Gone. St. Helens in 1980: some volcano researchers were killed in the eruption, but authorities were successful at keeping most civilians out of the danger zone. I decided to let the comments speak for themselves, because, after all, this post was written three or four days after the event, and the comments reflect more recently available information and analysis. The boy and other family members had sought shelter in a drainage ditch. 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. Road closures exist now, but there are lots of roads. I dont think the scientists who died in this storm would agree with you on that. We are still burying children and victims, so our emotions are still strong,' he added. There is no certainty. They went in the field focused on collecting data to enable meteorologists to further the science behind tornadoes which we know has and will help to save countless lives. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN that motorists faced great danger when stuck on any freeway in the path of a twister. Looking at where he was, I don't think evacuation traffic would have had much of an impact, if any. Contributions are fully tax-deductible. 'I think we are still a little shaken by what happened in Moore. 'There was just no place to go. Very few professional storm chasers "work for the government" really, none. For example, most storm chasers are individuals or small teams, and they benefit with direct contacts with actual tornadoes, and often fund their work this way as they sell their video to news outlets. When she emerged from the freezer her car windshield had been shattered by the hail. He said "you need to be below ground [pause] if you can drive south bla bla bla", Does this mean "you need to be below ground, but if you are in you car in the path of the tornado you can drive south", Or does this mean "you need to be below ground or if you can drive south, go and drive south". There are too many chasers/gawkers on the road these days.get use to it and prepare for it. And, as I think I've said several time, Tim and his crew were professionals, making an important contribution. This tornado was a once in a decade if not longer event that we have truly never seen anything like. Along with his son, Paul, and storm chaser Carl Younghis longtime. 'For reasons that are not clear to me, more people took to the roads, more than we expected. They said to stay at work if you had better shelter there. A mans world? Debris was tangled in the median's crossover barriers, including huge pieces of sheet metal, tree limbs, metal pipes, a giant oil drum and a stretch of chain-link fence. 564K views 9 years ago June 3, 2013Tim Samaras spent more than 30 years researching tornadoes. What is it that causes some people to react to every tragedy in life by trying to legislate the risk out of living in a free country? He attempted to take his own life and spent several days in intensive care before ultimately succumbing to his injuries. Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. The violent winds enveloped Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul Samaras, 24, and his colleague Carl Young, 45, toppling their car like a toy in a breeze. Drivers were encouraged to stay off the roads on Saturday, as emergency crews started to repair the flood-damaged roads and bridges, and began clearing trees and other debris from roadways to make it easier for first responders to get to the areas hit by the tornadoes. "They put themselves in harm's way so that they can educate the public about the destructive power of these storms," he said. I'm Sooner born and Sooner bred and I learned early that a car is one of the most dangerous places to be in a tornado. All rights reserved. Trump is trying to appoint him to be assistant administrator for air and radiation. With the severe weather knocking out power to nearly 120,000 customers in Oklahoma, according to electricity provider OG&E. And, I've argued that telling people that the safest thing to do is to get in their car and drive is wrong. Samaras, his son Paul, and colleague Carl Young died in late May in El Reno, Okla. while chasing an EF5 (winds above 200 miles per hour) tornado, which was later estimated to the be the widest . Early aerial images of the storm's damage showed groups of homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the ground for blocks. It may be only a matter of seconds before you have time to find shelter. The rest of the report deals with how we quantify El Reno, which surprisingly can be pretty subjective. Long COVID patients turn to unproven treatments, Why evenings can be harder on people with dementia, This disease often goes under-diagnosedunless youre white, This sacred site could be Georgias first national park, See glow-in-the-dark mushrooms in Brazils other rainforest, 9 things to know about Holi, Indias most colorful festival, Anyone can discover a fossil on this beach. These skeletons may have the answer, Scientists are making advancements in birth controlfor men, Blood cleaning? 528 people were killed by weather in 2012, of which about 200 were a result of high velocity air. See also: The Last Ride of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras). Are they going to fire that weather reporter who told listeners to drive into the tornado? But it is a free country, and if people want to be foolish then so be it. Many of us were fortunate to have worked with them and have great admiration for their work. The traffic could have been created for any number of reasons. So, if you live in Oklahoma City and figure there may be tornadoes coming later in the day, there is nothing to guarantee that driving north to Aunt Millies house in Enid, OK will not put you in the path of one of the tornadoes that happen to form that day. But forecasters could pinpoint a relatively compact geographical region that would feel the effects of the hurricane, and they could do so with 24-48 hours notice. The fact that they did so while committing a crime allows the system to hold their feet to the fire in a more meaningful way. 10th St. and Radio Rd. An outright ban is prolly a bad idear too. 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. Now they've got cameras that take a picture showing the red light, showing your car going through the red light, and showing the license plate on your car going through the red light. 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. 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. Hard to know what to do. I will not comment at all in regardess to the death of Tim, Carl, or Paul, as they were close personal friends of mine and I am not reading to speak on that subject currently. And we cannot "go to the sun" or other planets where it's abundant and "scoop it up and bring it back to earth". So in a free country, it is possible to do as you suggest. But I'll just say that I think there are less extreme solutions than putting a ban on all amateur storm chasing. We are part of Science 2.0,a science education nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 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! Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma.

