", Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Heres the technology that helped scientists find itand what it may have been used for. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it believed the deaths were the first time scientific researchers were killed while chasing tornadoes. At the same time, many helpful comments have been added to the post. Bolstering your argument by supposing the dead agree with you indicates how weak your initial argument is. 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. 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. Police have a hard enough time now dealing with emergencies, the last thing they have time to do is stop to write tickets. It is not inforceable. He also starred in the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers. Our community has suffered a terrible loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones. Skip Talbot did an excellent analysis and can easily be found on youtube. But I'll just say that I think there are less extreme solutions than putting a ban on all amateur storm chasing. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Plain and Simple what needs to be done now is EDUCATION. 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. 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. 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. 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. Friday night's storm formed out on the prairie west of Oklahoma City, giving residents plenty of advance notice. Fifty people took shelter in the freezer at a Sinclair gas station in south Oklahoma City. I think it's an abomination that news forecasters suggested people drive away that temporally close to a suspected tornado touchdown. 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!) I was in Warr Acres, just next to Bethany in OKC on Fri. May 31. When she realized she was a sitting duck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Ms Black turned around and found herself directly in the path of the most violent part of the storm. The authors conclude, "it is likely that no clear direction to safety was apparent.". I would like to see some repercussions for the idiotic weather personalities who suggested running away. But the hundreds, or even thousands of non-professional storm chasers are probably not contributing to the science of tornadoes and tornado safety. "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. It dumped around 8 inches of rain on Oklahoma City in the span of a few hours and made the tornado difficult to spot for motorists trying to beat it home. When does spring start? Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. Or, perhaps, you are driving down the highway at 40 mph along with a dozen other cars also driving down the highway and suddenly you are all flipped. When the winds were at their most powerful, no structures were nearby, said Rick Smith, chief warning coordination meteorologist for the weather services office in Norman. 'Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it.'. It isn't just the clouds that appear smooth, but aren't if you zoom in close. 'There was just no place to go. Storm chaser Tim Samaras died Friday doing the work that made him so well-known: following tornadoes. 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. In a separate incident, Brandon Sullivan and Brett Wright captured heart stopping footage of their exploits getting too close to the powerful twister near Union City, in southwest Oklahoma City. I don't think so! 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. When the NWS uses phrases such as "You will not survive, neighborhoods will be flattened" no one in their right mind is going to stay at home and wait out the tornado in their bathroom or closet above ground. The people who drove away did find shelter after what sounded like a very fearful drive. They can easily cite or arrest anyone they need to, and even temporarily imprison them, without charging them with anything. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. "I don't know if I would say I worried about it because one of the biggest things he stressed was safety. Thanks for contacting us. Once it's used up and gone, it's .. gone. I've looked at video and have counted 458 people outside their vehicles in that small strech of road. 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. This advice sounds reasonable, but it really isnt. 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 distance of a half mile or so, it was said by numerous news sources that this car had been trapped by a traffic jam caused by looky-loos who wanted to see the tornado and/or people sent out on the roads by a local weather reporter to "escape." One thing that makes tornadoes so dangerous is the speed at which they hit. 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. Shooting tournament: People search a field for guns near a destroyed RV at a state shooting tournament that was destroyed in El Reno, Weapons displaced: Shotguns recovered from a field lay against a overturned trailor at a state shooting tournament that was destroyed in El Reno, Devastation: When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled right down Interstate 40 for more than two miles, ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames. The chaser can be quite the problem but yet quite the provider of care in a situation where the emergency scene can span a few hundred yards to over a hundred miles. There was no place to hide.'. Though the tornado alert expired, the powerful rain continued to hit the area and floodwaters were collecting in the streets. Inside was Tim Samaras, one of the country's most respected tornado scientists, who had built his career by placing sophisticated probes in the paths of oncoming tornadoes. 