They should not drive where they will not be able to pull over safely to allow emergency traffic and other traffic to flow. 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. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. But if the Acme Office Building, on Main Street, is on fire, broken glass is blowing out of windows and fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are trying to gain access to the building and nearby fire hydrants you cant walk down Main Street you are not really free to walk or drive up and down Main Street to take pictures of the event. 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. It almost stopped, then went East. 'They were screaming, "We're going to die, we're going to die,"' she recalled to USA Today. It's even worse if you are an amateur tornado chasing on your own--at least the tour groups have an experienced person to warn them that the tornado is coming straight at them and they need to hit the dirt NOW! 'I started seeing power flashes to the north, and I said "screw this." please note that I did not claim in my post what you claim I claimed. They eventually revised this policy I'm assuming based on what has happened to folks in their stores during a bad storm. He set a world record in 2003 which still stands today when he recorded an 100 millibar pressure drop from an F-4 tornado. That seems to be what happened here. When she emerged from the freezer her car windshield had been shattered by the hail. He skipped out on chasing the massive tornado that flattened Moore, Okla., because it was too dangerous. 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. And we cannot "go to the sun" or other planets where it's abundant and "scoop it up and bring it back to earth". The Death of Tim Samaras, Lightning Chaser. Apply that technology to license plates instead of faces. 'For reasons that are not clear to me, more people took to the roads, more than we expected. An outright ban is prolly a bad idear too. It is not like the Tornadoes have a rule book that if we follow we are safe. 'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. These animals can sniff it out. We MUST conserve every bit of helium that we can get our hands on. This is not about them, it is about their death, which at the time it happened, was claimed to have been caused by a traffic jam caused, in turn, by thrill seekers jamming the roads, and thrill seekers jamming the roads is a thing that happens. Trooper Randolph said roadways quickly became congested with the convergence of rush-hour traffic and fleeing residents. A small tornado in Kansas, photographed during Tim Samaras's lightning expedition in August 2009. I've heard horror stories about the attempt to partially evacuate Houston in advance of Hurricane Ike. But before their stalking of the dangerous vortex turned deadly, their cries could be heard by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph. Specious arguments at best. The reason that is bad advice is very simple. 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. Traffic will back up in the places rush hour traffic normally backs up, and some others that usually don't see such backups. In reply to by Tom McDonald (not verified). ScienceBlogs is where scientists communicate directly with the public. 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. Storm Chaser Tim Samaras Dies; His Last Tornado Footage . As for highway patrol and local police their cars NEED to have radar installed and they need lessons on how to use it. 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. In the case of the El Reno tornado, traffic in combination with road bottlenecks (over a river) did in fact cause a number of storm chasers (and go watch the video to get an idea of how many storm chasers there were!) Chaser traffic, maybe. The program, 'Mile Wide Tornado: Stormchasers Tribute,' will feature scenes of Tim Samaras, his son Paul and Mr Young. Hopefully, that lesson will be learned immediately. It is known to be BAD advice and they directly contributed to the deaths that occurred. Using the unfortunate but unrelated deaths of well known storm chasers to rail against people trying to seek safety from a storm by getting out of the way strips any slight merit or credibility from your already weak and less than well thought out argument. They said to stay at work if you had better shelter there. 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. As the author admits early on, tornadoes change course and skip. On Tuesday, Storm Chasers star Joel Taylor died at 38. Friday night's victims included a mother and a baby sucked out of their car as the EF3 hit near El Reno. 'He was either washed off the road or tried to get out of his car. I assume those are passed to make legislators feel good about their jobs. At least six semis on their side at a weight station on I-40 near Oklahoma City, photographer Jim Beckel reported. I hope that newscasters are better informed about the advice they should give and that this tragedy is never repeated. After a large and violent tornado went through Moore Oklahoma a few days ago, several people in various media outlets including CNN mentioned that given the (seemingly enigmatic) lack of good shelter in homes and public buildings in Oklahoma, that a good option to protect yourself in case a tornado comes your way is to drive away. The three had no chance, said Tim Samaras brother, Jim. Television cameras showed debris falling from the sky west of Oklahoma City and power transformers being knocked out by high winds across a wider area. Sher told ABC News: 'When the troopers found them, they were both deceased.'. Of the mother and baby who were tragically killed, Betsy Randolph said: 'We know that the storm picked them up and swept them away.' Samaras was born November 12, 1957 in Lakewood, Colorado, to Paul T. and Margaret L. Samaras. >>> What they're doing is seeking fame and fortune by selling their videos to various websites and television stations. Most of the difference in predictability of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and the waters around Australia is that the North Atlantic has both a longer climatology base and a higher density of surface observations. Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. Meteorologist Mike Bette is nursing minor injuries after his 'tornado hunt' car was thrown some 200 yards by the storm. I don't think so! The thing is, this tornado was heading roughly from west to east into a highly populated area. Three storm chasers died in that storm. So, the driving away several hours in advance isnt really smart, because you dont know that far in advance where away might be. People who chase storms need to back off a little bit. >>> They were in a car, not a truck. 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. If you were turned away from Main Street due to a fire, and instead took Elm, would the state be responsible when a fire spontaneously breaks out on Elm as well and sprays glass on you? Tornado watches tend to cover a larger area, and the lead time is much shorter. I can at least understand why news crews were in the vicinity, but they didn't really need to be there either. Road closures exist now, but there are lots of roads. Other professional meteorologists, from The Weather Channel, were injured. There are too many chasers/gawkers on the road these days.get use to it and prepare for it. And now Most tornadoes in the United States are relatively small. The last people out will be stuck in traffic. If out of the many decades that chasers have been in the field only 3 have ever died then I'd say chasing is safer than many other dangerous events. That's what they're made for,' long-time storm chaser, David Hoadley, of Falls Church, told The Washington Post. Another thing I noticed that was looked over in this article was the unique conditions that were present at the time that Tim and his crew were killed by the storm. The Friday storm, however, brought with it much more severe flooding. I'm one state north from tornado alley, and I can't imagine anyone from my state saying that it's okay to drive during a tornado alert. This storm was erratic and there will be more storms just like it in the future. [sic] I look at it that he is in the 'big tornado in the sky'. What's eerie is that the subvortex becomes stationary on the road, like it chose to stop right on top of them. Not only are rubberneckers prohibited from fire danger areas, even people who live in the area are prohibited from access. Your freedom ends at my nose if your presence endangers me. I decided to let the comments speak for themselves, because, after all, this post was written three or four days after the event, and the comments reflect more recently available information and analysis. Too many words! People started driving over the grass.'. I have suggested that such a thing should be worth, at least, a parking ticket. Take multiple pictures of vehicles "in the way" of emergency responders at tornado or other emergency sites. 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? Or was it a rotating thunderstorm (a supercell) with small- to moderate-sized tornadoes swirling about one another? This included CNN. These conditions being a tornado being the widest in history (with only one other tornado in recorded history coming close to the same size) and the abnormal path the tornado took. This would make it so a chaser has to stop to render aid along his path. Let me post a reply to many of the above comments and suggestions. understanding tornadoes will prevent this from happening. The sudden acceleration to NE caught several folks by surprise. Inside was Tim Samaras, one of the country's most respected tornado scientists, who had built his career by placing sophisticated probes in the paths of oncoming tornadoes. But the main circulation was crawling with smaller tornadoes, some moving at speeds of 260 feet per second (177 mph), according to the report. The last time we had a tornado warning where I live (July 2008), several people who work in my building actually went outside to look; luckily, the tornado never came close to us, because it was the worst one in state history (it was an EF-3 that had a 50 mile ground track). He almost certainly didn't know that the rain-shrouded vortex was hooking toward him, to the northeast, and that he had entered its circulation. A 51-year-old teacher's assistant who also tried to run from the storm said she quickly regretted her decision, after becoming stuck in traffic in the path of the tornado. It wasn't what I would consider a traffic jam under normal circumstances, but when you have a tornado coming straight at you those seconds are important. The rest of the report deals with how we quantify El Reno, which surprisingly can be pretty subjective. Excluding the one thrill seeker and the three professionals that were killed in this event there has not been another incident. With better data, we could get better forecasts of Southern Hemisphere storms. I've had grown adults that have lived in Oklahoma their entire lives ask me what the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning is. If you want to make this about Tim Samaras, how about you contact his family, colleagues, or friends and ask them what he would have wanted. He will be missed. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. 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. The Life and Death of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras Books The Man Who Caught the Storm Tim Samaras was a legendary storm chaser whose work informed what we know about tornadoes. None of them contributes to the scientific research and experimentation going on. 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. Tim was a couple of miles south of interstate. These skeletons may have the answer, Scientists are making advancements in birth controlfor men, Blood cleaning? Flash floods: Two pickup trucks are pictured stuck in high water along NW 23rd Street in El Reno. ScienceBlogs is a registered trademark of Science 2.0, a science media nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. And, how exactly is an officer supposed to know the area to keep any car (stormchaser or not) out of? 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. 