The Oklahoma City metro district has about 1.3 million people. What is it that causes some people to react to every tragedy in life by trying to legislate the risk out of living in a free country? People found driving on closed roads are fined over $1000.00 per wheel. The Death of Tim Samaras, Lightning Chaser. Is it possible that Tim Samaras and his Twistex team were - Quora Pay attention to what he says. 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. 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. 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. Regarding the rest of your comment. Were 20 of those people storm chasers? Probably not. The people who drove away did find shelter after what sounded like a very fearful drive. They were probably thinking, somebody should do something about this situation.". (KFOR TV). This included CNN. But please, do we need new laws? More than 200,000 were left without power in the impacted areas. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most - seven times each. 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. Then we have police in the mix attempting somehow to cite the stupid? 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. "They put themselves in harm's way so that they can educate the public about the destructive power of these storms," he said. 'Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it.'. On the other hand, if you calculate its width by how much debris was lofted into the air, we may be talking about a mile and a quarter to nearly two miles in width. 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. ", In reply to by Danny Caputi (not verified). Gone. 'I'm not sure why people do that sort of stuff, but it is very dangerous. Bolstering your argument by supposing the dead agree with you indicates how weak your initial argument is. From the Texas border to near Joplin, Mo., residents were told to keep an eye to the sky and an ear out for sirens. Tim Samarass strategy was never to get into the direct path of a tornado. At least six semis on their side at a weight station on I-40 near Oklahoma City, photographer Jim Beckel reported. The Life and Death of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras - D Magazine Become a member to support the independent voice of Dallas '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. Skip Talbot makes this point. I don't think people realized how deep and strong the water was.'. 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). Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. One minute you're sitting there watching TV, the next minute your whole neighborhood looks like it was jammed through a meat grinder. Were looking at extremes in the rare EF5 category. 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. 528 people were killed by weather in 2012, of which about 200 were a result of high velocity air. This advice sounds reasonable, but it really isnt. And what of its width? They didn't happen to be overrun by a killer tornado at the time. Say you are sitting in your home and you know there is a tornado coming and you are watching TV and the following breathless reporting is happening. Though the state's transportation authorities strongly advised citizens not to drive, some interstate highways in Oklahoma were jammed with stalled traffic, as heavy rains drenched roadways and flooded low-lying areas. 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. This tornado was a once in a decade if not longer event that we have truly never seen anything like. It needs to be taught FREE for the public as well. 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. That is the speed at which they rotated around the tornado, not their recorded windspeed. Or was it a rotating thunderstorm (a supercell) with small- to moderate-sized tornadoes swirling about one another? The police can close off that street and nearby streets and as annoying or inconvenient as that may be, they are not taking away your rights. I suggest that law makers in tornado alley states consider legislation making it a violation to intentionally drive into or near the path of known or likely tornados. William Wehrum is a lawyer and once, apparently, worked for the EPA. 564K views 9 years ago June 3, 2013Tim Samaras spent more than 30 years researching tornadoes. Even if the people who are at risk of vehicular projectiles are innocent bystanders, chances are they're at more risk from the tornado than the cars in them. His graduation was at Alameda International High School in 1976. In St. Charles County, at least 71 homes were heavily damaged and 100 had slight to moderate damage, county spokeswoman Colene McEntee said. In a tribute, Mr Samaras' brother Jim wrote on Facebook: 'Thank you to everyone for the condolences. 10th St. and Radio Rd. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. would have made the storm hard to recognize up close. 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. Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. 'There is very low visibility with the heavy rain so we're having trouble getting around. Joel Taylor Dies: What Is Stormchasers? - Peoplemag With better data, we could get better forecasts of Southern Hemisphere storms. Though we sometimes take it for granted, Tim's death is a stark reminder of the risks encountered regularly by the men and women who work for us. Where victims found after monster May 31 tornado - KFOR.com Since this post went live Jeff posted about another storm chaser, an amateur, who was killed in this tornado. 82.6K subscribers Tim Samaras gained notoriety as one of the top stormchasers in the country, and a star of Discovery's Stormchasers, who helped us further understand the science of tornadoes. I've been reading Jeff Masters' blog regularly. Before the horrific events of May 31, 2013, when the huge El Reno tornado took the lives of scientist Tim Samaras and his crew, a twister had never killed any chasers although several had died. Now that would be an effective law. Since I wrote this post, I've received many emails telling me that the premise is wrong, that traffic from too many storm chases did not contribute to the death of Samaras and others. Other professional meteorologists, from The Weather Channel, were injured. After seeing last month's tornado also turn homes into piles of splintered rubble, Ms Black said she decided to try and outrun the tornado when she learned her southwest Oklahoma City home was in harm's way. Local news reported an estimated 1,200 people were at the airport. It is unfortunate that when such behavior becomes a problem society sometimes needs to make a rule of some kind. Yes, they died, but there is ZERO evidence this law, if passed, would have prevented even one of them. In closing it should be important to note that Tim and crew did not get killed because of the traffic that was present on that day. October 31st 2015, 7:11 PM PDT. 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. category. Just then the power went out and I heard what sounded like a freight train. When the amateur storm chasers descend upon the same area they create a real hazard for the professionals by blocking escape routes. 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. 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. A small tornado in Kansas, photographed during Tim Samaras's lightning expedition in August 2009.
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