(MORE: Tornado Hunt Team Takes Direct Hit by Tornado). But Fridays massive tornado avoided the highly populated areas near and around Oklahoma City, and forecasters said that likely saved lives. 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. 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). 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 . This report indicates he's more right than he could have known. Later analysis of the situation indicates that there was indeed a traffic jam enhanced risk for several storm chasers, caused by the ill advised comments from local media (as described below) but that this happened after Samaras and his crew were killed, in a different location, and that this happened to not cause any deaths. The majority of schools are built from concrete blocks that are not reinforced. They need to better forecast for a chaser convergence and prepare to block roads. That's two more vehicles going into the danger zone. 'The car was probably about 60 to 70 per cent of its normal size because it had been pushed and mauled and compacted as it was tumbling down the road. I was in Warr Acres, just next to Bethany in OKC on Fri. May 31. Storm chaser Tim Samaras died Friday doing the work that made him so well-known: following tornadoes. At Will Rogers World Airport, 2,000 people spent the night sheltering in underground tunnels, reported News 9. 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. 'What got me scared was being stuck in traffic with sirens going off,' she said. They can easily cite or arrest anyone they need to, and even temporarily imprison them, without charging them with anything. Local news reported an estimated 1,200 people were at the airport. Carl Young, Timothy Samaras and his . 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,. October 31st 2015, 7:11 PM PDT. Del City has 21,000 people in it. Because of the circumstances on the two-lane road, it appears that he could not get out of the way, and, basically, the tornado picked up his vehicle, Jim Samaras told the Today show. A mans world? I know cyclones are slightly more predictable than tornados (but much less predictable than hurricanes) they also have the habit of suddenly randomly changing direction. He skipped out on chasing the massive tornado that flattened Moore, Okla., because it was too dangerous. According to meteorologists about six to eight inches of rain fell in a 12 hour period between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. As for highway patrol and local police their cars NEED to have radar installed and they need lessons on how to use it. #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. 'I'm wondering if the tornadoes from a couple of weeks ago didn't frighten people so badly that this time they were taking no chances and trying to evade it by car,' said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. Video taken by a number of storm chasers showed debris pelting vehiclesFriday. The interstate was shut down due to the storm, with multiple crashes and injuries. Yes, chaser convergance has been a huge problem over the last few years. 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. This one didn't. Invoking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a federal conspiracy law devised to ensnare mobsters, the suit accuses the organizations, as well as several green campaigners. Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? Skip Talbot did an excellent analysis and can easily be found on youtube. This is an . Police believe the woman was driving an SUV near El Reno when the powerful twister flipped the vehicle over. They did not discuss the details but I would suspect you would want a helmet that comes down to the jaw line, which sort of eliminates a lot of bicycle helmets, although likely the bike helmet is better than a bare head. [sic] I look at it that he is in the 'big tornado in the sky'. And we cannot "go to the sun" or other planets where it's abundant and "scoop it up and bring it back to earth". When does spring start? But a law or explicit regulation, or even a well publicized set of best practices in the interest of public safety, might make the point that needs to be made, thus discouraging people from making decisions that endanger others. Plan for a lifetime, like I did. You can read the preliminary version here. I can at least understand why news crews were in the vicinity, but they didn't really need to be there either. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN that motorists faced great danger when stuck on any freeway in the path of a twister. This was the case with Mt. 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. For those suggesting regulation on storm chasing. Do not rely on others, including the T.V. Five tornadoes battered the Oklahoma City area on Friday, while another tornado hit the Tulsa area early Saturday. Storm chasing is definitely in the "Don't try this at home, kids!" When the winds were at their most powerful, no structures were nearby, said Rick Smith, chief warning coordination meteorologist for the weather services office in Norman. Shelters up the price of homes, making homes much less affordable for many people. 'He was either washed off the road or tried to get out of his car. Probably not. Some of my colleagues stayed, where there is a basement. It is emotional to posit "people died, let's make a law" without really identifying a true cause. Biography - A Short Wiki I've also suggested that traffic jams which could be caused by either of these effects can trap people where they don't want to be and that is dangerous to those in the vehicles. Mr. Robinson also had forward and side facing dash cams operating that day and the Twistex crew's Chevy is the only other vehicle visible in any direction on Reuter Rd for the last 15 or 20 minutes of the chase. This is not an especially enforceable regulation". Road closures exist now, but there are lots of roads. Also, there are nearly no public shelters anymore, due to liability issues. Police urged motorists to leave the crosstown Interstate 40 and seek a safe place. Why is it these days that every time someone dies someone wants to make a new law restricting freedom? This would make it so a chaser has to stop to render aid along his path. The latter group tend to get in the way. The one thing in your article I see that you failed to address is the number of chasers in the past that have been killed by the storm while chasing them. would have made the storm hard to recognize up close. The scene was eerily like that from last week, when blackened skies generated a top-of-the-scale EF5 storm with 210 mph winds. I am not a believer in public shelters, so we need more people to take advantage of state and county rebate programs to get their own shelters. One thing in your favor: Tornadoes do not have politically powerful, wealthy backing, so it should be easy to enact laws regulating how people enjoy them :-), "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. 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. In reply to by Tom McDonald (not verified). But volcanoes usually give fair warning that an eruption is likely to occur in the next several weeks, and in most cases (at least in First World countries) authorities can control the few access routes to the volcano. Interestingly motorcycle helmets are cheaper than football helmets due to liability reasons. On Tuesday, Storm Chasers star Joel Taylor died at 38. "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. Such a regulation or law would also require consideration of a certification of professional status for actual professional storm chasers. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph heard the panicked voices of the crew over her patrol radio right before the storm turned into their car. I remember Pa wearing this Civil Defense helmet and he was chirping on this big ol' walky talky! 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. 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 airs at 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday. This kind of movement is nearly unheard of in a tornado and that paired with the fact that the tornado was 2.6 miles wide, moving at an accelerating speed, turning 45 degrees suddenly, and had recorded winds of up to 295mph in it created the perfect scenario that no one could have predicted. The sudden acceleration to NE caught several folks by surprise. Driving away several hours ahead of time is one thing, but this guy was telling people to drive at the same time he was saying the tornado was impending! But what about big storms that dont drop tornadoes? Nooooooooooo!!! The other victims' bodies were found half a mile to the east and half a mile to the west, Canadian County under-sheriff Chris West said. Tim Samaras' Death - Cause and Date Born (Birthday) Nov 12, 1957 Death Date May 31, 2013 Age of Death 55 years Cause of Death N/A Place of Death May 31, 2013 Profession Meteorologist The meteorologist Tim Samaras died at the age of 55. 'The trees were leaning literally to the ground. Or, amateurs could get to a good viewing area well ahead of anticipated severe weather, and then stay put and off the road. 'If you live in downtown Oklahoma City, please go below ground. 2006-2020 Science 2.0. Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma.

An engineer by training, Samaras was known for devising instruments that offered the first views inside live tornadoes. Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. They were caught off guard not by traffic, but by an extremely powerful and erratic multi vortex tornado that grew from a mile wide multivortex into a 2.5 miles in diameter behemoth as it also accelerated and turned north toward the ill fated chasers. Because of your action, your car has become a very large and dangerous projectile. Plain and Simple what needs to be done now is EDUCATION. He deployed one of these in the path of an F4 tornado that destroyed the small town of Manchester, S.D., on June 24, 2003. If you want to walk down Main Street, in downtown America, you can do that, because it is America. Which travel companies promote harmful wildlife activities? However, the men's deaths have shone a spotlight on the dangers of storm chasing. Regarding the rest of your comment. The men spent years capturing and sharing storm videos with TV viewers and weather researchers. Hoadley has been in the business for 57 years and pursued the El Reno twister. Anything else is just going to lead to panic like the panic that killed people on the 31st. Further with this ridiculous drive away strategy and the inability to predict small movements how do you parse the storm chasers from the poorly directed refugees? 