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Devastating tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri


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JoMo...I don't come on here very much, but I remember you during our crazy winter. I live in Tulsa, and it's crazy to think this hit so close to us. I keep thinking, it could've been us. I was praying really hard for you and your family. I'm very happy to hear you are safe. Thank you for sharing with us. The pictures are unimaginable, and I pray to God I never have to go through that. My family was in a tornado in Morris, OK in 1984. 11 people lost their lives, and sadly my family's house was the ONLY house in the town of 2000 still standing. I know the survivor guilt you must be feeling, but I always say, God wasn't through with me yet and he isn't through with you either. Crazy to think I drove through Joplin not too long ago on my way and back from Branson. God bless you and family and Joplin.

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Final death toll is officially 134. Everyone on the missing list has been accounted for.

Well that is just awful. :( At least they have accounted for all the missing and that uncertainty is gone.

I hope this is not too morbid or out of line, but does this mean that when they said they had 142 dead, that some of those remains turned out to be the same person? I am just asking because they kept specifically saying that they had 142 sets of remains, and now it is officialy 134 dead?

With the horrific descriptions from the survivor's stories that you have posted, I could see how that could happen. :( I do not envy the people who had to deal with doing the identifications.

Hopefully this closure is one of many that will help Joplin move forward from this historic tragedy.

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Well that is just awful. :( At least they have accounted for all the missing and that uncertainty is gone.

I hope this is not too morbid or out of line, but does this mean that when they said they had 142 dead, that some of those remains turned out to be the same person? I am just asking because they kept specifically saying that they had 142 sets of remains, and now it is officialy 134 dead?

With the horrific descriptions from the survivor's stories that you have posted, I could see how that could happen. :( I do not envy the people who had to deal with doing the identifications.

Hopefully this closure is one of many that will help Joplin move forward from this historic tragedy.

I believe so. They said there were 146 remains but I guess some of those belonged to the same people.

There's a memorial page that was started for those that died.

http://joplinmemorial.com/

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I know this should be about Joplin but.. 5th EF5 of the season confirmed.

STORM 2... BINGER-EL RENO-PIEDMONT-GUTHRIE

PRELIMINARY DATA...

EVENT DATE: MAY 24, 2011

EVENT TYPE: TORNADO

EF RATING: EF-5

ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): GREATER THAN 210 MPH

INJURIES/FATALITIES: UNKNOWN/9

EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 8 WNW BINGER 3:30 PM CDT

EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 4 NE GUTHRIE 5:35 PM CDT

DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): 75 MILES

DAMAGE WIDTH: UNKNOWN

NOTE: RATING BASED ON UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA MOBILE DOPPLER RADAR

MEASUREMENTS.

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I know this should be about Joplin but.. 5th EF5 of the season confirmed.

STORM 2... BINGER-EL RENO-PIEDMONT-GUTHRIE

PRELIMINARY DATA...

EVENT DATE: MAY 24, 2011

EVENT TYPE: TORNADO

EF RATING: EF-5

ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): GREATER THAN 210 MPH

INJURIES/FATALITIES: UNKNOWN/9

EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 8 WNW BINGER 3:30 PM CDT

EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 4 NE GUTHRIE 5:35 PM CDT

DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): 75 MILES

DAMAGE WIDTH: UNKNOWN

NOTE: RATING BASED ON UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA MOBILE DOPPLER RADAR

MEASUREMENTS.

Wow-- winds greater than 210 mph. That's the highest EF scale assessment I've seen yet. Greensburg and Parkersburg were both 205 mph.

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Is that the same as "in excess of 210 mph"?

Have they settled on an official peak value for Joplin yet?

I just knew you were going to post this-you seem more 'obsessed' with a final official peak value than I am(and yeah, I want to know too). I know it is just an estimate, but it is the 'official story' for the historical record...so I am waiting for it too. It can't be just 'over 200 mph'.

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I just knew you were going to post this-you seem more 'obsessed' with a final official peak value than I am(and yeah, I want to know too). I know it is just an estimate, but it is the 'official story' for the historical record...so I am waiting for it too. It can't be just 'over 200 mph'.

:D

I admit I have a real fetish for the numbers. You know me too well.

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:D

I admit I have a real fetish for the numbers. You know me too well.

Unfortunately, for tornadoes, as a couple of mets have pointed out, there is no central body like the NHC doing these wind estimates. So wind estimates from event to event (by different offices) aren't going to be directly comparable-- at least not yet. Maybe someday in the future, there will be a "re-analysis" panel that will then compare these events to each other directly; I don't know that there will be a big push for that to happen though, since these ratings inherently carry a level of subjectivity with factors that the raters just will never know (from exact construction standards to even things like was the garage door open or closed, etc.).

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Unfortunately, for tornadoes, as a couple of mets have pointed out, there is no central body like the NHC doing these wind estimates. So wind estimates from event to event (by different offices) aren't going to be directly comparable-- at least not yet. Maybe someday in the future, there will be a "re-analysis" panel that will then compare these events to each other directly; I don't know that there will be a big push for that to happen though, since these ratings inherently carry a level of subjectivity with factors that the raters just will never know (from exact construction standards to even things like was the garage door open or closed, etc.).

I hear ya. I'd just like to think that, theoretically, there's some consistency in the ratings just because of 1) a shared and well-documented methodology and 2) sometimes it's the same people reviewing these major events-- i.e., the super-elite survey dudes who really specialize in this.

But, yeah, with 'canes we are lucky. Sure, the reanalysis estimates for early-20th-century cyclones probably have plenty of error-- but at least we know the analysis techniques are being applied consistently across samples by the same committee of people.

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I have seen some of the most amazing images and stories from Joplin that I've ever seen with a tornado. This whole season has been nothing short of incredible, and unfortunately the loss of life has also been incredible.

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I hope everyone is doing ok. I have tried to keep up with the thread but it has been crazy down here. My family is all ok. 8 people from my work are homeless. Also my wife lost her job as the business was lost. It has been crazy. I have some great videos from our several tower cams I will have to post. I was at work during the whole event. In fact I came in around 3pm. I posted on my facebook at 2pm that I have a bad feeling, well that came true. I did wall to wall through the event as it tracked through the city. I am just very upset and mad that we lost 140 people. I keep asking could I have done more?

Doug Heady

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I hope everyone is doing ok. I have tried to keep up with the thread but it has been crazy down here. My family is all ok. 8 people from my work are homeless. Also my wife lost her job as the business was lost. It has been crazy. I have some great videos from our several tower cams I will have to post. I was at work during the whole event. In fact I came in around 3pm. I posted on my facebook at 2pm that I have a bad feeling, well that came true. I did wall to wall through the event as it tracked through the city. I am just very upset and mad that we lost 140 people. I keep asking could I have done more?

Doug Heady

Doug, would love to hear your story when you get a chance. Glad to see you guys are ok. How has FEMA been in your opinion?

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Yes we lost 4 more today from that have been hospitalized since the tornado. I think FEMA has been pretty good. They jumped on it and have gotten things done very quickly. I think the biggest thing I have heard is that the help from FEMA hasn't been enough, meaning $ signs. I will definitely tell the story from my eyes probably later tonight when I can get a chance to sit and really type. Even though I wasn't directly hit (which I am so blessed) it has indirectly effected all of us down here. Obviously my concern is for all of these familys to get housing and jobs back. Including my wife on the job part. But I truely believe that Joplin will be stronger from this event. I will tell my story later.

Doug Heady

Chief Meteorologist

KOAMTV/FOX 14

Joplin MO/Pittsburg KS

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I hope everyone is doing ok. I have tried to keep up with the thread but it has been crazy down here. My family is all ok. 8 people from my work are homeless. Also my wife lost her job as the business was lost. It has been crazy. I have some great videos from our several tower cams I will have to post. I was at work during the whole event. In fact I came in around 3pm. I posted on my facebook at 2pm that I have a bad feeling, well that came true. I did wall to wall through the event as it tracked through the city. I am just very upset and mad that we lost 140 people. I keep asking could I have done more?

Doug Heady

One of the last things I remember was you on TV, circling a strong area of rotation on the western side of Joplin. Of course then the power flickered a couple of times and I headed to the closet since I heard the rumbling sound before the power did go out.

It was bad because it developed just west of Joplin and had not been on the ground that long. With the Picher, OK tornado or other tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, we usually get reports of the storm on the ground from over in Kansas or Oklahoma. Since this developed just west of Joplin, it was hard to warn people early on since it was just forming when it was entering Joplin.

Another thing was just the strength of the tornado. I wasn't expecting that strong of a tornado and I'm pretty sure I may not be here if the tornado had hit 3 blocks closer.

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I hope everyone is doing ok. I have tried to keep up with the thread but it has been crazy down here. My family is all ok. 8 people from my work are homeless. Also my wife lost her job as the business was lost. It has been crazy. I have some great videos from our several tower cams I will have to post. I was at work during the whole event. In fact I came in around 3pm. I posted on my facebook at 2pm that I have a bad feeling, well that came true. I did wall to wall through the event as it tracked through the city. I am just very upset and mad that we lost 140 people. I keep asking could I have done more?

Doug Heady

Wow. Well, don't be too hard on yourself. It was not an easy storm to warn for, given how fast it developed and moved. I'm sure y'all did the very best you could.

Thanks for this very frank reflection on it, and best of luck as you rebuild.

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Yes we lost 4 more today from that have been hospitalized since the tornado. I think FEMA has been pretty good. They jumped on it and have gotten things done very quickly. I think the biggest thing I have heard is that the help from FEMA hasn't been enough, meaning $ signs. I will definitely tell the story from my eyes probably later tonight when I can get a chance to sit and really type. Even though I wasn't directly hit (which I am so blessed) it has indirectly effected all of us down here. Obviously my concern is for all of these familys to get housing and jobs back. Including my wife on the job part. But I truely believe that Joplin will be stronger from this event. I will tell my story later.

Doug Heady

Chief Meteorologist

KOAMTV/FOX 14

Joplin MO/Pittsburg KS

At least your town allows people to live in Fema trailers

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979385002

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Certainly cant blame him for trying to change things for the better, but as an elected official, you MUST lead by example. And "common good" is not that.

Politicians should not be allowed to use subjective statements like "Common Good" and "What the American people want" because they use them to promote their own agenda.

Apparently Homeless people on the streets look nicer than a trailer park. so not accepting the trailers is for the common good.

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Unfortunately the death toll in Joplin may rise more due to those who are critically injured. We had two additional fatalites from the 4/27 storm in Tuscaloosa within the past week. One was a woman whose child died in the storm. She was admitted to the ICU and never recovered. The other was an elderly man who contracted pneumonia after getting wet in the storm.

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One of the last things I remember was you on TV, circling a strong area of rotation on the western side of Joplin. Of course then the power flickered a couple of times and I headed to the closet since I heard the rumbling sound before the power did go out.

It was bad because it developed just west of Joplin and had not been on the ground that long. With the Picher, OK tornado or other tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, we usually get reports of the storm on the ground from over in Kansas or Oklahoma. Since this developed just west of Joplin, it was hard to warn people early on since it was just forming when it was entering Joplin.

Another thing was just the strength of the tornado. I wasn't expecting that strong of a tornado and I'm pretty sure I may not be here if the tornado had hit 3 blocks closer.

I am glad you are safe. If you need anything let me know.

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