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Storm Chaser Timmer Reflects on Deadly Tornado 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. 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). They can easily cite or arrest anyone they need to, and even temporarily imprison them, without charging them with anything. 'What got me scared was being stuck in traffic with sirens going off,' she said. It airs at 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday. 'I'm a seasoned tornado watcher but I just could not see staying and waiting for it to hit,' she said. Samaras' Chevy Cobalt was traveling east down a dirt road with the tornado to his south. 'What we saw from the tornadoes that came through Moore and the other ones last week was that people who were in cars on the Interstate were killed,' Fallin told CNN. But I'll just say that I think there are less extreme solutions than putting a ban on all amateur storm chasing. 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. 'Mile Wide Tornado' originally aired Sunday and focuses on the May 20 tornado that devastated a wide swatch of Oklahoma. It made all the difference that it was out in the country.'. More cars on the roads also meant more trouble for Highway Patrol officers responding to automobile accidents during the storm, Randolph said. That would stop several people right there. I think it's an abomination that news forecasters suggested people drive away that temporally close to a suspected tornado touchdown. All this about tornadoes is very reminiscent of fires in Australia. 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. Their deaths may not seem surprising; storm chasing, as you might expect, has its risks. 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. Why are you so quick to blame the TV and not the idiots living in the heart of tornado alley who chose to get in a car when they knew there were already tornadoes in the area? Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN that motorists faced great danger when stuck on any freeway in the path of a twister. We were fine. 'He was either washed off the road or tried to get out of his car. 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. Academic Postmortem of Tornado that Killed Tim Samaras Is Chilling People who tried to get away in their cars faced potential dangers from flash flood waters as well as tornado-force winds. Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado. 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 think one suggestion if such a law could ever be enforced to weed out the average thrill seeker is maybe require one, a first aid type certification. Tim Samaras, a native of Lakewood, Colo., holds the Guinness World Record for the greatest pressure drop ever measured inside a tornado. He turned and saw at me peering up from the basement steps! Standing water was several feet deep, and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado. The officers had to contend with hail and strong winds as they worked to help motorists. understanding tornadoes will prevent this from happening. Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul, 24, and crew member Carl Young, 45, died in El Reno on Friday They were heard on Oklahoma Highway Patrol radio screaming before they were killed The elder Samaras was. Missouri and Illinois around St. Louis were also hit by 12 tornadoes, at least 100 people are injured and 'numerous homes' have been damaged. In fact, while writing this post I wondered what the three scientists were thinking as their car, and other cars, were hemmed in with a traffic jam that seems to have been caused by inappropriate reactions by a large number of people. I think the only way to deal with these weeks-long tornado outbreaks is to build high-quality shelters in every community and make sure people know where they are. Plan for a lifetime, like I did. Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. 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. 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. The people could be driving for many unattributed reasons. #2. the storm went from a mile wide wedge to a 2.6 mile record breaking monster in an extremely rapid time, usually people 1 mile away from the storm would be safe or even 2 miles away but in this case it dropped on people 2 miles away, more so i don't believe it was a traffic jam as opposed to the rapid size increase and the sudden change in course. Heres why each season begins twice. 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. So it's quite the conundrum we find ourselves in. What do you think? However the generic advice makes a lot of sense. Please make a tax-deductible donation if you value independent science communication, collaboration, participation, and open access. I was visiting OKC from Kansas City that day. Were looking at extremes in the rare EF5 category. 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. Five tornadoes battered the Oklahoma City area on Friday, while another tornado hit the Tulsa area early Saturday. This probe registered a world-record 100-millibar drop in pressure inside the twister. Having been in law enforcement some years ago I don't think you understand how unenforceable those laws would be. Tim's death is a stark reminder of the risks encountered regularly by the men and women who work for us. Privacy statement. Tim was a couple of miles south of interstate. Unauthorized use is prohibited. But seriously, I'll be talking about the story of the current, In every area of life, but especially in the overlapping realms of technology, science, and health, misunderstanding how things work can be widespread, and that misunderstanding can lead to problems. Oklahoma County sheriff's office has identified the victim as James Talbert, according to NewsOk. 'There was just no place to go. In other words, it is now probably legal and appropriate for police or fire departments to close off roads or direct traffic or tell people not to drive in a particular area where there is currently a major fire, explosion, storm devastation, and so on. Fifty people took shelter in the freezer at a Sinclair gas station in south Oklahoma City. In theory the helium gas should combine with the natural vortex suction and make the conditions for the tornado formation less favorable it may also be possible to deliver the helium through other methods or maybe have the helium frozen in water droplets A.K.A frozen helium crystals, and dropped from air tankers. And what of its width? local news and culture, Brantley Hargrove The weather service initially rated the Friday tornado that hit El Reno as an EF3. Video taken by a number of storm chasers showed debris pelting vehiclesFriday. Or was it a rotating thunderstorm (a supercell) with small- to moderate-sized tornadoes swirling about one another? At the end of the day, he wanted to save lives and he gave the ultimate sacrifice for that," Jim Samaras said. 'They had no place to go, and that's always a bad thing. 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. He also starred in the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers. Also, we all have to take responsibility for our own safety and try and do what's best for you. Then we have police in the mix attempting somehow to cite the stupid? 