Moore Tornadoes

[RecycleMichael]

I had no idea your mother is a disaster consultant. 

Her whole career has been a disaster.

She is also founder of this disaster preparedness group... http://tulsapartners.org/tpi/

[Conan71]

"Pervious Concrete" Isn't that what they build adult book stores out of?

[patric]

I wasn't doubting the veracity of your claim about Joplin, but rather looking for stats on above vs. below grade shelters...

What should have been an easy-to-find citation two years ago must be buried under the debris of countless tornado shelter sales pitches. 
I cant even find the account of the people who perished in the Pizza Hut walk-in freezer, but I did find a valuable lesson we apparently haven't learned:

The video cameras in Joplin High School and East Middle School enabled administrators to see what would have happened in those designated shelter areas had students been there. Large debris, from street signs to car bumpers, was effortlessly tossed down the halls by the tornado. In some areas, classroom walls fell into the hallway. Each hallway literally became a wind tunnel.

Needless to say, many lives would have been lost in the school hallways had the storm came through during school hours. Equipped with that knowledge, Joplin Schools no longer utilize hallways - period.
http://www.campussafetymagazine.com/Blog/Campus-Command-Post/story/2012/01/Don-t-Use-Hallways-As-Tornado-Shelters.aspx

Tulsa Public Schools say they have a plan, but good luck figuring out what it is:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/TPS_has_disaster_plans_in_place/20130522_11_A5_Tornad94602

I had not heard about the above ground shelters being pulled off the slabs. If that occurred I would think it more likely that a vehicle being blown at 200MPH the shelter and pulled it off the slab.

That's plausable.  If someone were to drive a car at 200mph into an above-ground shelter, coming off it's anchor bolts would seem the least of their wories.

Oh, and the 1999 tornado was 318mph.  It broke the Fujita Scale and still stands as the fastest wind speed recorded on the planet.

[Hoss]

...snip...

Oh, and the 1999 tornado was 318mph.  It broke the Fujita Scale and still stands as the fastest wind speed recorded on the planet.

It was pretty much the driving force the scale was changed to the "Enhanced Fujita" Scale.

[heironymouspasparagus]

My personal preference would be in-ground with a sliding lid like people have installed flush with their garage floor.  I'm claustrophobic so the idea of something landing in front of a swing out door and not being able to get out until help arrives really wigs me out.  A guy I went to Jenks with lost his home in the Piedmont tornado and with it, his above-ground safe room.  Yet his neighbor's safe room was still secured to the slab.  No idea if it was inferior lagging used on Kelly's installation or quite simply the randomness of destruction we see with tornados you simply cannot engineer around.

And from this report investigating damage to engineered structures in the '99 Moore/OKC tornado it seems there's still quite a bit we do not know about engineering around these disasters:

Family has an above ground in garage.  Door swings in, with 3 or 4 HEAVY deadbolts to lock.  Looks substantial, but so far not tested.  Thankfully.

If you think a swinging door wigs you out, I saw one of the news guys talking to one of the underground sliding door people - when the house fell on them, they couldn't slide that door until people came and dug them out.  Heads you lose, tails they win....

There is a company in OKC making a shelter designed specifically for the oil fields - it is "portable", on a skid.  They guarantee it to 500 mph winds.  Won't blow over or have anything get in.  Impressive looking thing.  Wouldn't mind having one in my back yard in this state!!

http://www.reddogmobileshelters.com/

[heironymouspasparagus]

Got back to visit Moore yesterday after two weeks away.  Pictures don't come close to showing the horror!!

Has to be taken in small doses.

[patric]

Family has an above ground in garage.  Door swings in, with 3 or 4 HEAVY deadbolts to lock.  Looks substantial, but so far not tested.  Thankfully.
If you think a swinging door wigs you out, I saw one of the news guys talking to one of the underground sliding door people - when the house fell on them, they couldn't slide that door until people came and dug them out.  Heads you lose, tails they win....

I dont think that above/below ground determines which way the door opens, if that's what you were getting at.

[patric]

It was pretty much the driving force the scale was changed to the "Enhanced Fujita" Scale.

We set another record, this time for the width of the funnel at 2.6 miles wide.



My thoughts on getting out from under a larger tornado in a car involved driving at a right angle probably no more than a mile -- certainly not getting on the expressway nor trying to flee the city in general.   Underground shelter still looking like best option; wish I had one at home.

[Conan71]

Damn fortunate most of that was over farm-land and not heavily populated.  So now they say EF-5, eh?

[patric]

Damn fortunate most of that was over farm-land and not heavily populated.  So now they say EF-5, eh?

Yup.  Just a hair under 300 mph.

Here's what it's like to be caught off guard by a twister that unexpectedly changes direction:

Would be a first-rate video if it weren't for the little screaming biitch in the front seat.

[Hoss]

Yup.  Just a hair under 300 mph.

They based that on the mobile doppler RaxPol images.  Seen here:

[Gaspar]

Would be a first-rate video if it weren't for the little screaming biitch in the front seat.

Wife told me that if that had been me screaming like that on national TV, I would be looking for a new home.

I like the mild look of calm irritation from the driver.

[Cats Cats Cats]

Wife told me that if that had been me screaming like that on national TV, I would be looking for a new home.

I like the mild look of calm irritation from the driver.

That guy in the front seat is how i see you typing about obamacare.

[Gaspar]

That guy in the front seat is how i see you typing about obamacare.

No. It's more of a calm smirk as I watch a slow-motion train wreck, with all of the passengers screaming "it's supposed to do this!"

[Conan71]

No. It's more of a calm smirk as I watch a slow-motion train wreck, with all of the passengers screaming "it's supposed to do this!"

Nice way to illustrate.  Unfortunately, no one understands your approach to this is based in reality not bias. 

But when they finally do get what a massive screwing this is on productive Americans, they will use their own biases to blame it on whomever the bogeyman MSNBC, HuffPoo, or Koz tells them it is: the 1%'ers, obstinate Republicans in the house, or the ever powerful GOP minority in the Senate, greedy doctors, Monsanto, or maybe it will finally be the San Berdoo Chapter of the Hell's Angels. Anyone but the architects of this massive disaster.