Tornado In Joplin Missouri Kills Dozens

[Coast]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ1A88AVfps

At least 30 people have been killed - and an unknown number injured and trapped - after a tornado nearly one mile wide ripped through Joplin in Missouri. Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges confirmed the number of dead early this morning. Governor of the state Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and activated the Missouri National Guard in response to the destruction the storm left in its wake. St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin was fully evacuated after it took a direct hit from the tornado, and seven people have been reported dead at a local nursing home, according to police reports.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389737/Dozens-feared-dead-tornado-rips-Missouri-hospital.html#ixzz1N9nozvoL

[chionomaniac]

Very sad this. Tour 2 travelled through Joplin as a rotating supercell hovered above on Day 13 of his years chase. It was close to where the shotgun lightning bolt hit.

I hope this town can recover.

[gobbyash]

This video clip gives a sense of the true terror of the Tornado.

gobbyash

[Coast]

I'm afraid the quality on this one from The Weather Channel is a little bit rough in places, but it does show the total devastation left in the path of the tornado and the ongoing rescue effort:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEz6y8cO_T8

[Flipflop]

This video clip gives a sense of the true terror of the Tornado.

gobbyash

I actually felt the terror for a moment, i don't think ill play this again.

[TornadoJo]

This is so sad. Tour 1 stayed at The Days Inn on Rangeline Road for a couple of nights and I've been retracing our routes through the town. Looks like the Mall There a couple of the guys went shopping has gone. Wondering if Crazy Golf survived

Its so different seeing somewhere you've been having been hit. It really makes you think about storm chasing and the other side of it.

J x

Edited May 23, 2011 by TornadoJo

[Coast]

[gpspete]

cnn news footage of joplin http://edition.cnn.c...ey.bpr.cnn.html

despite having been stormchasing with netweather as recently last week arrived home yesterday i don't think anyone would wanted to have seen this as first hand witnesses

looks like the Weather Channels Great Tornado Hunt team must have been close to this

Edited May 23, 2011 by gpspete

[duckeyh]

I continue to be shocked by some of the footage especially since we spent a couple of nights there on T1 ..

[Crimson_Sprite]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, and I always have trouble getting the YouTube player to go in here, but this is an audio recorded video (and black video) of a group of people taking shelter in a store. Very intense and frightning account. This made me cry, as your heart really aches hearing the fear in people's screams.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Crimson_Sprite

[Coast]

This last one really gives you a sense of the power that ripped through Joplin

[Snowyowl9]

The natural disasters keep on coming 89 killed from this now it will be higher looking at this.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/article_510b0a86-84cf-11e0-9387-001a4bcf6878.html

[Eabie]

The death toll has risen to 116 from the Joplin tornado. That makes it currently tied with a tornado that struck Flint, MI, in 1953 to be the single 9th deadliest tornado in US history. It's also the only one of the 25 deadliest US tornadoes to have taken place after 1955... Just incredible damage and awful casualties, especially considering how much more sophisticated weather warnings have become since the 1950s.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Eabie

[Coast]

Just incredible damage and awful casualties, especially considering how much more sophisticated weather warnings have become since the 1950s.

It still amazes me that the Americans build their houses from some fairly flimsy materials, especially in areas of high risk. I'm not saying a more robust, British style of brick construction would have saved lives - but wouldn't you want to give yourself the best chance, especially in a tornado prone zone?

[Gray-Wolf]

It still amazes me that the Americans build their houses from some fairly flimsy materials, especially in areas of high risk. I'm not saying a more robust, British style of brick construction would have saved lives - but wouldn't you want to give yourself the best chance, especially in a tornado prone zone?

I suppose we could send them the story of the 3 little pigs and their 'wind' issues?

We are told to expect more casualties as they work along the 6 mile stretch of devastation later today. I think we should be thankful that T. Alley has some much wide open space or maybe such horrors would be more common place?

Of course the Elephant in the room will be the 'extreme weather' and how much more frequent it appears to be becoming (in line with some model or other....)

[chionomaniac]

Does anyone know how long this tornado was on the ground for? If it was only for a short time then this just compounds Joplins poor luck.

[Coast]

Looks like more trouble on the way:

The April tornadoes that devastated the South unspooled over a three-day period starting in the Plains. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said a repeat could be setting up, with a possible large tornado outbreak in the Midwest on Tuesday and bad weather potentially reaching the East Coast by Friday.

"This is a very serious situation brewing," center director Russell Schneider said, citing a moderate risk of severe weather Tuesday in southwestern Missouri and in Oklahoma, Kansas and parts of North Texas. Heavy rain fell from dark skies all day Monday, finally letting up only as night fell, and lightning was so frequent that it slowed the rescue and recovery effort, Randles said. A police officer from Riverside, Mo., who was helping with the rescues, was burned from a lightning strike and hospitalized. Another officer was slightly injured in a near-lightning strike but kept working.

The rainy, cool weather — the forecast called for an overnight low of 62 degrees — raised concerns about its effect on anyone still trapped in rubble. A whipping wind, perhaps strong enough to finish off homes left barely standing by the tornado, made things more dangerous for searchers and potential survivors. The twister that hit Joplin was one of more than 50 reported across seven Midwestern states over the weekend. One person was killed in Minneapolis and another in Kansas, but Missouri took the hardest hits. At the destroyed Wal-Mart, perhaps 200 ruined cars lay crumpled in the parking lot. They were among thousands of shattered vehicles around town, including dozens of tractor-trailers tossed on their sides or tops.