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. But once your car is inside an F3 or F4 tornado, that is no longer your problem alone. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. And we cannot "go to the sun" or other planets where it's abundant and "scoop it up and bring it back to earth". Del City has 21,000 people in it. I agree that telling people that the safest thing to do is to get in their car and drive is wrong. I'm not sure about your claim that there was not a traffic jam, that conflicts with everything else I've heard. Yes, they died, but there is ZERO evidence this law, if passed, would have prevented even one of them. Damage: An Oklahoma home destroyed, its roof partially torn off after the tornado rips through, Salvaging: Residents retrieve belongings from a home destroyed by the tornados that tore through central Oklahoma. Can we bring a species back from the brink? So, the driving away several hours in advance isnt really smart, because you dont know that far in advance where away might be. Scientists have to accept that. 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. Police have a hard enough time now dealing with emergencies, the last thing they have time to do is stop to write tickets. But that. 'The trees were leaning literally to the ground. ', 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're prepared to fight fire and defend your property you have to be there before fire starts and stay there for as long as it takes. I would like to see some repercussions for the idiotic weather personalities who suggested running away. Not only are rubberneckers prohibited from fire danger areas, even people who live in the area are prohibited from access. "We still don't know why some thunderstorms create tornadoes while others don't," he told National Geographic last month. 2) "But the hundreds, or even thousands of non-professional storm chasers are probably not contributing to the science of tornadoes and tornado safety." "We're trying to collect as many observations as possible, both from outside and from the inside. Mr West guessed the experienced storm chasers were attempting to parallel the storm on the county road and it either changed course or another vortex appeared. I appreciate that, it is a good idea. 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. That was the sound of nuance rushing by your libertarian ear. The three storm chasers Tim Samaras, his photographer son Paul Samaras, and meteorologist Carl Young were killed when the twister they were pursuing made a sudden left turn and slammed into their car, sending it flying through the air like a toy. Terry Garcia, executive vice president of the National Geographic Society, said: 'We were shocked and deeply saddened by the news that longtime National Geographic grantee Tim Samaras was killed in a tornado in Oklahoma on Friday, along with Tim's son Paul and their colleague Carl Young. "Tim was a courageous and brilliant scientist who fearlessly pursued tornadoes and lightning in the field in an effort to better understand these phenomena," the society said on its website. I do regard some of the complaints I've gotten, especially some of the really nasty ones I've gotten by email, to be excuse making. Pay attention to what he says. When told to seek shelter, many ventured out and snarled traffic across the metro area - perhaps remembering the damage from May 20. How close is too close? Two other victims were found in a car in Union City, another was found on a road in El Reno. I don't think so! At least six semis on their side at a weight station on I-40 near Oklahoma City, photographer Jim Beckel reported. Hopefully, that lesson will be learned immediately. 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. And, how exactly is an officer supposed to know the area to keep any car (stormchaser or not) out of? The network said though Betts was hurt, he and the car's two other occupants were wearing safety belts and were able to walk away from the banged-up vehicle. 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. I can only assume that Tim Samaras had no intention of being in the path of the the tornado that killed him, his son, and his colleague, but was unable to get out of the way because of the traffic jam. Twistex Memorial dedicated to 3 killed in El Reno | KOKH The Life And Death Of A Storm-chaser - YouTube #1. the storms path was extremely erratic and it made a sudden turn that surprised even veteran forecasters. But yes, I agree that people deliberately in the wrong place at the wrong time should be penalized. The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Saturday that Oklahoma City-area hospitals treated 104 people. 528 people were killed by weather in 2012, of which about 200 were a result of high velocity air. An image taken from video shows the vehicle that longtime storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young were killed when a powerful tornado hit near El Reno, Okla. on May 31. People who are paying for the storm chasing experience are expecting to do pretty much the same thing. 'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. The comments below have not been moderated. Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. We need sensors in place, in advance of the storms. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed following Friday's EF3 tornado in El Reno, Okla. Laws are really challenging to enforce. For example, a highly irresponsible storm chaser endangers an innocent bystander, then that danger comes to fruition. The complexity of the kind of law your advocating is also extremely hard to defend in court. 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. Sean, I agree on all points. Three storm chasers died in that storm. Its a free country - youre obviously free to drive when and where you want, and I certainly dont want that to change, but something has to be done to avoid another tragedy like the one that killed 9 motorists Friday evening, including 3 professional tornado researchers Tim Samaras, his son, and intercept partner. But forecasters could pinpoint a relatively compact geographical region that would feel the effects of the hurricane, and they could do so with 24-48 hours notice. For the record, an "enigmatic" lack of shelter in Oklahoma has to do with cost. Injuries that were INCOMPATIBLE WITH LIFE. They look up that license plate in the DMV database and conveniently send the summons to you in the mail. Oklahomans can handle a day or two of this, but after a week plus of watching families with lost loved ones on the news they start getting jumpy. So when an alert is issued the authorities only have a few roads to close, and not much population to evacuate. It is emotional to posit "people died, let's make a law" without really identifying a true cause. Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" Yes, Houston is a bigger city than OKC, and one of the freeway routes out of town takes you to Galveston, which is exactly the wrong way to go. I made the decision to go home since I have a shelter, and i was able to leave work and be home close to 4pm. Our community has suffered a terrible loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones.