Massive storms

[CyBroncos]

I saw an interview with Nick Saban on ESPN and Bama's long snapper's home was right in the path of the storm. The house was destroyed and the kid was thrown 50 yards and has a concussion and a fractured wrist.

The videos of it with Bryant Denny Stadium in the foreground shows how massive and scary it was

 

[jsmith86]

In my case, ignorance was bliss. Plus, a bit of distance, as the dorms were a bit away from the area hit. My third year, I stayed in an apartment near the church that was demolished by the tornado. Severe weather definitely kept us on our toes after that...



Yup! Plus, I'm from the "first or second ring" Twin Cities Metro suburbs, so even when we have severe weather, it's rarely that dangerous.

Its alright. I'm from southern Oklahoma, and my first instinct when a tornado siren goes off is still to go out and look for the tornado. From a mile or two away, tornadoes look really cool. Of course, my brain kicks in after a few seconds and I remember that I need to get inside to someplace safe.



As far as the safe room, I can vouch for that. Definitely a good investment.

 

[Iastfan112]

In my case, ignorance was bliss. Plus, a bit of distance, as the dorms were a bit away from the area hit. My third year, I stayed in an apartment near the church that was demolished by the tornado. Severe weather definitely kept us on our toes after that...



Yup! Plus, I'm from the "first or second ring" Twin Cities Metro suburbs, so even when we have severe weather, it's rarely that dangerous.

I would love to hear what you mean by this statement.

 

[simply1]

Satellite image of the paths

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blo...1/04/110428_modis_250m_ch01_ch02_TCL_anim.gif

 

[mksmith2]

After living in SE Iowa (Fairfield...ugh) and having had Tornado's "baring down" on Fairfield only to either go wide or just go back up then hit another town instead, I'm fairly desensitized to it all (especially when Tornado's are a small obsession of mine) but that video of the tornado going by with the stadium in the background really sorta tells you just how big that thing was.

(In a completely off-topic subject...as a road warrior if there are any chasers around here that would love to have a driver...PM me.)

 

[cs6804]

To put these storms in perspective- the top 25 tornado outbreaks with number of deaths all precede 1955 when reflectivity radars were mostly nonexistent and could not warn people about impending storms. The storm yesterday, as of now, stands #7 on the list. With all of the technology at our fingertips now for forecasting/warning/seeing/communicating about impending tornadoes this outbreak was filthy nasty.

Template:25 deadliest US tornadoes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I also have a question-- Why do houses in the south not have basements? Is it too costly? Water table too high? Soil to rocky? What is it?[/QUOT

i would assume in some places the water table has a lot to do with it, but i think it mostly has to do with how deep the frost line is (how deep footings need to go). In Iowa its about 3 to 4 feet so it makes sense to just dig out a basement. In Ala im assuming the frost line is about 1 to 2 feet so its not really economical to have a basement.

 

[jsmith86]

To put these storms in perspective- the top 25 tornado outbreaks with number of deaths all precede 1955 when reflectivity radars were mostly nonexistent and could not warn people about impending storms. The storm yesterday, as of now, stands #7 on the list. With all of the technology at our fingertips now for forecasting/warning/seeing/communicating about impending tornadoes this outbreak was filthy nasty.

Template:25 deadliest US tornadoes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I also have a question-- Why do houses in the south not have basements? Is it too costly? Water table too high? Soil to rocky? What is it?

i would assume in some places the water table has a lot to do with it, but i think it mostly has to do with how deep the frost line is (how deep footings need to go). In Iowa its about 3 to 4 feet so it makes sense to just dig out a basement. In Ala im assuming the frost line is about 1 to 2 feet so its not really economical to have a basement.

It is more of the fact that there is solid rock only about a foot down most places down here.

 

[cstrunk]

While the frost line and solid rock explanations are somewhat valid reasons why most houses in the south do not have basements, the most important reason is that soils in the south tend to have very high clay content. This causes them to shrink/swell when they are dry/wet. It would cause cracked foundations and basement walls in no time.

 

[cstrunk]

Why is he still in the 3rd story of his apartment?

That video kind of reminds most of us in Iowa City when the tornado hit (except the Bama tornado is much bigger than the IC one was). My friends and I, and a lot of us in the dorms just stayed in our rooms, even while the warning was blaring. Whoever didn't stay in their rooms, went outside. I had an exam to study for, so I just plugged in my headphones, cranked up the volume and read. It wasn't until later that I realized that an actual tornado had hit the city proper, several blocks away.

This is a perfect example of why no matter how accurate tornado warnings are and how good media coverage is during a warning, there will always be people that end up getting killed from a tornado. Some people are just oblivious to the world around them. :spinny:

It really irks me these days when a tornado victim tells the local news that they "had no warning." In some cases it is true. But in this day and age most of the time they just either don't care and think it's a false alarm or else they just aren't paying attention.

Quoted from another message board that I frequent:

"This morning, on CNN, a man in Alabama was interviewed by a reporter. Repeatedly, during the interview, the man said they were shocked and surprised - and that they had no warning (at which I was cussing out loud - saying WHAT - you have got to be kidding me - because I knew the NWS had issued warnings well in advance of this storm). This went on for about 1 minute. At the end of the interview, the CNN meteorologist - who I perceived to be a bit irritated by the conversation - asked if the warning sirens went off and if the man heard the sirens. The reporter then repeated the question to the local resident. The main replied that "yes, the sirens went off and we heard the sirens"

 

[Iastfan112]

This is a perfect example of why no matter how accurate tornado warnings are and how good media coverage is during a warning, there will always be people that end up getting killed from a tornado. Some people are just oblivious to the world around them. :spinny:

It really irks me these days when a tornado victim tells the local news that they "had no warning." In some cases it is true. But in this day and age most of the time they just either don't care and think it's a false alarm or else they just aren't paying attention.

Quoted from another message board that I frequent:

"This morning, on CNN, a man in Alabama was interviewed by a reporter. Repeatedly, during the interview, the man said they were shocked and surprised - and that they had no warning (at which I was cussing out loud - saying WHAT - you have got to be kidding me - because I knew the NWS had issued warnings well in advance of this storm). This went on for about 1 minute. At the end of the interview, the CNN meteorologist - who I perceived to be a bit irritated by the conversation - asked if the warning sirens went off and if the man heard the sirens. The reporter then repeated the question to the local resident. The main replied that "yes, the sirens went off and we heard the sirens"

I agree with you but some of these casualties just stem from the fact that a direct hit from an EF 4/5 tornado without a basement or a specially built "safe room" lowers your odds of surviving even if you do proceed to the center of an interior room on the lowest level. Was just a historic day for severe weather, most agree it doesn't quite measure up to the 1974 Super Outbreak but I've seen most folks rate it 2 or 3(some rate the 1965 Palm Sunday outbreak higher).

 

[cstrunk]

I agree with you but some of these casualties just stem from the fact that a direct hit from an EF 4/5 tornado without a basement or a specially built "safe room" lowers your odds of surviving even if you do proceed to the center of an interior room on the lowest level. Was just a historic day for severe weather, most agree it doesn't quite measure up to the 1974 Super Outbreak but I've seen most folks rate it 2 or 3(some rate the 1965 Palm Sunday outbreak higher).

Absolutely, and I commented on the lack of basements and the strength of the tornadoes from this outbreak contributing to a higher death toll back on the first page of this thread.

In my previous post I was just ranting, after being riled up earlier by poor journalism and ignorant people. Sorry for any confusion!

 

[SvrWxCy]

The Birmingham NWS office has confirmed an EF-3 and two EF-3 or potentially highers thus far, none of these tornadoes are the ones that struck Tuscaloosa and Birmingham though. It sounds like it will take the rest of the weekend to complete the others with so much damage and so many damage paths.

 

[SvrWxCy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't an EF5 capable of unpaving a paved road?

There have been occurrences in which a violent tornado has began to rip up pieces of highway; but they do not use any sort of road/highway/pavement as an indicator for rating a tornado as there is way to much variation in how they are built.

 

[SvrWxCy]

The Smithville, MS tornado is the first EF-5 of this outbreak, this tornado was relatively short-lived (only went 2.82 miles) but was 1/2 mile wide and did some extensive destruction. In fact, newly built houses that were attached to their foundations were completely destroyed, all plumbing fixtures were also pulled out... And the most astonishing, a 1965 Chevy truck that was in a front yard has not been found...

https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pid=201104291312-KMEG-NOUS44-PNSMEG