Devastating tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri

[turtlehurricane]

Don't know original source, but "wow"...

Wow!!!

[Siberian Express]

Here's another pic......Glad you're OK JoMo...

'Sam Clausen has captured a remarkable collection of photos from the Joplin tornado - available on Facebook here (you probably need a FB account to see these). He writes: "The wall of a nearby store was littered with trash including this chair. (Concrete wall)"...'

[ALhurricane]

Great to hear you and your family are safe, JoMo! Prayers continue for you and your city!

[LongIslandWx]

I never met you, JoMo, and I'm pretty new to these threads, but I want to echo the sentiments by the other posters. I'm glad to hear that you and your family are safe and I bet you are counting your blessings that your house wasn't three blocks away. I can't imagine that kind of devestation, especially being from Long Island, where severe weather is extremely rare. I pray that those who have lost everything will be able to make themselves whole again. And thanks, once again, for taking the time to provide your prospective.

[Portastorm]

Like all of us, I am so relieved to hear that you are alright JoMo. To be honest, I barely knew who you were but found myself (probably like everyone else here) coming back to check the thread frequently regarding your status!

Thank you for sharing with us your harrowing experience and I hope/pray that you and your community heal quickly.

[dan11295]

Glad to hear you are O.K. Really telling to know even though you were following the situation very closely and saw the couplet on radar before you took shelter, because the storm intensified so rapidly you did not realize the severity of the storm until afterwords. From that and other accounts many people did not know a tornado was upon them until the began to see debris. Yes they heard the sirens but they may not have thought too much of them.

On a sad note they are still finding more victims. Toll has risen to 132.

[Wow]

Just heard the news. Glad to hear you're ok, JoMo. Based on your suspected location, we thought you'd be right on the fringe of the major damage area.

[jhamps10]

JoMo what an amazing story you told us,

Funny you mention about SGF and tornado warnings, it's a joke that me and Beau have as well, and as a member of the 3 block away club myself I know that freight train sound, heard it in 97, although when I heard that freight train sound, that's what I thought it was.... a freight train, well it would have been that had the tornado not derailed it just outside of town.

and on the smell of fresh cut wood, that too is a very normal smell, I know a lot of the first people on scene in Tuscaloosa mentioned that very same thing, just glad your ok and still among us, and just like I thought in 97 i'm sure you feel VERY lucky that you lived there instead of 3 blocks away..

[eyewall]

I too remember smelling fresh pine when I came across tornado damage in farmville nc on 4/16.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Hoosier]

Thanks for sharing your account, JoMo. Forgive me if this sounds dumb but since almost none of us have been that close to a violent tornado, just wondering if you experienced any weird sensations like ear popping or anything else.

[Baroclinic Zone]

JoMo, I wish you, your family, and your community all my thoughts and prayers. You've been through hell and back.

[Memphis Weather]

JoMo...I'm very glad to hear you are safe. Your story is incredible and I personally can't imagine having to endure what you have in the last several days. You and the entire community of Joplin remains in my thoughts and prayers.

Speaking of the SGF TOR issue (and their high FAR)...leave it to Accuweather to try and distastefully exploit this since its an opportunity to discredit the NWS. They apparently sent this email yesterday to partners and clients (excerpt pasted below)...

For instance, AccuWeather's WeatherData Services accurately sent out a tornado warning for one of our SkyGuard clients in the Joplin area before the devastating twisters hit the ground at 5:16 p.m. on May 22, which protected both people and property.

During the Joplin, Mo. event, emergency sirens sounded 20 minutes before the twister landed. However, many people were still caught off guard. This was likely in part due to the high proportion of precautionary alarms given by the National Weather Service in the past. The Tornado Warning false alarm rate for the Springfield, Mo. NWS office, for example, was 76 percent from 2008 through May 22. If you look at 2010 through May 22, the rate was 85 percent. In addition, according to a recent survey on AccuWeather.com's Facebook page, 90 percent of our fans who voted thought they only needed less than 10 minutes to get to safety when a tornado is approaching.

