JoMo

It's not really that people didn't know what they meant as far as thinking about a severe weather situation. The only time the tornado sirens go off is if we are under a tornado warning. Prior to May 22nd, I don't ever remember them going off for a severe T-storm warning, if they did it was few and far between for the 75+ MPH winds. I know the policy is for 75+ MPH winds or a tornado spotted or a tornado warning. But, I've heard it a million times. It was sunny when the first tornado sirens went off so people thought the threat wasn't for their area so they didn't take proper precautions and went on with their daily lives. I think a lot of people suffer from hearing them too often where 'nothing happens'. I've always thought that it is bad policy to sound the sirens once a week (10 AM Monday) to test them if the weather is clear. I think that adds to the public perception that the 'sirens go off all the time'. I think people get used to hearing them be tested and 'learn' to tune them out. Another point I've heard is that the radio stations were incorrectly reporting a tornado at 7th and Rangeline, based on I don't know what.... This caused at least one person with their two children to try to flee to the south on Rangeline putting them into the direct path of the actual tornado, one that unfortunately took their lives.

Joplinmet (Doug Heady) just brought up your second point about the lack of siren standardization in communities in the area on TV. I'm not really sure what that has to do with the threat perception by the public. I guess you could say that since Joplin is a major shopping hub for this area, that people who came from a location where their siren practices are different may not have known what the sirens meant or what they should do?

What if you don't have a cell phone?

Well the survey was pretty much what I knew. The last part about the radar and how NWS Springfield staffed was interesting though.

Joplin Tornado Assessment report is out!!!!! http://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/Joplin_tornado.pdf

Death toll has risen today to 162 (161 from actual tornado, 1 from lightning strike the next day). Two new names were added. One lady sustained a brain injury from the tornado and died on Sept 11th. Another man sustained a spinal injury and died Aug 15th.

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but this was a childs playhouse/dollhouse that was down in kind of a valley. The houses on the hill above suffered total destruction, however, this playhouse is still standing although moved slightly from where it was. The angle of this picture doesn't really capture the decline into the valley. Stars of Hope (i think it's called) came and had kids/adults paint 2000-3000 stars that were then placed around town. This is one such star. Also pictured is the remains of a house volunteers just took down a week or so ago and a poster looking for a missing dog. Pets are still missing after the tornado. Anvil of a t-shower east of a house being rebuilt Canadian geese are making their yearly migration through the area. These geese would not have been at this location last year since this is where a house was. You can see the remains of a natural gas meter in the forefront. Another picture of the geese with a house undergoing construction in the background. This house was framed in a day. This is about 5-6 days work on this house I think.

The actual track http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=event_2011may22_summary The hi rez goes until it lifts: http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/joplin/

They are indeed 2001-130 sirens. Even the new ones. However, the new ones are solar powered. And I just need the weather radio to wake me up if I fall asleep at night and some storms hit.

huh? The tornado clearly shows a curve to the ESE. It did continue on for quite some time while weakening. I think he was saying that had it not curved ESE, the people there would have sustained less damage. Also, there were areas where EF-4 met EF-1 type damage, it's amazing how you can look at one house that has to be torn down due to the damage, and a house across the street only has shingle damage with windows still intact.

Interesting info on the sirens. I would have actually thought that once the tornado had touched down, they would leave the sirens on the entire time, but I guess they didn't. Midland. They were on sale after the tornado. Thought SAME would be warning programmable, but apparently the Midland ones aren't.

I'm not sure about the call on the sirens. I'm not sure how long the battery lasts. I agree on the weather radio. Even using SAME technology, you still get flash flood watches that come out over the radio at 4 AM with no way of only programming in that you want severe/tornado warnings. (at least on the one I have)