An engineer by training, Samaras was known for devising instruments that offered the first views inside live tornadoes. Also, we all have to take responsibility for our own safety and try and do what's best for you. The sudden acceleration to NE caught several folks by surprise. I don't think anyone's rights need to be taken away Too many people clogging the roads in a chase situation makes it difficult for anyone to get away when a storm turns on them. Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic. The program, 'Mile Wide Tornado: Stormchasers Tribute,' will feature scenes of Tim Samaras, his son Paul and Mr Young. We need infrastructure built! Officials in St. Charles County also reported that local schools suffered some damage. He deployed one of these in the path of an F4 tornado that destroyed the small town of Manchester, S.D., on June 24, 2003. The article was entitled, disturbingly, Scientists, Give Up Your Emails. #2. the storm went from a mile wide wedge to a 2.6 mile record breaking monster in an extremely rapid time, usually people 1 mile away from the storm would be safe or even 2 miles away but in this case it dropped on people 2 miles away, more so i don't believe it was a traffic jam as opposed to the rapid size increase and the sudden change in course. The deaths of Mr. Samaras, his son, and Mr. Young had absolutely nothing to do with the horrendous traffic affecting other parts of Oklahoma on May 31. I know cyclones are slightly more predictable than tornados (but much less predictable than hurricanes) they also have the habit of suddenly randomly changing direction. His website Twistex has been integral to understanding how tornadoes work and improving warning times for those living in Tornado Alley. In reply to by Tom McDonald (not verified). Among the injured was a meteorologist from The Weather Channel. 'I'm a seasoned tornado watcher but I just could not see staying and waiting for it to hit,' she said. Several parents in the group I was with decided to drive south, away from the storm. This in the super rare category because we dont deal with things like this often.. The forecast quality will always be better than for small-scale phenomena like tornadoes. At Will Rogers World Airport, 2,000 people spent the night sheltering in underground tunnels, reported News 9. There's no wiggle room. In the case of the El Reno tornado, traffic in combination with road bottlenecks (over a river) did in fact cause a number of storm chasers (and go watch the video to get an idea of how many storm chasers there were!) Certainly broadcast public service announcements discussing the danger of chasing storms. Tornadoes do neither. 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. Another example of this on a NATIONAL level and not just a local level is Season 5 episode 6 of Storm Chasers (The discovery channel show that followed three chaser groups) where Joel Taylor, Reed Timmer, and Chris Chittick all call friends and family on their cellphones advising them to drive away from Yukon, OK and Norman, OK. Actually pointing those in Yukon into the path of the Pidemont, OK tornado. The tragic circumstances that caused the deaths of Tim and Paul Samaras and Carl Young has been well documented. The comments below have not been moderated. However, the men's deaths have shone a spotlight on the dangers of storm chasing. In 2013, Tim Samaras died in one of the epic storms he'd spent decades chasing. I can at least understand why news crews were in the vicinity, but they didn't really need to be there either. Laws are really challenging to enforce. He turned and saw at me peering up from the basement steps! Mike Bettes, a member of the Weather Channel Tornado Hunt Team, was driving in his SUV when it was picked up and thrown 200 yards by the monster rain-wrapped tornado near El Reno. Eye of the storm: Tornado researcher Tim Samaras monitors the radar (left). Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. Skip Talbot makes this point. Education may help, but first we need to educate Meteorologists in the media, the brilliant minds out there need to come up with a set of definitive standards on what to do and what not to do and hold the TV weather accountable, develop an educational program for the public, but most of all give people a place to go, public shelters or something for safety, if people have a shelter they more than likely wont get in their car in the first place. Hail and high winds were the chief threat, though a tornado could not be ruled out, forecasters said. They were killed near El Reno in an EF3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph that ripped through the Oklahoma City area during rush hour. Stop having idiots chase things. "We're trying to collect as many observations as possible, both from outside and from the inside. Samaras shows probes he uses to measure. He did not say "don't get in your car" and he did not say "a car is a bad place to be, and if you find yourself in a car do this and that" which is what he should have said. Of those areas mentioned in this quote, Downtown OK city has about 7,600 people living in it. Look at that video. Though the tornadoes were not as strong as the EF-5 twister that killed 24 on May 20, fear drove many people to attempt to flee the area in their cars only to get caught up in heavy rains and flash flooding. Local news reported an estimated 1,200 people were at the airport and were herded to the basement to wait out the storm. They can't have this, because the traffic is a factor, but yes, Samaras and his crew were not killed this way. 