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Of the mother and baby who were tragically killed, Betsy Randolph said: 'We know that the storm picked them up and swept them away.' I think this tornado did some stuff we didn't expect. At least six semis on their side at a weight station on I-40 near Oklahoma City, photographer Jim Beckel reported. And if public safety is truly the issue at hand here then instead of telling people to get in their cars and trying to figure out some sane and responsible way to evacuate from the path of a tornado mandate better public and privet shelters in areas more prone to this kind of weather. Friday night's storm formed out on the prairie west of Oklahoma City, giving residents plenty of advance notice. Specious arguments at best. All rights reserved. Very few professional storm chasers "work for the government" really, none. They were caught off guard not by traffic, but by an extremely powerful and erratic multi vortex tornado that grew from a mile wide multivortex into a 2.5 miles in diameter behemoth as it also accelerated and turned north toward the ill fated chasers. Laws are really challenging to enforce. Tim Samaras, 55, was not known to be risky. I don't think people realized how deep and strong the water was.'. speaking of high velocity wind, that was the sound of the point flying by Dan L. Spell it out for me, Grant. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed, Dallas Area Storms Cause Power Transformer To Explode. But what about big storms that dont drop tornadoes? 2006-2020 Science 2.0. and help keep the future of the Observer, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, Dallas Observer's The Morning After Brunch, The Last Ride of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras. But yes, I agree that people deliberately in the wrong place at the wrong time should be penalized. 'There is very low visibility with the heavy rain so we're having trouble getting around. Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I-40, and said the storm's victims were mostly in cars. The seasoned storm chaser had dedicated his life to extreme weather, following storms for a quarter of a century. Also we MUST push for adqueate shelters. See also: The Last Ride of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras). I don't think so! Why is it these days that every time someone dies someone wants to make a new law restricting freedom? 'The car was probably about 60 to 70 per cent of its normal size because it had been pushed and mauled and compacted as it was tumbling down the road. 'There was just no place to go. (MORE: Tornado Hunt Team Takes Direct Hit by Tornado). But if the Acme Office Building, on Main Street, is on fire, broken glass is blowing out of windows and fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are trying to gain access to the building and nearby fire hydrants, and ambulances are trying to get in to pick up injured, and out to bring them to hospitals, you cant walk down Main Street. Another two or three miles east and we would have been looking at a death toll in the hundreds. The update from the National Weather Service means the Oklahoma City area has seen two of the extremely rare EF5 tornadoes in only 11 days. These skeletons may have the answer, Scientists are making advancements in birth controlfor men, Blood cleaning? I would like to see some repercussions for the idiotic weather personalities who suggested running away. The three storm chasers Tim Samaras, his photographer son Paul Samaras, and meteorologist Carl Young were killed when the twister they were pursuing made a sudden left turn and slammed into their car, sending it flying through the air like a toy. Those media outlets need to do a more professional job and take their responsibility as journalists rather than entertainers more seriously (generally, not just with respect to tornadoes). 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. That might be preferable because making a new law to address particularistic new circumstances that are already covered by existing law, regulation, and best practice is probably a bad thing. The people who drove away did find shelter after what sounded like a very fearful drive. Watch: 'If you live in downtown Oklahoma City, please go below ground. He knew what to look for. One more thing: at the point the tornado lifted, it was heading more or less directly eastward along I-40 (again, Jeff Masters is my source here). Let's create MORE laws to regulate something we really do not know if it is a problem. The storm was headed toward Oklahoma City, which has more than a million people in the metro area. 'Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it.'. category. This is not an especially enforceable regulation". Closing all of them strains law enforcement. Tim Samaras sits with instrument probes he used as part of his TWISTEX field research program. I've been reading Jeff Masters' blog regularly. I can only assume that Tim Samaras had no intention of being in the path of the the tornado that killed him, his son, and his colleague, but was unable to get out of the way because of the traffic jam. Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic. I do find it sad that that few if any of your statements regarding how the Twistex team was killed was accurate. 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. If you are worried about the roads being clogged during a tornado then don't drive or don't live in tornado alley. CBS from Dallas agrees with Dorothy from KC and OL from OKC. "This is a very sad day for the meteorological community and the families of our friends lost. The interstate was shut down due to the storm, with multiple crashes and injuries. I doubt it. The officers had to contend with hail and strong winds as they worked to help motorists. With all due respect, the citizens of tornado alley, especially Oklahoma, need to better educate themselves on severe weather. Its a free country - youre obviously free to drive when and where you want, and I certainly dont want that to change, but something has to be done to avoid another tragedy like the one that killed 9 motorists Friday evening, including 3 professional tornado researchers Tim Samaras, his son, and intercept partner. Tim Samaras' Death - Cause and Date Born (Birthday) Nov 12, 1957 Death Date May 31, 2013 Age of Death 55 years Cause of Death N/A Place of Death May 31, 2013 Profession Meteorologist The meteorologist Tim Samaras died at the age of 55. This storm changed track. These conditions being a tornado being the widest in history (with only one other tornado in recorded history coming close to the same size) and the abnormal path the tornado took. 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. There are some similarities to people doing volcano research, in that people doing it know they have a high risk of death if they happen to be on duty when the eruption occurs. Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. In fact, the general wisdom is that if you are unlucky enough to be in a car when a tornado hits, you should pull over, get OUT of the car, and find a low place to hide. In 2013, Tim Samaras died in one of the epic storms he'd spent decades chasing. An element. OKLAHOMA CITY The deadly tornado that struck near Oklahoma City late last week killing 18, including three storm chasers, had a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles and was the second top-of-the-scale EF5 twister to hit the area in less than two weeks, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday. BTW, here is Bart's Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTornadoChaser. But before their stalking of the dangerous vortex turned deadly, their cries could be heard by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph. 10th St. and Radio Rd. I would just add that other media outlets had apparently been talking about "outrunning" as a strategy for a couple of days before this particular tornado, so the idea was perhaps already in people's minds. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous. The authors conclude, "it is likely that no clear direction to safety was apparent.". 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. He will be missed. Friday night's victims included a mother and a baby sucked out of their car as the EF3 hit near El Reno. He had a road map spread across the kitchen table! Enough said. Our community has suffered a terrible loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones. Missouri and Illinois around St. Louis were also hit by 12 tornadoes, at least 100 people are injured and 'numerous homes' have been damaged. It would have been a major problem. The KFOR anchor should have said "if you are in your vehicle (head south). Also, their data helps us to better understand the dynamics of what happens in tornadoes which can help make safer structures. You're an excellent writer. Many still believe mountains and rivers save towns. Plan for a lifetime, like I did. Roughly speaking, this is the equivalent of driving down the highway at several tens of miles an hour and suddenly flipping, three or four times. Run them through the DMV and send out those tickets. Renowned researcher and storm chaser Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul Samaras, 24, and his chase partner Carl Young, 45, passed away after they were overtaken by the multiple-vortex tornado, which appeared to be in the midst of a sharp change in direction. Terrible things they are! We have strong public service announcements for months before and during fire season about making a fire safety plan for your household and how to listen for public safety messages on high fire risk days - and those announcements for the duration of the fire are very cautious about advising people to get away only if it is safe to do so. It truly is sad that we lost my great brother Tim and his great son, Paul. Biography - A Short Wiki Storm Chaser Tim Samaras Dies; His Last Tornado Footage . Paul is right. If you are directly hit by a strong tornado, ending up in the vortex, and you are in the bathtub of your home on the lower floor, youve got a pretty good chance of survival. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN that motorists faced great danger when stuck on any freeway in the path of a twister. Probably not. He almost certainly didn't know that the rain-shrouded vortex was hooking toward him, to the northeast, and that he had entered its circulation. understanding tornadoes will prevent this from happening. That seems to be what happened here. And, how exactly is an officer supposed to know the area to keep any car (stormchaser or not) out of? But it is a free country, and if people want to be foolish then so be it. This was the case with Mt. 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, along with his son, Paul Samaras, 24, and Carl Young, 45, died on Friday in El Reno after a tornado that packed winds of up to 165 mph picked up their car and threw it, somersaulting, a half a mile. He also starred in the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers. There is a large university team with a NASA/NOAA grant that I know of, and a number of professional chasers are grad students at a university, but that is not the same thing. Jim Cantore, a Weather Channel meteorologist, tweetedSundaythat meteorologists were in mourning. With all due respect, Mr. Laden's article suggesting outlawing or making storm chasing illegal and only permissible for the "authorities" is a typical misguided response after a emotional tragedy. "They put themselves in harm's way so that they can educate the public about the destructive power of these storms," he said. In the future I will be blogging at Greg Laden's blog, located at its original home at gregladen.com. However the generic advice makes a lot of sense. Of those who did I dont know how many of them were primed to use drive away as a strategy by earlier chatter in major media outlets, and elsewhere such as twitter and other social media. These devices, which he . Would one less car have been on that particular road had your proposed law been in place? In this country, if a cyclone alert is issued, all roads are closed. They can't have this, because the traffic is a factor, but yes, Samaras and his crew were not killed this way. Were looking at extremes in the rare EF5 category. Samaras' car was perhaps too slow and too light, and the road was not amenable to fast driving. 1) "Three experienced tornado chasers actual meteorological scientists were killed when their truck (one of the vehicles depicted above, probably) was destroyed by the tornado." Samaras' Chevy Cobalt was traveling east down a dirt road with the tornado to his south. The men worked as a team and Tim Samaras had received 18 grants from the National Geographic Society for work in the field. Skip Talbot did an excellent analysis and can easily be found on youtube. 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. ScienceBlogs is a registered trademark of Science 2.0, a science media nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. "We still don't know why some thunderstorms create tornadoes while others don't," he told National Geographic last month. So, lets go back to the advice again. Sheltering in place should always be recommended. At the end of the day, he wanted to save lives and he gave the ultimate sacrifice for that," Jim Samaras said. Not according to biology or history. 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. These animals can sniff it out. They were probably thinking, "somebody should do something about this situation.". Myers said the man left for work early Saturday and his vehicle was found empty near East Hefner Road and Dobbs Road just after 6 a.m. 'His vehicle was found washed off the road,' Myers said. Alliteratively, if you are in a car and hit by the vortex of an F3 or stronger tornado, your chances of survival are much lower. tornado disbursement tactical teams should be flown in by helicopter and then flown out after the job is done, its much safer this way. The family sheltered from the storm in a hospital parking garage. She quickly regretted it. And again. Oklahomans can handle a day or two of this, but after a week plus of watching families with lost loved ones on the news they start getting jumpy. 'I started seeing power flashes to the north, and I said "screw this." Though the tornado alert expired, the powerful rain continued to hit the area and floodwaters were collecting in the streets. It made all the difference that it was out in the country.'. The morning after: Wilburn Shaw looks for personal items in the remains of his kitchen the morning after Friday night's storm that passed through St. Charles, Mo, Power outages: Tornado-damaged power lines hang separated from its pole after tornadoes that swept through central Oklahoma on Friday, Shattered dreams: A couple in St. Charles embrace as they look over their destroyed home after a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes swept across the Midwest, Together: A mother holds her three children after fans at the Barons game were evacuated to the parking garage under the Cox Convention Center due to severe storms in Oklahoma City on Friday. Despite the horrible fact that some two dozen people died in the Moore tornado last week, there were tens of thousands of people directly in that tornados path, hiding out in low interior rooms within their homes or other buildings, who survived. Hopefully, that lesson will be learned immediately. As of this writing, the death toll stands at 13 with another 6 (though Ive also heard 7) people still missing. Humans enjoy challenges that involve risk and admire those who "cheat death". But let us not let the fact that Samaras and his crew were killed in a manner that did not relate to traffic obviate further consideration of the "drive to the fire" problem. It will NEVER happen. There's no wiggle room. Timothy Michael Samaras (November 12, 1957 May 31, 2013) was an American engineer and storm chaser best known for his field research on tornadoes and time on the Discovery Channel show, Storm Chasers. Ironic how his own community of chasers would throw him to the wolves but won't put themselves in that category. 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. A small tornado in Kansas, photographed during Tim Samaras's lightning expedition in August 2009. Terry Garcia, executive vice president of the National Geographic Society, said: 'We were shocked and deeply saddened by the news that longtime National Geographic grantee Tim Samaras was killed in a tornado in Oklahoma on Friday, along with Tim's son Paul and their colleague Carl Young. The one thing in your article I see that you failed to address is the number of chasers in the past that have been killed by the storm while chasing them. There are too many chasers/gawkers on the road these days.get use to it and prepare for it. Same is true for Safety officials and storm chasers and officil spotters doing their jobs. Oklahoma wasn't the only state hit by violent weather Friday night. Renowned researcher and storm chaser Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul Samaras, 24, and his chase partner Carl Young, 45, passed away after they were overtaken by the multiple-vortex tornado,. (MORE: Reaction from Dr. Jeff Masters of Weather Underground). Smith said the storms 2.6-mile path besting a record set in 2004 in Hallam, Neb. Also my brother was forced to move to Oklahoma for a job just last week only days after the tornado in this article struck Oklahoma city. The new year once started in Marchhere's why, Jimmy Carter on the greatest challenges of the 21st century, This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean, How cosmic rays helped find a tunnel in Egypt's Great Pyramid, Who first rode horses? In a tribute, Mr Samaras' brother Jim wrote on Facebook: 'Thank you to everyone for the condolences. 'Everyone acted differently in this storm, and as a result, it created an extremely dangerous situation,' said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. 'The trees were leaning literally to the ground. After a large and violent tornado went through Moore Oklahoma a few days ago, several people in various media outlets including CNN mentioned that given the (seemingly enigmatic) lack of good shelter in homes and public buildings in Oklahoma, that a good option to protect yourself in case a tornado comes your way is to drive away. It is not like the Tornadoes have a rule book that if we follow we are safe. 528 people were killed by weather in 2012, of which about 200 were a result of high velocity air. 'We were very concerned this would move into downtown. Also, believe it or not, people do follow "unenforceable" laws for the simple reason that they want to be law abiding citizens. They should not drive where they will not be able to pull over safely to allow emergency traffic and other traffic to flow. The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. I dont think they realize how lucky El Reno was.. According to Mr West, their vehicle looked ' like it had gone through a trash compactor' when it was found. Its very scary I dont think a normal person can fathom just how scary. 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 . Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. This is not an especially enforceable regulation but having such a thing on the books would probably encourage amateur storm chasers to think twice about putting others in danger by contributing to blocked roads. Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado. The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Saturday that Oklahoma City-area hospitals treated 104 people. Oklahoma schools are not properly educated on how to shelter children. Discovery Channel said it will honor the three veteran storm chasers, who regularly appeared on its show Stormchasers, with a special airing this week. In 2012, storm chaser Andy Gabrielson died while driving home from a chase when a wrong-way driver struck his vehicle on Interstate 44 in Sapulpa, Okla. 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. Samaras submitted this footage to National Geographic in the weeks leading up to his death,. It needs to be taught in public schools, teachers also need to take these courses. I'm reminded of Grand Island, NE in 1980, when the tornadoes defied everything we supposedly know about them. 'Mile Wide Tornado' originally aired Sunday and focuses on the May 20 tornado that devastated a wide swatch of Oklahoma. Officials added five victims on Monday to the confirmed list of dead from the tornadoes and from storms that caused severe flooding: three adults and two unidentified children, the medical examiner's office said. In theory the helium gas should combine with the natural vortex suction and make the conditions for the tornado formation less favorable it may also be possible to deliver the helium through other methods or maybe have the helium frozen in water droplets A.K.A frozen helium crystals, and dropped from air tankers. It's a valuable industrial & research gas. Chaser traffic, maybe. 564K views 9 years ago June 3, 2013Tim Samaras spent more than 30 years researching tornadoes. But, the idea of outrunning instead of staying home was on people's minds because of things that had been said earlier in various media. So maybe take the time to authorize a few specialists that take recreational tours storm chasing, and keep the rest of them off of the roads. That would also be my preference, so we are in agreement. Numerous vehicles were damaged in the storm and that many motorists were left stranded. The fact that they endangered something itself is a thing. There are many chasers who do stop to render aid and time and time again they are often the first to reach the victims in crucial first moments with skills to save lives. 