Big article in the paper today that takes a few more quotes from the assessment report. Apparently the Joplin and Alabama tornado assessment surveys are going together. http://www.joplinglo...rs-about-sirens Some highlights (in an article full of information) I knew the sirens weren't sounded at 5:31 like the city reported. At 5:38 the tornado was actually located a few blocks east of Schifferdecker according to radar. *"The sirens, which were activated for three minutes, were sounded at 5:11 p.m. and again at 5:38 p.m. When they sounded the second time, the tornado was causing EF-4 damage as it was approaching Schifferdecker Avenue in southwest Joplin, according to a recent study by a team of investigators with the National Weather Service." *Those same researchers, in a report obtained by the Globe, found that the weather service forecast office in Springfield did a good job of communicating the threat to local officials, and that local officials issued timely warnings via Joplin’s sirens. But the team also stated: “While the weather enterprise was generally successful in communicating the Joplin tornado threat in a timely manner, current communication and delivery mechanisms are not seamless and are somewhat antiquated.” *The report also found that the Springfield forecast office could benefit from radar technology that would let it look closer into the lower levels of a storm. The team stated: “Low-level rotational intensification and tornado genesis occurred very rapidly as the storm approached Joplin. Limited scans (every five minutes) at the lowest elevations likely impacted the weather field office’s ability to quickly ascertain the magnitude of the event.”

Yeah not the final, just that part .... somehow the newspaper and radio station got to see an early draft or something since they both reported on the siren issue. -------------- *In other news, The National 9/11 flag will be in Joplin on 9/11 and the final stitches will be placed in it, before it is sent to New York to go in the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. CNN may be here for that. *Canadian Geese have taken over, and are relaxing on house foundations. It's quite a sight actually. *This was a video taken from a trucking company near where the tornado was.

I'm still looking for the NOAA/NWS assessment from the above news article. NWS Springfield was no help in tracking it down. Amazing story of a 16 year old that is just now getting to come home after being in the hospital. He also got 'the fungus' and only had a 5-10% chance to live. He had a chest wound so bad that doctors could see his exposed lungs, liver and his heart beating through it. http://www.kmbc.com/news/29062295/detail.html Also, some new footage (of Wal-greens at 20th and main looking at the back of the tornado) in the trailer to the video that the Piotrowski's took that day. Their DVD is 90ish minutes long and is expected to be released Sept 24-27th for $24.99 I believe.

Apparently the NWS assessment is out or at least part of it, I can't currently find it on google so if you can find it post it.... the paper did a story on it today: http://www.joplinglobe.com/tornadomay2011/x890683955/Report-Many-first-questioned-tornado-warning-then-acted * “The perceived frequency of siren activation in Joplin led the majority of survey participants to become desensitized or complacent to this method of warning. This suggests that initial siren activations in Joplin have lost a degree of credibility for most residents.” *The investigators, who interviewed more than 100 people, found that many of them said that they “hear sirens all the time” and that they are “bombarded with sirens so often that we don’t pay attention.” *as one survey participant said, that “the sirens go off all the time and nothing ever happens.” *The reports show that some people died after seeking appropriate shelter, while others did the wrong thing and survived. *Bill Davis, head of the National Weather Service forecast office in Springfield, said: “A warning is a warning. How many adjectives and adverbs do we have to use to make the point that there’s a possibility you could die? “Looking for a confirmation, well, that’s what humans do. But, if there was a guy at the door with a gun, would you really want to confirm that? The question is: How do you get into the minds of people to tell them that we see something that can affect you? We need to work on that.”

You're a pro cyclone77, lol. I can't remember who it was, but someone on here analyzed that video in post #1031 and found the intersections that the different shots were taken at. He has his blog in his sig but I can't remember who it was. Here's a new one I found a couple of days ago, not sure where it's at. NOTE THIS VIDEO HAS CUSSING, and towards the end, a 'rescue' at Hampshire Terrace apartments.

cyclone77, I found the hi-rez NOAA image version of the West 30th and south Eiler quite interesting. The area you have highlighted is in the top left portion of the image. EF1 damage occurred there with EF2 damage south of there, although by looking at the image, it appears a couple of homes may have been destroyed. As you progress east along the top of the image you can see the tree fell pattern is more chaotic then it was once the tornado had reached the mature stage. Around the top center of the image, you can see a cell phone tower that was pushed over, just north of the tower, you can very clearly see a tight circular tree fell pattern. http://ngs.woc.noaa....00e4102500n.jpg And this is the link to the E24 and Meadow Lane image. They were very close. http://ngs.woc.noaa....00e4105000n.jpg

Well now...... http://www.newstalkkzrg.com/FEMA-Funding-for-Joplin-Pulled-In-Wake-of-Irene/10759225 FEMA is suspending funding to Joplin as the east coast faces recovery from Hurricane Irene. "The only programs being affected right now are the long-term programs," says FEMA's Crystal Peyton. She tells News Talk KZRG the temporary suspension of federal dollars will affect rebuilding Joplin schools, roads and other buildings. "When it goes to individuals and housing efforts, those are unaffected. We will continue to fund that and the staff to support it all the way through its culmination." Peyton says FEMA's number one goal is immediate disaster recovery and that priority governs the use of their 1 billion dollar budget. She tells News Talk KZRG Congress must renew or raise their budget in order for the suspension affecting Joplin is lifted. That decision is expected to made around October.