'Everyone acted differently in this storm, and as a result, it created an extremely dangerous situation,' said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. Take note at 3:09 - that's the edge of the tornado visible in the right side of the frame as it grows to nearly 2.6 miles across - the largest ever recorded. If idiots who don't know what they're doing want to drive into a twister, let them. There is only so much space to get away and so many roads to use, many in poor repair. To make this point, here are photographs from major media of a handful of examples of cars that got hit with the vortex, most but not all from this latest tornado: I admit that a flattened house may look pretty bad, may even look worse than a mushed up car, but generally speaking the interior lower floor room in a house that is badly messed up by a tornado is a survivable shelter, while there is no such shelter in your car. Though we sometimes take it for granted, Tim's death is a stark reminder of the risks encountered regularly by the men and women who work for us. You argued that your car could become a dangerous projectile if you intentionally drive into a strong tornado, but so could cars in parking lots. In tribute to his brother, Jim Samaras posted on Facebook: Thank you to everyone for the condolences. 2) "But the hundreds, or even thousands of non-professional storm chasers are probably not contributing to the science of tornadoes and tornado safety." Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul, 24, and crew member Carl Young, 45, died in El Reno on Friday They were heard on Oklahoma Highway Patrol radio screaming before they were killed The elder Samaras was. This one didn't. 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. Yes, lets get the facts straight, which the comments below and the information added here help do. Pay attention to what he says. Then we have police in the mix attempting somehow to cite the stupid? After the devastation of the Moore tornado, many residents who had experiences the storms before decided to ignore advice to stay home and tried to seek shelter elsewhere. In many cases, a law is unenforceable at face value, but when something goes wrong it suddenly becomes part of the equation. So, that apparent fact was part of the underpinning of the original post (below). I am hereby referring you and all readers to the comments. 'Tim was a courageous and brilliant scientist who fearlessly pursued tornadoes and lightning in the field in an effort to better understand these phenomena. I would like to see some repercussions for the idiotic weather personalities who suggested running away. Tim Samarass strategy was never to get into the direct path of a tornado. In his twenties, he began to chase tornadoes for the science and humanity's safety every spring all over the United States until his tragic death. Such a regulation or law would also require consideration of a certification of professional status for actual professional storm chasers. Nooooooooooo!!! You do raise many good points about how such a law would be implemented, and some I can thing of answers to, some not so easily. I agree, we only need laws if we need laws. One thing in your favor: Tornadoes do not have politically powerful, wealthy backing, so it should be easy to enact laws regulating how people enjoy them :-), "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. As the author admits early on, tornadoes change course and skip. ', Danger: A series of violent storms and tornadoes have killed nine people as they swept through Oklahoma City and its suburbs on Friday, Damage: People survey the damage at the Canadian Valley Technology Center's El Reno Campus after it was hit by a powerful tornado on Friday, Crash: An airplane from the Aviation Technology department lies upside down on the lawn at Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno. These animals can sniff it out. It's even worse if you are an amateur tornado chasing on your own--at least the tour groups have an experienced person to warn them that the tornado is coming straight at them and they need to hit the dirt NOW! Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" Sometimes accidents happen. If you want to walk down Main Street, in downtown America, you can do that, because it is America. To me the real imperative is to get a tornado shelter in most homes and businesses and educate the general public about what to do and what not to do. 'What got me scared was being stuck in traffic with sirens going off,' she said. 'The trees were leaning literally to the ground. 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. One simple idea was to have either a hard hat or some sort of hard shell helmet to wear. Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? He earned his Master of Science degree in atmospheric science from the University of Nevada. On May 13, 2012 Norman PD blocked off roads and literally put me in the path of the tornado. Tim Samaras was found inside his car with his seat belt still on. They should not drive where they will not be able to pull over safely to allow emergency traffic and other traffic to flow. The last time we had a tornado warning where I live (July 2008), several people who work in my building actually went outside to look; luckily, the tornado never came close to us, because it was the worst one in state history (it was an EF-3 that had a 50 mile ground track). During the United States tornado season, it seems that we experience repeated tornadoes and other severe storms in a given area over several days. It airs at 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday. I've always been told never to try and outrun a tornado, it is one of the most dangerous things you can do. October 1, 2013 Tim shared data and results. People who are paying for the storm chasing experience are expecting to do pretty much the same thing. Samaras was born November 12, 1957 in Lakewood, Colorado, to Paul T. and Margaret L. Samaras. I have heard that some professional storm chasers offer package tours. speaking of high velocity wind, that was the sound of the point flying by Dan L. Spell it out for me, Grant. 'Tim was not a cowboy, he was as cautious as possible about his approach to studying these dangerous storms.'. You can also shop using Amazon Smile and though you pay nothing more we get a tiny something. Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car.
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