It is not inforceable. Enforcement is difficult, but not impossible. At Will Rogers World Airport, 2,000 people spent the night sheltering in underground tunnels, reported News 9. What was that point that I missed? I remember my wife telling me a few years ago about her retail stores tornado policy which was contrary to everything I knew about safety during a storm. We all see our own causes as noble don't we? We were fine. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind. .". 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. CBS from Dallas agrees with Dorothy from KC and OL from OKC. National Geographic explorer and storm chaser Tim Samaras devoted his life to unlocking the mysteries of extreme weather. ScienceBlogs is a registered trademark of Science 2.0, a science media nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Despite the horrible fact that some two dozen people died in the Moore tornado last week, there were tens of thousands of people directly in that tornados path, hiding out in low interior rooms within their homes or other buildings, who survived. October 1, 2013 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. OKLAHOMA CITY The deadly tornado that struck near Oklahoma City late last week killing 18, including three storm chasers, had a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles and was the second top-of-the-scale EF5 twister to hit the area in less than two weeks, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday. He will be missed. This is an . The authors are Joshua Wurman, Karen Kosiba and Paul Robinson with the Center for Severe Weather Research, and Timothy Marshall of Haag Engineering, a damage-path surveyor from Flower Mound whom I interviewed for our cover story on the tornado. My humble opinions: But once your car is inside an F3 or F4 tornado, that is no longer your problem alone. An outright ban is prolly a bad idear too. 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. Here is all you want to know, and more! There was no place to hide.. Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young died Friday night when an EF3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph turned on them near El Reno, Okla. After years of sharing dramatic videos with television viewers and weather researchers, they died chasing a storm that killed 13 in Oklahoma City and its suburbs. Not sure what happened with Tim. 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. Our community has suffered a terrible loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones. More than half of those were people who had been cut or pierced. 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. 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. Joel Taylor starred . Samaras holds the Guinness World Record for the largest measured pressure drop inside a tornado. Shooting tournament: People search a field for guns near a destroyed RV at a state shooting tournament that was destroyed in El Reno, Weapons displaced: Shotguns recovered from a field lay against a overturned trailor at a state shooting tournament that was destroyed in El Reno, Devastation: When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled right down Interstate 40 for more than two miles, ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames. It's your life so guard it like you own it. People who are paying for the storm chasing experience are expecting to do pretty much the same thing. Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency. 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. There's no wiggle room. Are they going to fire that weather reporter who told listeners to drive into the tornado? Also, believe it or not, people do follow "unenforceable" laws for the simple reason that they want to be law abiding citizens. Storm chasing by amateurs needs to be outlawed. "We're trying to collect as many observations as possible, both from outside and from the inside. Laws are really challenging to enforce. The worry soon turned to flash flooding and floodwaters topped four feet in Oklahoma City on Saturday morning. One minute you're sitting there watching TV, the next minute your whole neighborhood looks like it was jammed through a meat grinder. I have not suggested that storm chasing be illegal. Five tornadoes battered the Oklahoma City area on Friday, while another tornado hit the Tulsa area early Saturday. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Flash flooding accounted for some of the deaths, such as that of a 65-year-old man who died on Saturday when his car drove off a damaged bridge in eastern Oklahoma County. Also, their data helps us to better understand the dynamics of what happens in tornadoes which can help make safer structures. Police have a hard enough time now dealing with emergencies, the last thing they have time to do is stop to write tickets. There is only so much space to get away and so many roads to use, many in poor repair. "He was a groundbreaker in terms of the kind of research he was doing on severe thunderstorms and tornadoes," Dr. Forbes said on The Weather Channel Sunday morning. Like diving into the bath tub with a mattress on top for cover. I'll take my chances sheltering in place, thank you. I also think that storm chasing is not necessarily a bad idea, of course it has its risks but imagine the benefits we could reap if we understood these monsters enough to harness the energy they release rather than letting it do nothing but cause a mess. Tim was a couple of miles south of interstate. It truly is sad that we lost my great brother Tim and his great son, Paul. I answered in good faith. It may be only a matter of seconds before you have time to find shelter. I have lived in the Oklahoma City area for 37 years and have been professionally chasing storms for the last 18 years. Their car was found upright in a ditch with its wheels blown off and the engine a quarter-mile away. It was over in just minutes, when we climbed the stairs half the house was gone but nearly all the houses on the street in back of us where gone! :) I don't know what they were thinking in a state packed with cars and almost no other transportation options and few shelters. Photo by George Johnson. I can't imagine the trauma of living through a tornado strike. I would like to point out that Mike Morgan, the meterologist at KFOR, did what he's done successfully many times since May 24, 2011. Christopher, I've heard from their own lips complaints by professional storm chasers about the looky-lous that clog up the roads, so probably both. 