Kim Weathers, 48, looked at her black Envoy and could only shake her head — a piece of the roof from the Wal-Mart had pierced the windows and crushed the side of the SUV. "We were in the store and all of a sudden somebody yelled, 'Get down!' Weathers said. "I could feel the wind coming, then stuff was flying, hitting me in the head. I looked up and it was outside — the roof was gone."

St. John's took a direct hit, leaving debris dangling from the top of the structure and blowing out almost every window. The town's other hospital, Freeman, was overflowing with patients, and makeshift hospitals and triage areas were set up at several other locations. More than 400 people were treated for injuries, Randles said. Unlike the multiple storms that killed more than 300 people last month across the South, Joplin was smashed by just one exceptionally powerful tornado. Not since a June 1953 tornado in Flint, Mich., had a single twister been so deadly. That storm also killed 116, according to the National Weather Service.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7aIZSCk4ZQtja44BSdO07WsSkQg?docId=924e0009ed8945feb37594881f88e7ea

[Bluebreezer54]

It still amazes me that the Americans build their houses from some fairly flimsy materials, especially in areas of high risk. I'm not saying a more robust, British style of brick construction would have saved lives - but wouldn't you want to give yourself the best chance, especially in a tornado prone zone?

Interesting point Coast, but having spent a while living in TX and MO in the past, Im not sure I entirely agree with your assumption they build their houses with flimsy materials. Few materials could stand up to 200mph torndadic winds surely ? Many of the houses in those areas have basements, and I was always told thats the place to head if the sirens go off.

What I am somewhat suprised at though is the extent of casualties this Spring. What the storm prone areas of the USA do have on a massive scale is tracking and early warning systems. Despite all the sytems now in place, the fatality rate is apparently the worst since 1953 ?

[Coast]

Interesting point Coast, but having spent a while living in TX and MO in the past, Im not sure I entirely agree with your assumption they build their houses with flimsy materials. Few materials could stand up to 200mph torndadic winds surely ?

Quite so, but I am surprised that the houses look like they are wood framed and panelled rather than brick, whereas the hospital that was brick / block built was still standing although badly damaged. However you are right, a 200 mph twister is going to penetrate most structures and I guess that's why everyone has a basement.

[pottyprof]

It still amazes me that the Americans build their houses from some fairly flimsy materials, especially in areas of high risk. I'm not saying a more robust, British style of brick construction would have saved lives - but wouldn't you want to give yourself the best chance, especially in a tornado prone zone?

I don't think it would help in the case of these huge tornadoes. If you watch the video from the helicopter, you see a few brick built built houses that have been blown apart. It may help on the lower scale speeds of course.

[Dorsetbred]

Initial map and survey info on the Joplin "wrecker"

http://www.crh.noaa....011may22_survey

[duckeyh]

Initial map and survey info on the Joplin "wrecker"

http://www.crh.noaa....011may22_survey

Hi Quentin, can you repost the link pls. It didn't work for me

[alr1970]

It still amazes me that the Americans build their houses from some fairly flimsy materials, especially in areas of high risk. I'm not saying a more robust, British style of brick construction would have saved lives - but wouldn't you want to give yourself the best chance, especially in a tornado prone zone?

Quite so, but I am surprised that the houses look like they are wood framed and panelled rather than brick, whereas the hospital that was brick / block built was still standing although badly damaged. However you are right, a 200 mph twister is going to penetrate most structures and I guess that's why everyone has a basement.

Have a look at the article here at Highly Allochthonous. It essentially notes that the areas where most damage and deaths occur are not the same as those with the most tornadoes. Where tornadoes are commonest, people do build to withstand them, or at least have a secure reinforced or underground shelter. Elsewhere, is it worth building something for a once in 40 year event?

There are photos here of totally destroyed brick houses too.

Andrew

[Gray-Wolf]

Possible Storm Causes

This year’s stormy season may be caused by a waning La Nina, a cooling in the Pacific Ocean, that is creating a zone suitable for tornado conditions as warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with colder air in the north.

Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf are now 3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the pre-1970 average, said Kevin Trenberth, distinguished senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

“Two degrees of that can be attributed to natural variability while one degree Fahrenheit is associated with climate change,†Trenberth said in an interview today.

Doh! someone had to say it!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-24/another-round-of-storms-may-sweep-across-u-s-plains-after-deadly-tornado.html

[duckeyh]

<BR>Have a look at the article here at <A class=bbc_url title="External link" href="http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2011/05/natural-disasters-may-not-always-hit-hardest-where-youd-expect/" rel="nofollow external">Highly Allochthonous</A>. It essentially notes that the areas where most damage and deaths occur are not the same as those with the most tornadoes. Where tornadoes are commonest, people do build to withstand them, or at least have a secure reinforced or underground shelter. Elsewhere, is it worth building something for a once in 40 year event?<BR><BR>There are photos <A class=bbc_url title="External link" href="http://blog.flickr.net/en/2011/05/23/joplin-tornado/" rel="nofollow external">here</A> of totally destroyed brick houses too.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

<BR><BR><BR>Ultimatley the question is what is the cost of a human life ? I'm fully aware of the economic arguements , surely the authorities need to invest in the very basic preventative measures in these areas of the US Edited May 24, 2011 by duckeyh