutions will ever come of that.

I hear you can duck and cover in the event of a tactical nuclear strike, too. Titter.