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. Sun rise: Tornado debris hangs from a destroyed billboard sign along Interstate-40 Westbound after violent thunderstorms spawned tornadoes that menaced Oklahoma City and its already hard-hit suburb of Moore on Friday, Air chaos: At Will Rogers World Airport, 2,000 people spent the night sheltering in underground tunnels, Overturned: Authorities say people ignored advice to sit tight and attempted to leave the area - perhaps as a reaction to the previous tornado almost two weeks ago, Lightning: A storm chaser in Cushing stopped to take photos of the dramatic moment two lightning strikes hit the ground, Tragic: Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers found the bodies of a woman and an infant near their vehicle. It is fairly safe to say, that Mr. Samaras, his son, and Mr. Carl Young, sustained injuries when the sub-vortex of the El Reno storm directly impacted their vehicle on Reuters Road, west of the intersection with Radio Road. Video taken by a number of storm chasers showed debris pelting vehiclesFriday. I do regard some of the complaints I've gotten, especially some of the really nasty ones I've gotten by email, to be excuse making. The Samaras' and Young were pursuing an EF3 tornado as it bore down on a metropolitan area of more than 1 million people. More cars on the roads also meant more trouble for Highway Patrol officers responding to automobile accidents during the storm, Randolph said. It is fairly safe to say, that Mr. Samaras, his son, and Mr. Carl Young, sustained injuries when the sub-vortex of the El Reno storm directly impacted their vehicle on Reuters Road, west of the intersection with Radio Road. How did this mountain lion reach an uninhabited island? to get jammed up. The other hit Moore, a city about 25 miles away from El Reno, on May 20, killing 24 people and causing widespread damage. This probe registered a world-record 100-millibar drop in pressure inside the twister. There was no place to hide.. His video consisted of really high quality camera work of weather and the focus wasn't on him. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. The spot a few yards off Reuter Road where the body of Tim Samaras was found inside the crushed vehicle (his son. Yes, lets get the facts straight, which the comments below and the information added here help do. "He was a groundbreaker in terms of the kind of research he was doing on severe thunderstorms and tornadoes," Dr. Forbes said on The Weather Channel Sunday morning. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind. It is not inforceable. You are absolutely right, that this tornado was a particularly monstrous one. Too many words! This would make it so a chaser has to stop to render aid along his path. An image taken from video shows the vehicle that longtime storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young were killed when a powerful tornado hit near El Reno, Okla. on May 31. When does spring start? When told to seek shelter, many ventured out and snarled traffic across the metro area - perhaps remembering the damage from May 20. Or was it a rotating thunderstorm (a supercell) with small- to moderate-sized tornadoes swirling about one another? Anything else is just going to lead to panic like the panic that killed people on the 31st. People started driving over the grass.'. Thus the bigger the projectile you will make, the worse the fine. >>> I support this 100%. After 20 seconds, it rotates back around to the south side of the tornado. Absolutely educate people on the safest way to ride out a storm. If you're prepared to fight fire and defend your property you have to be there before fire starts and stay there for as long as it takes. Published: 23:27 GMT, 3 June 2013 | Updated: 08:30 GMT, 4 June 2013. I also think its called natural selection. I dont think the scientists who died in this storm would agree with you on that. At the time that Samaras, his son, and his colleague, were crushed to death inside their tornado-chasing car, which was apparently rolled by the force of 200-300 mile an hour winds over a. Public safety officials have the right and responsibility to restrict access to Main Street and areas nearby in order to save lives and property. 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. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. Tim Samaras of Storm Chasers 5 7 (1.70 m) Born November 12, 1957 Lakewood, Colorado, USA Died May 31, 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma, USA (tornado) Spouse Kathy Samaras? I refer you'all to this: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/19/pilger_nebraska_torn, I think the only thing storm chasers should do is be apart of the new pioneering field of tornado disbursement, its a idea I had years back in the field of weather modification using scaled up drone quad copters to deliver large quantities of helium gas to new forming tornadoes. "Tim was a courageous and brilliant scientist who fearlessly pursued tornadoes and lightning in the field in an effort to better understand these phenomena," the society said on its website.