'Tim was a courageous and brilliant scientist who fearlessly pursued tornadoes and lightning in the field in an effort to better understand these phenomena. Standing water was several feet deep, and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado. Oklahoma is a severe convective weather 'bulls-eye' and always will be. I can't imagine the trauma of living through a tornado strike. Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" All rights reserved. Here is what the tornado did: It grew from a big tornado to a bigger tornado, to what might be the largest tornado ever observed with instruments, in a matter of seconds, and it made a fast jog to the right, not an unusual thing for a tornado to do, but unanticipated by the storm chasers. . Storm chaser Tim Samaras died Friday doing the work that made him so well-known: following tornadoes. His website Twistex has been integral to understanding how tornadoes work and improving warning times for those living in Tornado Alley. category. She quickly regretted it. The elder Samaras' body was still belted into their Chevrolet Cobalt, which was found on an unimproved county road parallel to Interstate 40. Having grown up in Wichita, Ks., I'm well aware of the unpredictability of tornadoes; though technology has greatly improved forcasting, tornadoes will remain highly unpredictable. tornado disbursement tactical teams should be flown in by helicopter and then flown out after the job is done, its much safer this way. Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma. There is a great irony to the deaths of the three storm chasers from Twistex. Doppler imaging pegged the tornado's width at 2.5 miles, the widest ever documented. The Weather Channel issued the following statement: It was with great sadness that The Weather Channel learned of the passing of Tim and Paul Samaras and Carl Young as a result of the El Reno Tornado. A finite resource. The authors conclude, "it is likely that no clear direction to safety was apparent.". A father-and-son team of storm chasers and their long-time partner were heard screaming 'we're going to die, we're going to die' on highway patrol radio moments before they were killed by one of the savage twisters they'd devoted their lives to following. Samaras submitted this footage to National Geographic in the weeks leading up to his death,. - May 31, 2013 (his death) Other works book: "Tornado Hunter: Getting Inside the Most Violent Storms on Earth". At the end of the day this is just a silly notion. " At least six semis on their side at a weight station on I-40 near Oklahoma City, photographer Jim Beckel reported. If you know several hours in advance that there is a high probability that a tornado will come through your area, then it is a good idea to just go away and be somewhere else. .". The worry soon turned to flash flooding and floodwaters topped four feet in Oklahoma City on Saturday morning. Apply that technology to license plates instead of faces. If they had tried to drive away their cars would have surely been torn apart, and again just last summer a tornado ripped through the forests close to home demolishing hill sides and houses in its path. Injuries that were INCOMPATIBLE WITH LIFE. Samaras was born November 12, 1957 in Lakewood, Colorado, to Paul T. and Margaret L. Samaras. The complexity of the kind of law your advocating is also extremely hard to defend in court. 'We were very concerned this would move into downtown. '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. (MORE: Reaction from Dr. Jeff Masters of Weather Underground). I doubt that it would even have a measurable positive effect. He knew where not to be and in this case the tornado took a clear turn toward them," he said. Closing all of them strains law enforcement. 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. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Twistex Memorial dedicated to 3 killed in El Reno. Greg is definitely right about the distinction between researchers who need to be close to the storm to do their research (people like Samaras) and people who are doing it just for fun. 'Use a telephoto lens for gosh sakes. They look up that license plate in the DMV database and conveniently send the summons to you in the mail. I appreciate that, it is a good idea. Tim Samaras, a native of Lakewood, Colo., holds the Guinness World Record for the greatest pressure drop ever measured inside a tornado. There is no certainty. 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. Nine were confirmed dead in the Oklahoma City area on Friday evening, though the death toll has since risen, and flash floods in Arkansas caused additional fatalities, including a sheriff trying to rescue people from rising waters. Anyone can be wrong and that includes forcasters on tv, government and business emergency policies. Do it right now,' local news forecasters told viewers. This advice sounds reasonable, but it really isnt. At the end of the day, he wanted to save lives and he gave the ultimate sacrifice for that," Jim Samaras said. The scale is based on observable destruction, and little was damaged as it tracked through the remote, relatively featureless farm country. Saying "Stay out of moore" wold just turn the would-be chasers in another direction that a storm or twister could emerge from. Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. I'll take my chances sheltering in place, thank you. The Friday storm, however, brought with it much more severe flooding. Continuing on Helmets here is a link to a story on yahoo:http://news.yahoo.com/tornado-coming-grab-helmet-084500057.html. Okay, fair enough. 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. It may well be that entirely different approaches are better. I had spotty phone connection with my husband watching TV in Kansas City, and my sister watching from Edmond, OK. Just as it was coming toward us, it turned south. When the NWS uses phrases such as "You will not survive, neighborhoods will be flattened" no one in their right mind is going to stay at home and wait out the tornado in their bathroom or closet above ground. His pioneering work has made it easier to warn people about tornadoes. Until proven otherwise, I will assume that the special category of people known as Professional Storm Chasers like Tim Samaras and his crew as well as Reed Timmer, and others, are risking their own lives to make observations and collect data that help us understand tornadoes better, to make better predictions about storm behavior, and thus to make better predictions about unfolding storms. Debris was tangled in the median's crossover barriers, including huge pieces of sheet metal, tree limbs, metal pipes, a giant oil drum and a stretch of chain-link fence. This probe registered a world-record 100-millibar drop in pressure inside the twister. They said to stay at work if you had better shelter there. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. A tornado could hit Oklahoma City, or it could hit Enid. meteorologist. The tornado caught up with him and his crew and ended them. I think that Tim Samaras knew what he was doing. I agree, we only need laws if we need laws. There are too many chasers/gawkers on the road these days.get use to it and prepare for it. William Wehrum is a lawyer and once, apparently, worked for the EPA. On May 13, 2012 Norman PD blocked off roads and literally put me in the path of the tornado. 'The trees were leaning literally to the ground. Also, believe it or not, people do follow "unenforceable" laws for the simple reason that they want to be law abiding citizens. Tim Samaras, 55, along with his son, Paul Samaras, 24, and Carl Young, 45, died on Friday in El Reno after a tornado that packed winds of up to 165 mph picked up their car and threw it, somersaulting, a half a mile. In many cases, a law is unenforceable at face value, but when something goes wrong it suddenly becomes part of the equation. 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. A new law or regulation merely needs to specify that tornado-related disasters that have not happened yet (because the tornado hasnt formed or has not yet arrived) can be considered in this public safety action. 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. 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. 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. please note that I did not claim in my post what you claim I claimed. Since then, multiple versions of what happened have been claimed, and as far as I can tell, all of that is laid out in the various comments on this thread. Like diving into the bath tub with a mattress on top for cover. Today three brave, highly experienced, storm chasers were honored in El Reno. Many of us were fortunate to have worked with them and have great admiration for their work. It truly is sad that we lost my great brother Tim and his great son, Paul. Excluding the one thrill seeker and the three professionals that were killed in this event there has not been another incident. At 6:23 p.m. on May 31, 2013, Samaras, his 24-year-old son Paul (a photographer), and TWISTEX team member Carl Young (a meteorologist), 45, were killed by a violent wedge tornado [19] with winds of 295 mph (475 km/h) near the Regional Airport of El Reno, Oklahoma. Along with his son, Paul, and storm chaser Carl Younghis longtime. People started driving over the grass.'. 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. Personally it does anger me when you see chasers, pro or amateur, driving past people who may be potentially injured and most certainly in need just to keep getting the shot. -Benoit Mandelbrot I agree that telling people that the safest thing to do is to get in their car and drive is wrong. Tornadoes happen in bunches and clusters. Tim Samaras sits with instrument probes he used as part of his TWISTEX field research program. the same thing happens every year with both tornadoes and hurricanes, how many people ignore the wanings and do not evacuate coastal areas, to only try to call 911 in the middle of the storm panicking and 911 tells them sorry cant help you. Looking at where he was, I don't think evacuation traffic would have had much of an impact, if any. So, that apparent fact was part of the underpinning of the original post (below). Then we have police in the mix attempting somehow to cite the stupid? It is not inforceable. The chaser can be quite the problem but yet quite the provider of care in a situation where the emergency scene can span a few hundred yards to over a hundred miles.