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 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. The debris field created by Samaras' wrecked car, the report concludes, corroborates the footage, which shows the subvortex moving across the face of the larger tornado at about the time Samaras' headlights disappear. However the generic advice makes a lot of sense. 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. Sometimes accidents happen. Smith said the storms 2.6-mile path besting a record set in 2004 in Hallam, Neb. Do it right now,' local news forecasters told viewers. I think it's an abomination that news forecasters suggested people drive away that temporally close to a suspected tornado touchdown. 'I'm a seasoned tornado watcher but I just could not see staying and waiting for it to hit,' she said. I doubt that it would even have a measurable positive effect. With better data, we could get better forecasts of Southern Hemisphere storms. They eventually revised this policy I'm assuming based on what has happened to folks in their stores during a bad storm. On May 13, 2012 Norman PD blocked off roads and literally put me in the path of the tornado. A finite resource. tornado disbursement tactical teams should be flown in by helicopter and then flown out after the job is done, its much safer this way. And, just like a tornado, the last place you want to be caught in a fire is in your car. Another two or three miles east and we would have been looking at a death toll in the hundreds. The shredded pieces of the car hook to the south then across the road to the northeast: I have difficulty fathoming the violence implied in that paragraph. But what about big storms that dont drop tornadoes? Many still believe mountains and rivers save towns. Oklahoma County sheriff's office has identified the victim as James Talbert, according to NewsOk. 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 program, 'Mile Wide Tornado: Stormchasers Tribute,' will feature scenes of Tim Samaras, his son Paul and Mr Young. Such a law or regulation could be more general, specifying that police have the authority to direct people generally in relation to emergency disaster zones that have not happened yet. 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. He was best known for being a Meteorologist. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed, Dallas Area Storms Cause Power Transformer To Explode. They said to stay at work if you had better shelter there. The seasoned storm chaser had dedicated his life to extreme weather, following storms for a quarter of a century. I have heard that some professional storm chasers offer package tours. This story has been shared 160,448 times. Their deaths may not seem surprising; storm chasing, as you might expect, has its risks. That might be preferable because making a new law to address particularistic new circumstances that are already covered by existing law, regulation, and best practice is probably a bad thing. We are part of Science 2.0,a science education nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Salvaging: A chef at Gilmore's Kitchen at the OKC-West Stockyards, is framed by the kitchen pass-through window on the only kitchen wall still remaining as he checks tornado damage in El Reno, Childcare center: The devastation caused by Friday's storms included a wind turbine blade crashing into a daycare center, fortunately no children were inside, Remains: A man looks for items in what is left of a house in El Reno, Oklahoma on Saturday, Damage: A family inspect the office of what is left of the livestock auction business near El Reno, Oklahoma. 1) "Three experienced tornado chasers actual meteorological scientists were killed when their truck (one of the vehicles depicted above, probably) was destroyed by the tornado." Basically the idea here is that if you can avoid a direct hit to the head by the helmet taking the beating your more likley to survive. The apparent fact that individuals don't take on the personal responsibility of doing the sensible thing is a tragedy. Second, the point is still valid. 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. There is no certainty. 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. 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. And if public safety is truly the issue at hand here then instead of telling people to get in their cars and trying to figure out some sane and responsible way to evacuate from the path of a tornado mandate better public and privet shelters in areas more prone to this kind of weather. Public safety officials have the right and responsibility to restrict access to Main Street and areas nearby in order to save lives and property. #1. the storms path was extremely erratic and it made a sudden turn that surprised even veteran forecasters. The National Weather Service said the severe weather threat would shift into neighboring Illinois and Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Friday. That's two more vehicles going into the danger zone. Storm Chaser Tim Samaras Dies; His Last Tornado Footage . The amateur storm chaser who was killed mentioned, in the cell phone conversation he was having with a friend (who was in a safe location and urged the storm chaser to get out of there), two local TV news vans passing him. 3) "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." Eco-friendly burial alternatives, explained. This included CNN. 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. Published: 23:27 GMT, 3 June 2013 | Updated: 08:30 GMT, 4 June 2013. There are some similarities to people doing volcano research, in that people doing it know they have a high risk of death if they happen to be on duty when the eruption occurs. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car. (Football, Lacross, Motorcycle, Bicycle etc). 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). The point of this post is to note two things that I can't prove are relevant in this case but certainly are relevant generally. 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? I hope that newscasters are better informed about the advice they should give and that this tragedy is never repeated. 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).