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. Would one less car have been on that particular road had your proposed law been in place? It was a shock this morning to learn from an editor at National Geographic that Tim Samaras had been killed by a tornado in Oklahoma. Before the horrific events of May 31, 2013, when the huge El Reno tornado took the lives of scientist Tim Samaras and his crew, a twister had never killed any chasers although several had died. If out of the many decades that chasers have been in the field only 3 have ever died then I'd say chasing is safer than many other dangerous events. What if we could clean them out? 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. Storm chaser Tim Samaras died Friday doing the work that made him so well-known: following tornadoes. This is not about them, it is about their death, which at the time it happened, was claimed to have been caused by a traffic jam caused, in turn, by thrill seekers jamming the roads, and thrill seekers jamming the roads is a thing that happens. It will NEVER happen. BTW, here is Bart's Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTornadoChaser. Oklahoma County sheriff's office has identified the victim as James Talbert, according to NewsOk. He gave direction to leave if in the path. 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). I doubt that the new law would save lives. 'Use a telephoto lens for gosh sakes. Eco-friendly burial alternatives, explained. There are too many chasers/gawkers on the road these days.get use to it and prepare for it. Watch: That's really all I have to say on that issue. understanding tornadoes will prevent this from happening. Damage from Friday night's severe weather was concentrated a few miles north of Moore, the Oklahoma City suburb pounded by an EF5 tornado on May 20 that killed 24 people. It almost stopped, then went East. Certainly broadcast public service announcements discussing the danger of chasing storms. I have not suggested that storm chasing be illegal. Some of my colleagues stayed, where there is a basement. Lighting up the sky: The storm chasers work was featured on National Geographic and the Discovery Channel as they tracked violent weather systems, 'Tim's research included creation of a special probe he would place in the path of a twister to measure data from inside the tornado; his pioneering work on lightning was featured in the August 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine. And again. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. 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. But that brings in another issue doesn't it? I think the only way to deal with these weeks-long tornado outbreaks is to build high-quality shelters in every community and make sure people know where they are. 'It's not even close to anything like what we had last week,' Smith said. Not only are rubberneckers prohibited from fire danger areas, even people who live in the area are prohibited from access. This kind of movement is nearly unheard of in a tornado and that paired with the fact that the tornado was 2.6 miles wide, moving at an accelerating speed, turning 45 degrees suddenly, and had recorded winds of up to 295mph in it created the perfect scenario that no one could have predicted. If you know several hours in advance that there is a high probability that a tornado will come through your area, then it is a good idea to just go away and be somewhere else. The tragic circumstances that caused the deaths of Tim and Paul Samaras and Carl Young has been well documented. There's no wiggle room. This story has been shared 160,448 times. Police/authority do have the power to stop vehicles/storm chasers from continuing down a road if there is an immanent threat. 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! (Though I'm not so sure that restrictive law re tornadoes is the first or best strategy - simply ensuring that emergency personnel of all kinds have the authority to control traffic might be OK so long as they are adequately trained and backed up with good links to forecasters.) And, I've argued that telling people that the safest thing to do is to get in their car and drive is wrong. Jim Samaras said his brother, nephew and their colleague were dedicated to avoiding trouble while chasing storms, and that the family wasn't worried about whether he was taking care of himself. This report indicates he's more right than he could have known. This one didn't. 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. 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. I'm one state north from tornado alley, and I can't imagine anyone from my state saying that it's okay to drive during a tornado alert. 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. Pre-school teacher, 29, who lost one of her legs in Boston TIM SAMARAS: THE VALUABLE LEGACY OF A STORM CHASER, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Incredible footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russians in Bakhmut, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' If you want to make this about Tim Samaras, how about you contact his family, colleagues, or friends and ask them what he would have wanted. As for the accuracy of the cause of death of the Twistex team, I report here what was said at the time. 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. Was the chaser causing harm? 