JoMo

In today's episode........ Storm shelters. I keep forgetting to take the camera with me so I missed a few, but here's a couple I've seen. This looks like your standard inground shelter, but it's in kind of a weird place, maybe in the garage?: View from the back: Believe this is a concrete indoor shelter poured inside the house, missing the top still: And believe this is one being poured:

I usually say while it's unlikely, you can never say it won't happen again. Then I bring up the fact that Codell, KS was struck by a tornado on May 20 three years in a row: 1916, 1917, and 1918. Joplin is a very small urban area, which makes it a small target, but also makes it a big bullseye if a tornado strikes, meaning that even a small tornado cutting through the city will damage a lot of homes/businesses.

There are 44 guests here now. This must be linked somewhere... I am eagerly awaiting my pre-order video from Jeff and Kathryn Piotrowski. I saw a private clip they took that has not been seen before and it was a very big wedge as it was in my area. I was either in the edge of it or in the inflow jet. I've been needing to know what it looked like when it was here for some reason and that provided some closure. Paper did a story on the video: http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1190859094/Storm-chasers-video-of-Joplin-tornado-to-go-on-sale-locally

I guess people figure, what's the chance of it happening again? For many, it was a once in a lifetime event. Those old houses that were destroyed were 80+ years old. The water works filter building was closer to 100+ years old. Here's a postcard pic from 1906 showing the Filter station. It was completely destroyed by the tornado despite being removed from the actual track by several blocks. The Blendville station in the bottom left was damaged but can be repaired for historical purposes. http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/jplnpstcrds&CISOPTR=675&CISOBOX=1&REC=9 And since I'm already there, this was Joplin High School in 1961. Looks like the pic is taken about where the "Hope" High School sign would be. http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/jplnpstcrds&CISOPTR=703&CISOBOX=1&REC=11 It would be nice if some of the churches that built back would build underground storm shelters, but it's up to them. The mall has 10 indoor storm shelters but there aren't any labels in the mall pointing to where they are. The back parking lot has 37 storm shelters but those are for Joplin High School @ the Mall only, meaning they will be locked on the weekend. The problem with community shelters is the liability issue. You have to have someone that goes to the shelter to open the door. People may actually put themselves in harms way trying to get to the shelter when they would be safer at home. Also, the shelter is only secure if you lock the door, which means you may have to leave people out in the storm to die if they don't make it to the shelter in time.

I think the city is expecting all housing to be replaced, however I don't know if that's realistic considering how many lots are still for sale. The general thought is that once an area starts rebuilding, it will gradually 'fill in'. I've witnessed that over in my area with more homes being built around each other as time goes on. Some people are buying their neighbors lots in order to build a bigger house. There are some smaller lots that the city is not allowing rebuilding on. These are left over from the mining days and you couldn't really put a modern house on them. I'm unsure if the city is buying these or not though. Storm shelters are left up to the people rebuilding to decide. I've seen a few inner concrete shelters poured and I've talked to people that are planning doing the same thing. It adds a few thousand dollars to the rebuilding cost but I would put one in. There are houses that have rebuilt without them though. The city has applied for a FEMA grant to subsidize tornado shelters for those that want to get them, but the chances of getting that are fairly small. I have not heard about community shelters. I know there's a citizens planning committee that is looking at a variety of options on how to rebuild.

The area that the Huffman's live in is doing really well. It's not too far from me. I make note that it's building up fairly quickly over there when I take my monthly camera shots of the area. Some areas are slower moving of course, and there's still a lot of lots for sale by owner. http://www.whnt.com/sns-rt-us-tornado-joplintre791168-20111002,0,2804113.story JOPLIN, Mo (Reuters) - Four months ago, a tornado swept Rick and Jolene Huffman out of their house and dumped them unconscious into a clearing more than a block away. A harrowing way to lose their home and nearly their lives but the Huffmans are rebuilding on the same spot, undaunted by memories of the tornado or devastation of their neighborhood. *Construction contractor John Adams said houses in many neighborhoods destroyed by the tornado were 70 or more years old. People with patience and foresight will be rewarded for rebuilding, he said."Sooner or later they will be surrounded by new homes," Adams said. "It will probably be much nicer than it ever was."

Interesting AP article written about St. Johns hospital again. It goes back to the night of the tornado and how things are going now. Destroyed Joplin Hospital - Workers Find a Way Back I've uploaded what St. Johns looked like in 1968 as it opened, and what it looked like a few weeks after the tornado: In other news, Extreme Makeover Home Edition will be working on Cunningham Park as well as building 7 homes in 7 Days. http://www.joplinglo...Cunningham-Park "Cotten did divulge one facet of the plan that has stoked his excitement over what’s to come for the park. “We do plan on resurrecting a fountain built there,” Cotten said. “When we were cleaning up the park after the tornado, we found a historic fountain” built in 1909. Old postcards of the park show the fountain at the bottom of a slope near a covered pavilion nestled in a grove of trees. Cotten also said the park plan calls for replacing the trees that were destroyed. “There were 116 trees destroyed by the storm,” he said. “Our plan is to replant all the trees and more.” And a little history about the park: The site of Cunningham Park was known in its early days for its stand of trees. Part of settler Thomas Cunningham’s 80-acre farm was known as Cunningham’s Grove. Cunningham eventually divided up his farm to sell lots to miners to build houses. In 1898, he served as mayor and donated a seven-acre tract of his grove to be Joplin’s first park.