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. Contrast that, as bad as it was, with Dan Robinson's video from the El Reno, OK tornado that killed Tim Samaras, his son Paul and his long-time chase partner Carl Young. The breathtakingly fast subvortex -- the tornado within a tornado -- is visible to the south in footage captured by fellow chaser Dan Robinson's rear dashboard cameras as he fled several hundred yards ahead of Samaras. 528 people were killed by weather in 2012, of which about 200 were a result of high velocity air. This storm changed track. Five tornadoes battered the Oklahoma City area on Friday, while another tornado hit the Tulsa area early Saturday. There was no place to hide.. Officials described parts of Interstates 35 and 40 near Oklahoma City as 'a parking lot.'. 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. So maybe take the time to authorize a few specialists that take recreational tours storm chasing, and keep the rest of them off of the roads. Gone. "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. Ironic how his own community of chasers would throw him to the wolves but won't put themselves in that category. "They put themselves in harm's way so that they can educate the public about the destructive power of these storms," he said. 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. Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency. Tim Samaras, 55, was found dead still belted into the mangled wreck, while the bodies of his son, 24, and Young, 45, were flung a quarter-mile away in opposite directions. 'Everyone acted differently in this storm, and as a result, it created an extremely dangerous situation,' said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. '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. It gets logistically harder to do this if the affected area includes Cairns or Brisbane, because if you are evacuating people from low-lying areas you have to leave the roads open long enough for them to get out. It needs to be taught FREE for the public as well. We cannot separate it from other compounds on earth (like we can, say, hydrogen), we cannot combine other elements to manufacture it (like we can, say, gasoline). ", Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. His website Twistex has been integral to understanding how tornadoes work and improving warning times for those living in Tornado Alley. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. Yes, chaser convergance has been a huge problem over the last few years. Perhaps, the day before tornado-warned storms are expected, you could fly to France, but that is not really an option for most people. When told to seek shelter, many ventured out and snarled traffic across the metro area - perhaps remembering the damage from May 20. 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. In fact, we probably need more professional storm chasers, and among storm chasers my feeling is that we need a better more comprehensive research design. 'Use a telephoto lens for gosh sakes. Samaras' Chevy Cobalt was traveling east down a dirt road with the tornado to his south. There is a great irony to the deaths of the three storm chasers from Twistex. His video consisted of really high quality camera work of weather and the focus wasn't on him. I've had several police hop in my car to look at radar and ask for opinions while chasing because they are not equipt with it. speaking of high velocity wind, that was the sound of the point flying by Dan L. Spell it out for me, Grant. Education may help, but first we need to educate Meteorologists in the media, the brilliant minds out there need to come up with a set of definitive standards on what to do and what not to do and hold the TV weather accountable, develop an educational program for the public, but most of all give people a place to go, public shelters or something for safety, if people have a shelter they more than likely wont get in their car in the first place. It needs to be taught in public schools, teachers also need to take these courses. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman predicted a slight chance of severe weather in the Northeast on Sunday, mainly from the Washington, D.C., area to northern Maine. Same is true for Safety officials and storm chasers and officil spotters doing their jobs. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind. Washington, DC: National Geographic. 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. At the same time, many helpful comments have been added to the post. Don't create a law just to feel better because people died. Laws are really challenging to enforce. The other, which according to professional storm chasers is a problem, is the increased number of people crowding roads (including but by no means limited to) highways in or near the paths of storms. It's just news. So, lets go back to the advice again. 1:50PM. It was a shock this morning to learn from an editor at National Geographic that Tim Samaras had been killed by a tornado in Oklahoma. This is not an especially enforceable regulation but having such a thing on the books would probably encourage amateur storm chasers to think twice about putting others in danger by contributing to blocked roads. The result, even in dry, acronym-heavy academic language, manages to serve as both an enlightening and horrifying account of storm chasing's worst day. Reed Timmer and Sean Casey and their crews modified vehicles that successfully survived being in powerful tornados (for Mythbusters fans, you may have seen these two teams vehicles go head to head with a jet engine to see how they would survive tornado strength winds on the episode Storm Chasing Myths). Privacy statement. On the one hand, researchers have to pay the bills somehow, and this is one way to do it. Pete, Born: I think this is a difficult question. He said "you need to be below ground [pause] if you can drive south bla bla bla", Does this mean "you need to be below ground, but if you are in you car in the path of the tornado you can drive south", Or does this mean "you need to be below ground or if you can drive south, go and drive south". Early aerial images of the storm's damage showed groups of homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the ground for blocks. Public safety officials have the right and responsibility to restrict access to Main Street and areas nearby in order to save lives and property. Tornadoes do neither. Countless hikers have fallen to their deaths from cliffs. There are many chasers who do stop to render aid and time and time again they are often the first to reach the victims in crucial first moments with skills to save lives. Become a member to support the independent voice of Dallas Not according to biology or history. The family sheltered from the storm in a hospital parking garage. 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. She quickly regretted it. It is not inforceable. I started driving on the shoulder. One minute you're sitting there watching TV, the next minute your whole neighborhood looks like it was jammed through a meat grinder. 10th St. and Radio Rd. Del City has 21,000 people in it. Eco-friendly burial alternatives, explained.
Storm chaser Tim Samaras doing the work that made him so well-known: following tornadoes. Having a law about something means that society wants certain things to happen or not happen. 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,. 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' car was perhaps too slow and too light, and the road was not amenable to fast driving. Its very scary I dont think a normal person can fathom just how scary. Two and half miles has been the widely accepted dimension, but if you measure wind speeds, the tornado could have been anywhere from three to 4.5 miles across. This story has been shared 160,448 times. Law enforcement in a tornado emergency already has immense priorities safeguarding the areas affected, treating the injured, rescues, ascertaining what equipment is needed, etc who would be pulled off those duties to chase down minor traffic violators? Debris: This aerial photo shows damage in the Rolling Meadow Estates neighborhood on Friday in Broken Arrow, Okla. after a tornado had passed the area, Dangerous: Forecasters warned of a 'particularly dangerous situation,' with ominous language about strong tornadoes and hail the size of grapefruits 4 inches in diameter. '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. Those media outlets need to do a more professional job and take their responsibility as journalists rather than entertainers more seriously (generally, not just with respect to tornadoes). Furthermore only a tiny handful of "trained" spotters have ever been killed either and the only two I know of was back in 2011 on a single tornado. Also, read the wikipedia on Tim Samaras for more details, and watch this YouTube video (embedded below as well). He was found hanging in his Wichita, Kansas home. It is emotional to posit "people died, let's make a law" without really identifying a true cause. Note the story of the HS football team that was viewing videos when the storm approached and the coach said put on your helmet. Stop having idiots chase things. You are absolutely right, that this tornado was a particularly monstrous one. What do you think? Most new laws seem to be rehashes of existing laws that can be adapted. and help keep the future of the Observer, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, The Last Ride of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras. 'They had no place to go, and that's always a bad thing. 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. The US has several cities along hurricane prone coasts which are larger (including Houston, Miami, and New York). So, I think this particular weather caster did come up short in his responsibilities to provide good safety information but I'm not sure that his comments in and of themselves constituted explicit instructions to leave one's house, get in a car, and drive. That's really all I have to say on that issue. Tim Samaras, 55, along with his son, Paul Samaras, 24, and Carl Young, . On the other hand, it means they are intentionally bringing civilians into the danger zone, and these civilians don't always know how to react if the situation gets out of hand. The news comes as the death toll from Friday's tornadoes and storms in Oklahoma has risen to 18 people, including six children and 12 adults, the Oklahoma chief medical examiner said on Monday. Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, This empress was the most dangerous woman in Rome. Tim Samaras, 55, was found dead still belted into the mangled wreck, while the bodies of his son, 24, and Young, 45, were flung a quarter-mile away in opposite directions. The other chaser killed was caught in traffic but I find it sad that the community never claims him as a chaser but rather a thrill seeker. I also heard mention of a storm chaser who, attempting a U-turn to avoid a flooded stretch of road, went off a hidden embankment and was lucky to avoid drowning. would have made the storm hard to recognize up close. Storm chasers with cameras in their car transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and toward downtown Oklahoma City. 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. I don't think anyone's rights need to be taken away Too many people clogging the roads in a chase situation makes it difficult for anyone to get away when a storm turns on them. Police/authority do have the power to stop vehicles/storm chasers from continuing down a road if there is an immanent threat. Tim Samarass strategy was never to get into the direct path of a tornado. Tim Samaras was a pioneer and great man," he wrote. 'Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. I have heard that some professional storm chasers offer package tours. I've been in a tornado, when I was six! Northeast of St. Louis and across the Mississippi River, the city of Roxana was hit by an EF3 tornado, but National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said it wasn't clear whether the damage in both states came from the same EF3 twister or separate ones. Oklahoma is a severe convective weather 'bulls-eye' and always will be. With all due respect, Mr. Laden's article suggesting outlawing or making storm chasing illegal and only permissible for the "authorities" is a typical misguided response after a emotional tragedy.