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. I don't think the scientists who died in this storm would agree with you on that. Please be respectful of copyright. News casters were telling people in the direct line of the tornado do drive south. But then the tornado made a turn and headed straight for the south that people were being told to drive to. The unqualified version of that advice is If there is a tornado coming your way now, get in your car and drive away fast. That is also bad advice. A 51-year-old teacher's assistant who also tried to run from the storm said she quickly regretted her decision, after becoming stuck in traffic in the path of the tornado. 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. Storm chasers should absolutely pull off the road and yield to emergency vehicles as well as people trying to escape. The tornado then hurled the light Chevy Cobalt to the ground, leaving it looking as though it had been rammed through a trash compactor, police said. None of those fancy schemes work. 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. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed, Dallas Area Storms Cause Power Transformer To Explode. But a law or explicit regulation, or even a well publicized set of best practices in the interest of public safety, might make the point that needs to be made, thus discouraging people from making decisions that endanger others. -Benoit Mandelbrot Was El Reno a giant tornado populated with powerful subvortices? What was that point that I missed? Your argument that talking about a way to address a situation in which people lose their lives is inappropriate because the situation is an emotional tragedy is actually the misguided reaction. The elder Samaras' body was still belted into their Chevrolet Cobalt, which was found on an unimproved county road parallel to Interstate 40. 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 agree, Chris, that the specific suggestion that I made in the post that existing protocol should allow emergency personnel to keep roads clear. The roads need to be kept open and clear for the REAL scientists out there gathering data and for the safety folks to do their job. And two, the chaser would have to carry a business license on his person to prove he had a need to be there for whatever his business reason might be. Meteorologist Mike Bette is nursing minor injuries after his 'tornado hunt' car was thrown some 200 yards by the storm. Of the mother and baby who were tragically killed, Betsy Randolph said: 'We know that the storm picked them up and swept them away.' His website Twistex has been integral to understanding how tornadoes work and improving warning times for those living in Tornado Alley. Actually there were other comments that could even make an above ground room safer. I have a feeling that Scienceblogs will not last long without me. That is a real problem and has increased over time. 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. Today three brave, highly experienced, storm chasers were honored in El Reno. I am thinking these scientists were blaming the storm track far more than the traffic. I could not agree more with the statement in this article saying that driving away is not the best option. the same thing happens every year with both tornadoes and hurricanes, how many people ignore the wanings and do not evacuate coastal areas, to only try to call 911 in the middle of the storm panicking and 911 tells them sorry cant help you. Amateur chasers don't want there to be strong evidence that what they do endangers themselves or others, so they want chaser-enhanced traffic jams to be taken out of the picture. This is an . The forecast quality will always be better than for small-scale phenomena like tornadoes. Say you are sitting in your home and you know there is a tornado coming and you are watching TV and the following breathless reporting is happening. Here is all you want to know, and more! Traffic will back up in the places rush hour traffic normally backs up, and some others that usually don't see such backups. The officers had to contend with hail and strong winds as they worked to help motorists. On Tuesday, Storm Chasers star Joel Taylor died at 38. I won't be joining them on the roads. The Oklahoma City metro district has about 1.3 million people. Rather, they are jamming roads in the very places where a traffic jam can be deadly if a tornado happens to pass over the gaggle of cars stuck in place. I've had several police hop in my car to look at radar and ask for opinions while chasing because they are not equipt with it. #1. the storms path was extremely erratic and it made a sudden turn that surprised even veteran forecasters. It is known to be BAD advice and they directly contributed to the deaths that occurred. That would also be my preference, so we are in agreement. Regarding emotional tragedy and responding to the thing that caused the emotional strategy, no, you've got that wrong. Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado. ScienceBlogs is where scientists communicate directly with the public. ', 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. This probe registered a world-record 100-millibar drop in pressure inside the twister. All rights reserved. Like wadded up,' he told the Washington Post. But it is a free country, and if people want to be foolish then so be it. 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. Later analysis of the situation indicates that there was indeed a traffic jam enhanced risk for several storm chasers, caused by the ill advised comments from local media (as described below) but that this happened after Samaras and his crew were killed, in a different location, and that this happened to not cause any deaths. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. But volcanoes usually give fair warning that an eruption is likely to occur in the next several weeks, and in most cases (at least in First World countries) authorities can control the few access routes to the volcano. Carl Young, a California native, joined Samaras in the field in 2003. That would stop several people right there. But Fridays massive tornado avoided the highly populated areas near and around Oklahoma City, and forecasters said that likely saved lives. Why is it these days that every time someone dies someone wants to make a new law restricting freedom? Turner High School, Texas Bill Would Make Illegal Voting a Felony, City Council To Discuss Allowing Neighborhoods To 'Opt-In' for Short-Term Rentals in Dallas. And we're wasting it on stupid, silly things like party balloons. Many of us were fortunate to have worked with them and have great admiration for their work. . Same is true for Safety officials and storm chasers and officil spotters doing their jobs. On the one hand, researchers have to pay the bills somehow, and this is one way to do it. Other professional meteorologists, from The Weather Channel, were injured. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most - seven times each. However, the men's deaths have shone a spotlight on the dangers of storm chasing. The Weather Channel's severe weather expert, Dr. Greg Forbes, knew Tim personally. Two and half miles has been the widely accepted dimension, but if you measure wind speeds, the tornado could have been anywhere from three to 4.5 miles across. 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. .". But seriously, I'll be talking about the story of the current, In every area of life, but especially in the overlapping realms of technology, science, and health, misunderstanding how things work can be widespread, and that misunderstanding can lead to problems. He attempted to take his own life and spent several days in intensive care before ultimately succumbing to his injuries. A storm chaser who heeded the bad feeling in his gut and decided to hang back that day told me the tornado was "designed to kill storm chasers." The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months. For example, a highly irresponsible storm chaser endangers an innocent bystander, then that danger comes to fruition. Can we bring a species back from the brink? Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, This empress was the most dangerous woman in Rome. Joel Taylor starred . Officials in St. Charles County also reported that local schools suffered some damage. Their car was found. Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" She quickly regretted it. 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. 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. Paul is right. please note that I did not claim in my post what you claim I claimed. I'll never do it again.'. He had a road map spread across the kitchen table! - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous. We need infrastructure built! This is an enormous loss for his family, his wide circle of friends and colleagues and National Geographic.'. "We still don't know why some thunderstorms create tornadoes while others don't," he . Dan Robinson had a clear view of their white Chevy Cobalt in his rear facing dash cam as they pulled up to and crossed Hwy 81 until their headlights fade behind the outer wall of the suction vortex that killed them. Then we get the micro information they are hunting, reliably and in a timely manner. ISBN 978-1426203022 Did you know Edit You can read the preliminary version here. But the agency upgraded the ranking after surveying damage from the twister, which along with subsequent flooding killed 18 people. 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. They should not drive where they will not be able to pull over safely to allow emergency traffic and other traffic to flow. But once your car is inside an F3 or F4 tornado, that is no longer your problem alone. Run them through the DMV and send out those tickets. They said to stay at work if you had better shelter there. In fact, while writing this post I wondered what the three scientists were thinking as their car, and other cars, were hemmed in with a traffic jam that seems to have been caused by inappropriate reactions by a large number of people. to get jammed up. However, people are not immortal and sometimes die doing the very thing live for, you simply can't legislate that human desire for adventure out of existence, nor should you try to. He set a world record in 2003 which still stands today when he recorded an 100 millibar pressure drop from an F-4 tornado. Look at that video. The National Geographic Society made 18 grants to Tim for research over the years for field work like he was doing in Oklahoma at the time of his death, and he was one of our 2005 Emerging Explorers. As for highway patrol and local police their cars NEED to have radar installed and they need lessons on how to use it. 'What we saw from the tornadoes that came through Moore and the other ones last week was that people who were in cars on the Interstate were killed,' Fallin told CNN. In fact, while writing this post I wondered what the three scientists were thinking as their car, and other cars, were hemmed in with a traffic jam that seems to have been caused by inappropriate reactions by a large number of people. 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? Common sense will tell you to collect the data that meteorologist have had for years about how tornado's form and come up with an idea that makes these conditions less favorable maybe even do tests on a smaller scale. And, as I think I've said several time, Tim and his crew were professionals, making an important contribution.
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