Coca-Cola announced the winners of the Livepostively favorite park contest. http://www.thecoca-c...-grants-to.html 1. Oak Park (Minot, ND)- $100,000 2. Soudan Underground Park (Ely, MN) - $50,000 3. Cunningham Park (Joplin, MO)- $25,000 Oak Park is owned and operated by the Minot Park District. Before it was damaged by a flood in 2011, it served as a gathering place for families, with a splash park, picnic shelters, walking trails, an accessible playground (Magic Smiles Playground), sand volleyball court and other amenities. The park plans to use the $100,000 recreation grant to help restore the park so families can be active together again. Soudan Underground Mine State Park near Ely is home to Minnesota's oldest iron ore mine, which operated from 1882 until 1962. In recent years, approximately 30,000 visitors annually have donned hard hats and descended a half-mile underground in a cage to take part in the interpretive programs within the historic mine. The park also offers tours of an underground physics lab, where scientists from around the world are studying how the universe works. Underground tours are not available at this time due to ongoing repair work from a fire in March 2011, but above-ground opportunities include interpretive programs, hiking and geocaching. Cunningham Park is Joplin's first city park, located in the southwest section of the city. On May 22, 2011, Cunningham was completely destroyed by a tornado that left the community without the tennis and basketball courts, playground and pool that made the park so popular. The park plans to use the $25,000 recreation grant to rebuild the playground and picnic shelters, plant trees and build a memorial dedicated to tornado victims and the many volunteers that aided in rescue and recovery. EDIT: If Irving is rebuilt where St. Johns was. This park is pretty much right across the street and will probably be really busy.

It was announced earlier tonight that the school district hopes to have 2 elementary schools and East Middle School rebuilt by Dec 2013. Irving elementary will be built by the old St. Johns hospital location since they didn't like the parking and traffic situation at the old school location. Joplin High School and Franklin Tech will be rebuilt by Aug 2014. They will be taking demolition bids soon for the schools. Apparently, if you rebuild your home on the existing lot that you own, the insurance will pay you extra to do so. The school board hopes to acquire 80 residential lots around Franklin Tech and Joplin High School. The reason being, the high school sits in a flood plain and they need to move it if they want FEMA to pay 75% of the cost to rebuild the school. Some people had already started rebuilding on their lots and now the school district is attempting to buy those lots for 'fair market value' not taking into account those that want to rebuild and the insurance money they would acquire by doing so. They have started Eminent Domain proceedings against several people. Here's a pic of what they have or want as far as lots:

Remember the video of the people in the cooler? Here's some of their stories: http://www.esquire.c...do-stories-1011 If you can't make it through the whole thing, you should at least read the last page: http://www.esquire.c...-stories-1011-5

Yeah, when the first siren had sounded, there was no tornado on the ground. The second siren had a confirmed tornado on the ground. I would think that a confirmed tornado on the ground moving into Joplin would warrant the sirens being constantly ran until the tornado had passed. At least, that's how I would do it. Do the 3 minute siren for the warning or possibility of a tornado. Constant siren for a tornado on the ground.

I think it would be better personally. I've noticed that I've learned to tune them out on Monday at 10 AM. I've had to ask several people if they heard them because I did not hear them and they actually had been set off. I'm in favor of not setting them off for testing every week because I think that people get used to them and when there is a threat, they may not actually hear the sirens because they have tuned them out from hearing them every week. You can take it a step further and only test them once a month and/or test them a few days before a severe weather event is expected if it is sunny out. This could be a sort of early warning that there may be severe storms in a couple of days. I don't really have a problem with the sirens sounding for 3 minutes. It's typically long enough to get peoples attention and to seek shelter or tune to the TV/radio. I don't think they should sound for the length of the warning if there is no confirmed tornado though as that would cause more 'siren fatigue'. I would have thought that with a confirmed tornado on the ground, the sirens would have been sounded the entire time the tornado was on the ground. How long do you think they should sound? It was a good decision to sound the sirens the second time, and when I heard them the second time, I knew a tornado was on the ground but I just didn't know where. I had suspected that based on radar it would either pass right over me or to the north of me so I took shelter in a closet on the SW side since there really is no safe place when you are on a slab with an open interior room. I'll have a shelter by next Spring though.

And article about the report in todays paper: http://www.joplinglobe.com/tornadomay2011/x480209133/NWS-team-to-seek-more-effective-storm-warning-means *Richard Wagenmaker, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Detroit and leader of the assessment team that came to Joplin after the tornado, in a telephone interview Tuesday, said, “We are putting together a team this week that will look at ideas to make our warnings more effective. We want to issue warnings that are in proportion to the threat. “Tornadoes come in all shapes and sizes, but we issue one warning. It’s our job to look into that.’’ *“At the same time, 162 people died and more than 1,000 suffered injuries,” he said. “We need to be looking for ways to be less vulnerable. Despite the fact it was a warned event, we need to be looking for ways to make it more effective. We want people to respond immediately.” *Bill Davis, head of the weather station in Springfield, said, “It’s like a football team who keeps doing it the same way, and it’s not working as well as they would like. We need to try another play.’’

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)