Nice job. That was in the EF-3 damage with EF-4 damage just to their north and EF2 just to the south according to the SGF survey. The tornado seemed to have weaker winds on the south side when compared to the north side. The center of the tornado passed about 0.44 miles from my house, and I heard it even though the TV was on rather loudly. It became rather large, rather quickly and I will always remember that roaring sound that at first sounded like distant rolling thunder to a constantly loud rumble and 'growl'. I did notice an area over here by me (kind of a valley) where the houses on the top of the valley suffered EF-4 damage and sheds and other structures like a child's wooden 'full sized doll house' suffered very little damage and a well constructed wood frame shed suffered only roof damage but 20-30 ft up the hill, the house was completely pushed over and spread out over the area. The video on Brownell was south of the damage track from the tornado.

I can't locate where this video was shot and the person that uploaded it hasn't been on youtube for 2 months. I know about 36 seconds in there is a close lightning strike, the same one heard on the video shot near me, but the actual tornado doesn't arrive at that location until about a minute later. This is the aftermath of the house and neighborhood in that video right after the tornado.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition announced today that they will be coming to Joplin on October 19th to take on multiple projects and they need a lot of volunteers. I've heard rumors that they are building 7 houses in 7 days but they announced they would be doing multiple projects. To volunteer, head to this website: http://www.joinextreme.com/Joplin

It has been 3 months today since the EF-5 destroyed around 30% of Joplin. Around 90% of the Joplin residents in the tornado will be living within or rebuilding within 25 miles of Joplin. Joplin Schools hope to be rebuilt in 3 years time. It looks like St. Johns hospital may donate or sell land to the schools and the schools may rebuild Irving school, which was destroyed in the tornado, on that land because traffic would have an easier time getting to the school. Joplin High School is on a flood plain and will be rebuilt in the same spot but possibly in a different configuration. Walgreens has rebuilt and reopened on the site of it's store at 20th and Rangeline. This area is just in front of Home Depot and the store was leveled to the ground. Construction continues on numerous buildings including Wal-Mart and Home Depot. Chick-fil-a will reopen Sep 1st. Photos from: http://www.facebook.com/NewsTalkKZRG Just a reminder, here's the NOAA hi-res flight imagery 2 days after the tornado: http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/joplin/

A couple of vids I stumbled across that were posted on May 23th after the tornado that I haven't seen before. These two vids capture the formation in the Cedar Ridge area in SW Joplin, which was the first area hit. .... Not sure which direction this was taken. You can see debris flying and hitting the window but no condensation funnel yet. Was this basically forming right over them? Not sure where this was taken, but these people almost waited too long to take shelter. You can see just how dark it got before the tornado arrived, I can't confirm where this was at but you can hear glass breaking and everything. EDIT: Tornado shelters dominate Joplin's rebuilding plans "When it was over, Jake climbed the ladder, opened the door and looked outside. “It’s gone,” he said. “The house?” asked his mother in law. “The neighborhood,” he answered. "

This is about as close to what I would have seen and experienced as you can get. Later on in the video you can see the debris falling down. It appears the video was taken after the tornado had already passed though as the vid is facing south and southeast. The wife or whoever asks why it's still noisy and he remarks that the door is still open so she tells him to close it, then he gets a look outside. I recall the close lightning strike in the vid as I was on the phone with the neighbor asking if she was ok at the time it struck. I don't remember it being that windy still though. A documentary is being made by Chip Gubera about the Joplin tornado and will be released in 2012. At 0:42 seconds or so is Jeremiah Cook who was the voice on the KSN tower cam video. I've got to say, it looks really good from the trailer: