Devastating tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri

[JoMo]

That last video is absolutely astonishing to me. I can't believe how long they waited to go inside the house. That roar was downright terrifying, and that's just me sitting behind the computer monitor. Can't imagine what that would have been like in person. I'm guessing they must have been on the southern edge of the tornado, as it appears they sustained more of a moderate brand of damage based on what I can tell towards the end of the vid. Also, it appears you can see the left (southern) edge of the tornado right before they head indoors. The sky is noticeably brighter behind the trees to the left.

I can't locate where this video was shot and the person that uploaded it hasn't been on youtube for 2 months. I know about 36 seconds in there is a close lightning strike, the same one heard on the video shot near me, but the actual tornado doesn't arrive at that location until about a minute later.

This is the aftermath of the house and neighborhood in that video right after the tornado.

[cyclone77]

I can't locate where this video was shot and the person that uploaded it hasn't been on youtube for 2 months. I know about 36 seconds in there is a close lightning strike, the same one heard on the video shot near me, but the actual tornado doesn't arrive at that location until about a minute later.

This is the aftermath of the house and neighborhood in that video right after the tornado.

Wow, unfortunately it looks like they received quite a bit of damage there. In the aftermath video you can see the sun setting in the direction the camera was pointing at in the beginning of the first video. This tells us the winds were blowing from the south as the tornado approached, and more than likely means they were probably on the southern side of the swath. Judging by the fact the tornado was very loud for a few minutes before it arrived makes me believe this was shot after the tornado had achieved an enormous size. If I were to guess I'd estimate he was somewhere southeast of you just on the other side of the damage swath. I'm glad it appears that his family and the surrounding neighbors made it through okay.

EDIT: Another thing I noticed in the first video was the surprising amount of CG activity very close to when the tornado arrives. I remember seeing a video from a chase group that was heading south through the city that also shows CGs hitting on the outer edges of the wrapping rain curtains that encircled the tornado. This is a near perfect example of what a strong HP supercell is capable of. I believe the Plainfield Illinois F5 was probably very similar in appearance, as it too was totally wrapped in rain.

[cyclone77]

I can't locate where this video was shot and the person that uploaded it hasn't been on youtube for 2 months. I know about 36 seconds in there is a close lightning strike, the same one heard on the video shot near me, but the actual tornado doesn't arrive at that location until about a minute later.

This is the aftermath of the house and neighborhood in that video right after the tornado.

It took me awhile, but I was finally able to locate where the video was shot. The unique dead end road with the two driveways at the north end helped quite a bit. The pine tree that was left also helped.

These guys were pretty close to the end of the tornado, and probably would have been missed if it hadn't curved east-southeast before lifting. I'm still amazed at how quickly it went from destroying house after house to no damage at all.

EDIT: I should also note that the map incorrectly continues 24th Street right through the cameraman's garage lol. 24th Street actually has a break in it there, and continues behind the cameraman's residence.

EDIT #2: I forgot to mention another thing I noticed in the two videos. In the first video the cameraman pans to the right (northwest), and you notice a little white car parked in front of a house. In the aftermath video when he pans over in that direction you see the same white car in the same exact position, yet the house is GONE.

[JoMo]

It took me awhile, but I was finally able to locate where the video was shot. The unique dead end road with the two driveways at the north end helped quite a bit. The pine tree that was left also helped.

These guys were pretty close to the end of the tornado, and probably would have been missed if it hadn't curved east-southeast before lifting. I'm still amazed at how quickly it went from destroying house after house to no damage at all.

EDIT: I should also note that the map incorrectly continues 24th Street right through the cameraman's garage lol. 24th Street actually has a break in it there, and continues behind the cameraman's residence.

EDIT #2: I forgot to mention another thing I noticed in the two videos. In the first video the cameraman pans to the right (northwest), and you notice a little white car parked in front of a house. In the aftermath video when he pans over in that direction you see the same white car in the same exact position, yet the house is GONE.

Nice job. That was in the EF-3 damage with EF-4 damage just to their north and EF2 just to the south according to the SGF survey. The tornado seemed to have weaker winds on the south side when compared to the north side. The center of the tornado passed about 0.44 miles from my house, and I heard it even though the TV was on rather loudly. It became rather large, rather quickly and I will always remember that roaring sound that at first sounded like distant rolling thunder to a constantly loud rumble and 'growl'.

I did notice an area over here by me (kind of a valley) where the houses on the top of the valley suffered EF-4 damage and sheds and other structures like a child's wooden 'full sized doll house' suffered very little damage and a well constructed wood frame shed suffered only roof damage but 20-30 ft up the hill, the house was completely pushed over and spread out over the area.

The video on Brownell was south of the damage track from the tornado.

[JoMo]

Well now......

http://www.newstalkkzrg.com/FEMA-Funding-for-Joplin-Pulled-In-Wake-of-Irene/10759225

FEMA is suspending funding to Joplin as the east coast faces recovery from Hurricane Irene.

"The only programs being affected right now are the long-term programs," says FEMA's Crystal Peyton.

She tells News Talk KZRG the temporary suspension of federal dollars will affect rebuilding Joplin schools, roads and other buildings.

"When it goes to individuals and housing efforts, those are unaffected. We will continue to fund that and the staff to support it all the way through its culmination."

Peyton says FEMA's number one goal is immediate disaster recovery and that priority governs the use of their 1 billion dollar budget. She tells News Talk KZRG Congress must renew or raise their budget in order for the suspension affecting Joplin is lifted. That decision is expected to made around October.

[cyclone77]

A couple of vids I stumbled across that were posted on May 23th after the tornado that I haven't seen before. These two vids capture the formation in the Cedar Ridge area in SW Joplin, which was the first area hit.

.... Not sure which direction this was taken.

You can see debris flying and hitting the window but no condensation funnel yet. Was this basically forming right over them?

I found this location as well. This was filmed at the corner of West 30th Street and South Eiler Ave. These guys got very lucky, as just a few houses to the south were severely damaged and destroyed. It's amazing that the tornado was capable of that type of damage so quickly.

[JoMo]

cyclone77, I found the hi-rez NOAA image version of the West 30th and south Eiler quite interesting. The area you have highlighted is in the top left portion of the image. EF1 damage occurred there with EF2 damage south of there, although by looking at the image, it appears a couple of homes may have been destroyed. As you progress east along the top of the image you can see the tree fell pattern is more chaotic then it was once the tornado had reached the mature stage. Around the top center of the image, you can see a cell phone tower that was pushed over, just north of the tower, you can very clearly see a tight circular tree fell pattern.

http://ngs.woc.noaa....00e4102500n.jpg

And this is the link to the E24 and Meadow Lane image. They were very close.

http://ngs.woc.noaa....00e4105000n.jpg

[BryanB]

Amazing set of photos and videos from everyone who has posted. I went through the F4 tornado that struck Kansas City, Kansas on May 4, 2003 and lost my entire house that day. It is something that you never forget, almost as if it has been burned into your brain…the sounds of the tornado getting closer, being on top of you, and leaving you…the smell of the earth. Anytime you get really high straight line winds that have a roar to them, it does cause a certain level of panic even 8 years later.Bryan

[cyclone77]

cyclone77, I found the hi-rez NOAA image version of the West 30th and south Eiler quite interesting. The area you have highlighted is in the top left portion of the image. EF1 damage occurred there with EF2 damage south of there, although by looking at the image, it appears a couple of homes may have been destroyed. As you progress east along the top of the image you can see the tree fell pattern is more chaotic then it was once the tornado had reached the mature stage. Around the top center of the image, you can see a cell phone tower that was pushed over, just north of the tower, you can very clearly see a tight circular tree fell pattern.

http://ngs.woc.noaa....00e4102500n.jpg

And this is the link to the E24 and Meadow Lane image. They were very close.

http://ngs.woc.noaa....00e4105000n.jpg

Those are some amazing images. The cell phone tower portion is very interesting. Looks like one of the strong multiple vorticies passed just north of the fallen tower. It had fallen to the northeast, while just a few hundred yards to the north the uprooted trees blew over towards the west.

The E24 and Meadow Lane image looks like it was snapped earlier than the image I posted yesterday, as the uprooted tree in the cameraman's backyard hadn't been cut up yet.

[cyclone77]

I'm pretty sure I found the location of the chase video that shows the formation of the tornado shot from the north. The chasers are driving south with the formation of the multiple vortex tornado to their due south. In the video around the 10 second mark you see them approach a railroad crossing. There's only one north/south road with a railroad crossing that would line up with the formation of the tornado, and that is on South Central City Road. This road actually turns into JJ HWY south of the tracks, and the NWS places the formation of the tornado at the intersection of JJ HWY and Newton Road.

[cyclone77]

With Google Earth I also scanned a bit southwest of where the NWS placed the formation of the tornado (at JJ HWY and Newton Road) and found several uprooted trees west of John Duffy Drive. They're all uprooted, and laying towards the northeast. This was probably either caused by a circulation passing just north of that location, or from the initial RFD that slammed down into that area just southwest of the forming vorticies. The Google Earth images are dated June 7, 2011, so this would explain why the foliage on the uprooted trees is brown.

[JoMo]

You're a pro cyclone77, lol. I can't remember who it was, but someone on here analyzed that video in post #1031 and found the intersections that the different shots were taken at. He has his blog in his sig but I can't remember who it was.

Here's a new one I found a couple of days ago, not sure where it's at.

NOTE THIS VIDEO HAS CUSSING, and towards the end, a 'rescue' at Hampshire Terrace apartments.

[cyclone77]

You're a pro cyclone77, lol. I can't remember who it was, but someone on here analyzed that video in post #1031 and found the intersections that the different shots were taken at. He has his blog in his sig but I can't remember who it was.

Here's a new one I found a couple of days ago, not sure where it's at.

NOTE THIS VIDEO HAS CUSSING, and towards the end, a 'rescue' at Hampshire Terrace apartments.

He's just north of the intersection of Indiana Ave and East 17th Street. He's basically at that intersection at the beginning of the vid, and then retreats to the house north of the one on the corner.

[on_wx]

This video shows a pretty clear tower cam shot of the tornado at about 1:00

[SluggerWx]

You're a pro cyclone77, lol. I can't remember who it was, but someone on here analyzed that video in post #1031 and found the intersections that the different shots were taken at. He has his blog in his sig but I can't remember who it was.

Here's a new one I found a couple of days ago, not sure where it's at.

NOTE THIS VIDEO HAS CUSSING, and towards the end, a 'rescue' at Hampshire Terrace apartments.

JoMo - I think Cyclone and I were the ones (along with others) doing the same google earth mapping to find your house at about 2 AM in the morning after the tornado. Someone found some old snow shots you had posted, and we were able to make an educated guess that you were slightly NW of the most intense damage path. Then, some folks had linked to a 'path' of the tornado outlined on Google Earth that took the thing right over your place.

Still, we persisted that path was sligthly off. We posted some maps showing our research, and I'll delete those posts if you want me to.

I remember using Google Maps and my huge high def TV on pause mode because I had a 6 hour live recording of everything that unfolded that day as they showed it on TWC. I was able to find the pool to the north of the hospital to view the damage path. It looked like everything to the north and west of the pool had less and less damage, and that's about a mile or so from where we thought your street was.

Still, there was nothin' like when you finally showed up. I think even my wife was excited! Prayed for you man, many people did.

I have an 'off-the-wall' theory about these super tornadoes that I literally stumbled upon at the Museum of Natural History in D.C.. I'll PM you about it this week.

[JoMo]

Apparently the NWS assessment is out or at least part of it, I can't currently find it on google so if you can find it post it.... the paper did a story on it today:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/tornadomay2011/x890683955/Report-Many-first-questioned-tornado-warning-then-acted

* “The perceived frequency of siren activation in Joplin led the majority of survey participants to become desensitized or complacent to this method of warning. This suggests that initial siren activations in Joplin have lost a degree of credibility for most residents.”

*The investigators, who interviewed more than 100 people, found that many of them said that they “hear sirens all the time” and that they are “bombarded with sirens so often that we don’t pay attention.”

*as one survey participant said, that “the sirens go off all the time and nothing ever happens.”

*The reports show that some people died after seeking appropriate shelter, while others did the wrong thing and survived.

*Bill Davis, head of the National Weather Service forecast office in Springfield, said: “A warning is a warning. How many adjectives and adverbs do we have to use to make the point that there’s a possibility you could die?

“Looking for a confirmation, well, that’s what humans do. But, if there was a guy at the door with a gun, would you really want to confirm that? The question is: How do you get into the minds of people to tell them that we see something that can affect you? We need to work on that.”

[JoMo]

I'm still looking for the NOAA/NWS assessment from the above news article. NWS Springfield was no help in tracking it down.

Amazing story of a 16 year old that is just now getting to come home after being in the hospital. He also got 'the fungus' and only had a 5-10% chance to live. He had a chest wound so bad that doctors could see his exposed lungs, liver and his heart beating through it.

http://www.kmbc.com/news/29062295/detail.html

Also, some new footage (of Wal-greens at 20th and main looking at the back of the tornado) in the trailer to the video that the Piotrowski's took that day. Their DVD is 90ish minutes long and is expected to be released Sept 24-27th for $24.99 I believe.

[andyhb]

Amazing story of a 16 year old that is just now getting to come home after being in the hospital. He also got 'the fungus' and only had a 5-10% chance to live. He had a chest wound so bad that doctors could see his exposed lungs, liver and his heart beating through it.

http://www.kmbc.com/...295/detail.html

That's incredible.

[Cajun Thunder]

I'm still looking for the NOAA/NWS assessment from the above news article. NWS Springfield was no help in tracking it down.

Amazing story of a 16 year old that is just now getting to come home after being in the hospital. He also got 'the fungus' and only had a 5-10% chance to live. He had a chest wound so bad that doctors could see his exposed lungs, liver and his heart beating through it.

http://www.kmbc.com/...295/detail.html

Also, some new footage (of Wal-greens at 20th and main looking at the back of the tornado) in the trailer to the video that the Piotrowski's took that day. Their DVD is 90ish minutes long and is expected to be released Sept 24-27th for $24.99 I believe.

If you are looking for the full NOAA/NWS assessment, it is WAY too early for it to be in final form, based on previous assessments. I'm pretty sure there are multiple assessments going on at this time. If I had to hazard an unofficial, no inside information guess, it would probably close to the end of the year, if not a little longer, before you see a final version. Turn-around time on a service assessment, based on past history, seems to be about 8 months or so. The May 2010 Nashville flood assessment (the last one published) was published in January 2011.

[JoMo]

If you are looking for the full NOAA/NWS assessment, it is WAY too early for it to be in final form, based on previous assessments. I'm pretty sure there are multiple assessments going on at this time. If I had to hazard an unofficial, no inside information guess, it would probably close to the end of the year, if not a little longer, before you see a final version. Turn-around time on a service assessment, based on past history, seems to be about 8 months or so. The May 2010 Nashville flood assessment (the last one published) was published in January 2011.

Yeah not the final, just that part .... somehow the newspaper and radio station got to see an early draft or something since they both reported on the siren issue.

--------------

*In other news, The National 9/11 flag will be in Joplin on 9/11 and the final stitches will be placed in it, before it is sent to New York to go in the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. CNN may be here for that.

*Canadian Geese have taken over, and are relaxing on house foundations. It's quite a sight actually.

*This was a video taken from a trucking company near where the tornado was.

[Jonbo]

JoMo, I really appreciate the updates and the new videos posted by you and others. I probably would never have seen them without these posts. Thank you

[JoMo]

Big article in the paper today that takes a few more quotes from the assessment report. Apparently the Joplin and Alabama tornado assessment surveys are going together.

http://www.joplinglo...rs-about-sirens

Some highlights (in an article full of information)

I knew the sirens weren't sounded at 5:31 like the city reported. At 5:38 the tornado was actually located a few blocks east of Schifferdecker according to radar.

*"The sirens, which were activated for three minutes, were sounded at 5:11 p.m. and again at 5:38 p.m. When they sounded the second time, the tornado was causing EF-4 damage as it was approaching Schifferdecker Avenue in southwest Joplin, according to a recent study by a team of investigators with the National Weather Service."

*Those same researchers, in a report obtained by the Globe, found that the weather service forecast office in Springfield did a good job of communicating the threat to local officials, and that local officials issued timely warnings via Joplin’s sirens. But the team also stated: “While the weather enterprise was generally successful in communicating the Joplin tornado threat in a timely manner, current communication and delivery mechanisms are not seamless and are somewhat antiquated.”

*The report also found that the Springfield forecast office could benefit from radar technology that would let it look closer into the lower levels of a storm.

The team stated: “Low-level rotational intensification and tornado genesis occurred very rapidly as the storm approached Joplin. Limited scans (every five minutes) at the lowest elevations likely impacted the weather field office’s ability to quickly ascertain the magnitude of the event.”

[on_wx]

Big article in the paper today that takes a few more quotes from the assessment report. Apparently the Joplin and Alabama tornado assessment surveys are going together.

http://www.joplinglo...rs-about-sirens

Memphis comes to mind where the city sounds their sirens for the entire duration of a tornado warning. Also, as the article states, Tuscaloosa sounds their sounds continuously, too. That city uses the same siren type as Joplin. Conflicting information? Joplin officials think the sirens will break if they run them continuously, but other cities are doing it just fine.

Also it talks about grants for weather radios. Even here in Canada, sometimes the weather radio network can be real annoying. Going off in the middle of night for something silly like a frost warning. I had to program mine to only sound for severe thunderstorm/tornado watches and warnings. If you mandate or donate those radios to the public then I imagine a lot of radios will end up stored away in the closest due to too many alert messages for some of the dozens of silly NWS advisory products that make their way through the weather radio network.

Weather radios should be restricted to just life threatening advisory products like severe storm and winter storm warnings.

[JoMo]

Memphis comes to mind where the city sounds their sirens for the entire duration of a tornado warning. Also, as the article states, Tuscaloosa sounds their sounds continuously, too. That city uses the same siren type as Joplin. Conflicting information? Joplin officials think the sirens will break if they run them continuously, but other cities are doing it just fine.

Also it talks about grants for weather radios. Even here in Canada, sometimes the weather radio network can be real annoying. Going off in the middle of night for something silly like a frost warning. I had to program mine to only sound for severe thunderstorm/tornado watches and warnings. If you mandate or donate those radios to the public then I imagine a lot of radios will end up stored away in the closest due to too many alert messages for some of the dozens of silly NWS advisory products that make their way through the weather radio network.

Weather radios should be restricted to just life threatening advisory products like severe storm and winter storm warnings.

I'm not sure about the call on the sirens. I'm not sure how long the battery lasts.

I agree on the weather radio. Even using SAME technology, you still get flash flood watches that come out over the radio at 4 AM with no way of only programming in that you want severe/tornado warnings. (at least on the one I have)

[on_wx]

I'm not sure about the call on the sirens. I'm not sure how long the battery lasts.

I agree on the weather radio. Even using SAME technology, you still get flash flood watches that come out over the radio at 4 AM with no way of only programming in that you want severe/tornado warnings. (at least on the one I have)

Joplin uses the Federal Signal 2001 siren

http://www.federalsi...D=4&lookup=2387

It's the most common siren in the US and it's spilling over into Canada. IIRC, the 2001 has a battery life of 30 minutes. If the power is still on, the siren can run for something like forty-five minutes before it needs a ten to fifteen minute break. If the power goes out mid-siren sounding, the siren won't turn off because the battery activates, but the pitch or sound it makes becomes a deeper tone because it's using less power so the motor chopping the air slows down. From what I gather about that article, Joplin believes if they run the sirens too long the batteries will die. But, the power would have to go out first, so as long as the power is still on, and the city can detect whether each siren still has main power, the siren can go off as often as the city likes.

I'm no siren expert, but I'm 95% positive that is how it works.

[on_wx]

Also JoMo what weather radio are you using? I had a Midland radio with SAME, but you couldn't program the advisories. Bought a Radio Shack NOAA Public Alert weather radio with SAME in Erie, Pennsylvania. It's programmable.

And to add, something else irritating about the Canadian weather radio network. Warnings don't come out in polygons here, there is no "locations impacted" or "storm was near" stuff. All our warnings go out in "zones" that were created in 2002. Some follow the county system, other zones are completely made up by Environment Canada that just include cities every 20 km.

My regional municipality(urbanized county) is some 900 sq km. It's all one Environment Canada zone called "Kitchener - Cambridge - Region of Waterloo". If a storm is clipping the southern border, EC will issue a warning for "Kitchener - Cambridge - Region of Waterloo" thus putting almost 600,000 people under a warning, and my weather radio 30 km north of that storm goes off telling me there is a storm. Then, the weather radio only indicates what warning and for what zone. Warning text or discussion like "a storm capable of producing..." is not included in the Environment Canada network. So, I've had countless severe storm false alarms for a storm no where near me that I have to get of bed, turn on the computer and run the radar to see what's going on and if I should be concerned.

These Environment Canada warning zones are the sole reason why emergency preparedness fails in this country. You'll never be able to devise tornado plans for businesses and schools without risking the countless false alarms for the non-specific warning zones. Also majority of our severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings come in huge blankets. Sometimes warnings go out covering 10 counties(which would no doubt be the size of 30 Kansas counties) before storms have even formed. Even the tornado siren network fails in this country. So many times the tornado sirens have gone off for a storm that will never impact this area, but we're in a blanket warning.

[JoMo]

Also JoMo what weather radio are you using? I had a Midland radio with SAME, but you couldn't program the advisories. Bought a Radio Shack NOAA Public Alert weather radio with SAME in Erie, Pennsylvania. It's programmable.

Interesting info on the sirens. I would have actually thought that once the tornado had touched down, they would leave the sirens on the entire time, but I guess they didn't.

Midland. They were on sale after the tornado. Thought SAME would be warning programmable, but apparently the Midland ones aren't.

[on_wx]

Interesting info on the sirens. I would have actually thought that once the tornado had touched down, they would leave the sirens on the entire time, but I guess they didn't.

Midland. They were on sale after the tornado. Thought SAME would be warning programmable, but apparently the Midland ones aren't.

It varies by area emergency management policy. Some cities will only sound their sirens if the NWS can confirm in their warning a tornado has touched down. Other cities will sound their sirens only once for 3-5 minutes when the warning is issued. Some sound them continuously. Others sound them once, then sound them again after a tornado is confirmed. Some cities use the siren tones in different stages. They will activate the "Alert" tone, or steady wail, at first warning, then if a tornado is spotted, they resound the sirens in the "Attack" tone, up and down wail.

Studies in Canada have suggested that the "attack" tone is most easily recognizable by the public that there is an immediate danger. I don't know of many areas that use the "alert" tone here. I studied emergency management so I know a thing or two about this kind of stuff on this end at least with a dabble in US happenings.

Some older versions of the Midland radio are programmable. The new version that comes with the flashing light accessory for the hearing impaired are not. You should look online for weather radios with SAME that can be programmed. You can order radios off company websites or other weather radio dedicated stores. You can also suggest to your friends and family which radio to get and can program it for them if they need it.

[Master of Disaster]

These guys were pretty close to the end of the tornado, and probably would have been missed if it hadn't curved east-southeast before lifting. I'm still amazed at how quickly it went from destroying house after house to no damage at all

What on earth are you talking about? The tornado was on the ground for several miles past the city.

[OHweather]

What on earth are you talking about? The tornado was on the ground for several miles past the city.

Cyclone is correct in that the tornado was weakening rather quickly at the location that particular video was filmed at, it had already weakened from an EF-5 to EF-4 and was well on its way to an EF-2 at the time. Either way the tornado was done doing its worst damage. That does make a big difference which is why they were "lucky" the tornado hit them while it was weakening and on its way to lifting.