While the National Weather Service warnings are a boon to the public at large, they are not suited to the requirements of specific businesses. False alarms are not only inconvenient to the public, they can also be serious issues for businesses.

"To a hospital, a false alarm takes the focus off patient care and forces medically difficult sheltering," said Mike Smith, Senior Vice President/Chief Innovation Executive of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions. "To an automotive plant, a rapid unplanned shutdown prompted by a false alarm, for example, can ruin automobiles being painted, at considerable cost."

[HurricaneJosh]

Speaking of the SGF TOR issue (and their high FAR)...leave it to Accuweather to try and distastefully exploit this since its an opportunity to discredit the NWS. They apparently sent this email yesterday to partners and clients (excerpt pasted below)...

Ugh-- so tacky.

[Ian]

I think they have some point whether or not it was a good time to send that. I'm as big a supporter of the NWS as you'll find, but this year makes it pretty clear something is still wrong with the warning system imo.

[Master of Disaster]

Don't know original source, but "wow"...

My first thought was that this might be a fake. Like someone placed the splinter of wood in there and set the damaged curb back on top of it. If you ever watch those videos of them testing siding with 2x4s, when do you ever see wood concrete impale with no spliters what so ever at the site of impact? Ehh, just my rambeling.

[Memphis Weather]

I think they have some point whether or not it was a good time to send that. I'm as big a supporter of the NWS as you'll find, but this year makes it pretty clear something is still wrong with the warning system imo.

I agree that there IS an issue with SGF TORs...I've thought/said that myself for years...but just not the appropriate moment to bring it up and I doubt there's a direct correlation between the number killed and how many Tornado Warnings were issued but non-verified in Joplin the last two years or whatever. The tragic fact is that many if not most that died...may not have survived no matter what they did...how much time they had...or how seriously they took any warning.

[Ian]

I agree that there IS an issue with SGF TORs...I've thought/said that myself for years...but just not the appropriate moment to bring it up and I doubt there's a direct correlation between the number killed and how many Tornado Warnings were issued but non-verified in Joplin the last two years or whatever. The tragic fact is that many if not most that died...may not have survived no matter what they did...how much time they had...or how seriously they took any warning.

I'm not sure the issue is always false warnings etc, tho undoubtedly that is part of it... some of it is likely communication. There are still plenty of people who don't even know the difference between a watch and a warning. I don't know if the science is truly there yet that you don't have to overwarn at the margins "just in case" etc. I do think that the conventional wisdom of finding an interior room is not necessarily helpful in the extreme cases. I don't know what the other option on that level is though other than figuring out a way to have a better idea that a tornado is going to be an EF3/4/5 before or as it is happening. Still, some people probably just can't get to where they need to be to survive in some cases.

[Memphis Weather]

I'm not sure the issue is always false warnings etc, tho undoubtedly that is part of it... some of it is likely communication. There are still plenty of people who don't even know the difference between a watch and a warning. I don't know if the science is truly there yet that you don't have to overwarn at the margins "just in case" etc. I do think that the conventional wisdom of finding an interior room is not necessarily helpful in the extreme cases. I don't know what the other option on that level is though other than figuring out a way to have a better idea that a tornado is going to be an EF3/4/5 before or as it is happening. Still, some people probably just can't get to where they need to be to survive in some cases.

All excellent points. There are still areas where the science and awareness needs to improve...and hopefully such events that we've unfortunately seen multiple times this year will help that out.

BTW...as if they need it...a pretty strong storm about to move into Joplin. Not severe...but does likely have some small hail and strong wind gusts.

[Master of Disaster]

This conversation kind of reminds me of the Hurricane one that we have once a year or so. The "Why was there so much destruction" "Cause they build on a beach" discussion. Extreme events are going to kill people. I am not sure if there is anything that anyone could have done any differently and I am not sure we really need to change anything just because.

If you have 20 minutes heads up that there is a tornado coming, I find any discussion of more warning or more time pretty absurd.

[Ian]

If you have 20 minutes heads up that there is a tornado coming, I find any discussion of more warning or more time pretty absurd.

I don't think that's what the discussion is about at all.

[Deck Pic]

JoMo...I'm very glad to hear you are safe. Your story is incredible and I personally can't imagine having to endure what you have in the last several days. You and the entire community of Joplin remains in my thoughts and prayers.

Speaking of the SGF TOR issue (and their high FAR)...leave it to Accuweather to try and distastefully exploit this since its an opportunity to discredit the NWS. They apparently sent this email yesterday to partners and clients (excerpt pasted below)...

I wouldn't trust Accuweather to tie my shoes....

[Ian]

I wouldn't trust Accuweather to tie my shoes....

I've never been a fan of AccuWx but after meeting Mike Smith it's hard not to believe in his motives.

[HurricaneJosh]

I wouldn't trust Accuweather to tie my shoes....

Totally agreed. I'm sorry, but they just have no credibility. There always seems to be an ulterior motive in every utterance, every forecast map, every seemingly analytical remark, every historical comment, every graphic.

[Ian]

Totally agreed. I'm sorry, but they just have no credibility. There always seems to be an ulterior motive in every utterance, every forecast map, every seemingly analytical remark, every historical comment, every graphic.

It's almost too bad WeatherData is part of Accu... since it seems people will make judgments before even knowing what they are doing there.

[gymengineer]

The "tornado emergency" wording has helped, but is not an officially consistent policy across forecast areas yet. Perhaps there will be a push to standardize the usage across all offices after the NWS Service Assessments from these tornado outbreaks?

Assuming this list from wikipedia is accurate-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_previously_issued_tornado_emergencies -- you can notice some prominent tornadoes not getting such a warning and others that did but probably didn't require one based on the criteria established by the Des Moines office (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/dmx/Media%20Advisory%202010-01.pdf).

"A large and catastrophic tornado has been confirmed and will continue (A radar signature alone is not sufficient)

It is going to have a high impact and/or affect a highly vulnerable population (Historically, this probably has happened once every 10 years in our warning area.)

Numerous fatalities expected."

I don't think just having tornado emergency warnings standardized will solve the problem of high death tolls. I agree with Ian that communication is a key issue-- I'm envisioning a well-coordinated training and cooperation system to link the NWS mets to the TV mets during "tornado emergency" situations, with a standardized template listing key points to emphasize during the TV coverage about how dire the impending situation is.

In addition to a standardized "tornado emergency" use, how about a "confirmed" Tornado Warning vs. a "radar-indicated" Tornado Warning? I know the wording is already included in the warning text itself, and any new warning in a life-and-death type weather phenomenon is going to take lots of outreach and public education. But, maybe that would eventually help the public understand that in a specific type of warning, you need to get underground now.

And as for what to do in potential F4/F5's---a topic that came up in threads after the AL tornado outbreak in April-- I did hear the KFOR met say something extraordinary during the peak of the OK outbreak. He explicitly used the phrasing "get out of the way" many times in addition to the "get underground" phrasing. While he did not tell people to get in their cars and drive away from the tornado, his phrasing implied that in a general sense, you might not survive if you were in the path of the tornado while at home.

[JoMo]

Thanks for the well wishes.

There was nothing weird that happened as I recall as far as ear popping or anything. I was running on adrenaline then so I don't really know. I was scared, but I wasn't shaking or anything. I still remember the sound and the loud low rumble. We just had a storm move through a few minutes ago and the rolling thunder kind of freaked me out.

The best thing for people wanting to volunteer and donate is to wait for a week or two when all the hype dies down and it is no longer national news and everyone who came in to volunteer leaves. We have a large church population here and the people are very giving so we aren't short on supplies at this time, but we may get that way in a week or two.

This radio station has been on the air since this happened. People were calling in and leaving their numbers for loved ones to find them, also various donation points. People also calling in offering their homes to complete strangers. "If you need a shower you can come to my place at *address*" You can listen to it online.

http://www.1310kzrg.com/

One of the radio personalities wives had a broken back, a couple of them have no home anymore. One has nothing, not even his wallet.

The tornado siren in this area is probably in some other state by now so they brought in temporary sirens which came in handy on Tues night I believe it was. We had another tornado warning issued but that storm never produced and the rotation remained just north of Joplin. The sirens blew a second time when the storm was indicated to have winds of 75 MPH so there were some tense moments but it never really produced. The emergency manager called into the radio station to update people as the storm was moving through.

Looking at the aerial photographs that were taken, I just can't help but notice how intense and tightly wound it was. I mean, in some cases the difference between a building that was leveled and one that has minimal damage was a block or two.

[AtticaFanatica]

For instance, AccuWeather's WeatherData Services accurately sent out a tornado warning for one of our SkyGuard clients in the Joplin area before the devastating twisters hit the ground at 5:16 p.m. on May 22, which protected both people and property.

During the Joplin, Mo. event, emergency sirens sounded 20 minutes before the twister landed. However, many people were still caught off guard. This was likely in part due to the high proportion of precautionary alarms given by the National Weather Service in the past. The Tornado Warning false alarm rate for the Springfield, Mo. NWS office, for example, was 76 percent from 2008 through May 22. If you look at 2010 through May 22, the rate was 85 percent. In addition, according to a recent survey on AccuWeather.com's Facebook page, 90 percent of our fans who voted thought they only needed less than 10 minutes to get to safety when a tornado is approaching.

While the National Weather Service warnings are a boon to the public at large, they are not suited to the requirements of specific businesses. False alarms are not only inconvenient to the public, they can also be serious issues for businesses.

"To a hospital, a false alarm takes the focus off patient care and forces medically difficult sheltering," said Mike Smith, Senior Vice President/Chief Innovation Executive of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions. "To an automotive plant, a rapid unplanned shutdown prompted by a false alarm, for example, can ruin automobiles being painted, at considerable cost."

Classless money grab combined with fairytale science. Sounds about right.

[Sickman]

Totally agreed. I'm sorry, but they just have no credibility. There always seems to be an ulterior motive in every utterance, every forecast map, every seemingly analytical remark, every historical comment, every graphic.

I also see no mention of their own false alarm rate. In fact, I'm trying to think of a scenario where the NWS issues a Tornado Warning, but Accuwx sends a message to their clients telling them there's no need for a warning, and they can relax.

Bottom line is that this was the "Perfect Storm" of tornadic supercells... one that formed and ramped up very quickly, in the worst possible location for that region.

[Ian]

I find the back and forth between NWS types and AccuWx kind of amusing. It's almost like grade school. Again, I'd back the NWS 9+ out of 10 times but sometimes things just get too emotionally driven and people don't even actually look at things which are worth addressing as they are blinded by the other stuff. I have no doubt that there are assessments going on within the gov as to what went wrong this spring.

[Ed Lizard]

The get out of the way versus the sheltering in place in the bathtub or a closet thing.

While an EF-5 making a direct hit will almost certainly kill someone sheltering in a bathtub or closet, I'd have to think for most tornadoes the radius of winds that would kill those even in shelter would be much smaller than the radius of winds that might drop trees on cars or flip cars over.

Storm speed is a factor, how urbanized an area is and how likely traffic is to becoming gridlocked and putting more people at danger has to be a factor.

Since EF-5s and EF-4s are a small percentage, IMO, even though in this case sheltering in place led to deaths that might have been avoided (although rain wrapped tornadoes would also seem to make it harder for a driver to visually see and avoid a tornado, even if the roads are clear enough to have that option) I'd think the standard advice, the vast majority of the time, is the right advice.

On a semi-unrelated note, I saw some video of the I-44 Oklahoma stuff, and some lucky people did not get hit by a tornado while trying to shelter underneath a highway overpass. Apparently very few highway overpasses are of the construction of the one in that ~15 year old video, where the reporter and crew, a father and his daughters 'got up under the girders'.