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on_wx

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  1. Just thinking back to that day... the tornado obviously caught all of us by surprise. In the thread everyone was focused on the Midwest and it wasn't until the 70dbz+ debris ball appeared over Joplin that people started posting. Then almost immediately after came Jeff P's dire spotter network report did anyone begin to realize what was happening. We couldn't get tv coverage, radio stations were out, scanners weren't available. Then sometime after, which wasn't more than probably twenty minutes, TWC's Mike Bettes arrived on the scene and we all saw the destruction first hand. Well... From what I remember... TWC went live, then national and international stations jumped on the story within the hour and it was a huge mess of confusion because no one knew what was happening. One thing I personally remember and feeling anxious about was CNN's coverage. After posting in the thread, reading online articles, and watching TWC online... it took CNN what felt like hours to start to report the facts. The headline was "BREAKING NEWS: TORNADO SLAMS JOPLIN, MISSOURI" and they reiterated over and over that no news was coming out of the city, no one knew what was going on, and affiliates were en route... even though, what I remember, TWC was already reporting facts and information was quickly becoming available on, for example, social network sites. CNN just kept talking about how it sounded bad, no info, then they got a hold of a chaser in Joplin who was at some highway service station that was skimmed and the chaser for probably an hour continued to report his story of "somewhat moderate damage, they saw trees down" etc. Anyone remember this? I wonder what CNN's deal was. By the time they turned off live programming for the night, they still knew next to nothing, even though other outlets were factual and up to date. Edit, I guess I've long wondered if maybe CNN doesn't have legal ground to report other networks information or reports and they had to personally send one of their legal affiliates to the scene before they could report.I have no idea how it works. But it was a frustrating night.
  2. Well Ten for Joplin sounds like a great effort had to donate some to the cause and passed the link on. As for just married is that beer cans??
  3. Thanks for the link Oct 29 is the wall-raising with 350 volunteers expected! Any idea if this project will be featured on a tv show like EMHE?
  4. Seems a bit silly that people are rebuilding without using some of that insurance money to build a cellar. I think everyone here knows many won't build one. It happens time and again in tornado rebuilds, but man when an EF5 tears up half the city and kills hundreds, how can people just assume it wont happen again? How more apparent can it get... It reminds me off the TV show 'Greensburg' where that one family barely survived the tornado strike in their basement then rebuilt their lives in a modular home without a shelter. Just happy to have a home again. Tornado victim psychology 101 for another day. And for community shelters, surely some plazas or churches are going to be designates. Frankly sad to hear you haven't heard of any going up. There is a mall I frequent in Port Huron, Michigan and all around the shops are signs that say 'TORNADO SHELTER --->", if you follow the signs you go to a set of stairs to an underground area with two entrances.
  5. A couple questions about rebuilding. Are they expecting something like a post-Katrina landscape with a couple houses amidst a sea of empty lots? If so, any plans to buy out lots and fill them with perhaps trees or just try to sell them off over time(which seems more logical)? Also, how about tornado shelters? With everyone rebuilding how many shelters are we talking? Or are there plans for large community shelters?
  6. It varies by area emergency management policy. Some cities will only sound their sirens if the NWS can confirm in their warning a tornado has touched down. Other cities will sound their sirens only once for 3-5 minutes when the warning is issued. Some sound them continuously. Others sound them once, then sound them again after a tornado is confirmed. Some cities use the siren tones in different stages. They will activate the "Alert" tone, or steady wail, at first warning, then if a tornado is spotted, they resound the sirens in the "Attack" tone, up and down wail. Studies in Canada have suggested that the "attack" tone is most easily recognizable by the public that there is an immediate danger. I don't know of many areas that use the "alert" tone here. I studied emergency management so I know a thing or two about this kind of stuff on this end at least with a dabble in US happenings. Some older versions of the Midland radio are programmable. The new version that comes with the flashing light accessory for the hearing impaired are not. You should look online for weather radios with SAME that can be programmed. You can order radios off company websites or other weather radio dedicated stores. You can also suggest to your friends and family which radio to get and can program it for them if they need it.
  7. Also JoMo what weather radio are you using? I had a Midland radio with SAME, but you couldn't program the advisories. Bought a Radio Shack NOAA Public Alert weather radio with SAME in Erie, Pennsylvania. It's programmable. And to add, something else irritating about the Canadian weather radio network. Warnings don't come out in polygons here, there is no "locations impacted" or "storm was near" stuff. All our warnings go out in "zones" that were created in 2002. Some follow the county system, other zones are completely made up by Environment Canada that just include cities every 20 km. My regional municipality(urbanized county) is some 900 sq km. It's all one Environment Canada zone called "Kitchener - Cambridge - Region of Waterloo". If a storm is clipping the southern border, EC will issue a warning for "Kitchener - Cambridge - Region of Waterloo" thus putting almost 600,000 people under a warning, and my weather radio 30 km north of that storm goes off telling me there is a storm. Then, the weather radio only indicates what warning and for what zone. Warning text or discussion like "a storm capable of producing..." is not included in the Environment Canada network. So, I've had countless severe storm false alarms for a storm no where near me that I have to get of bed, turn on the computer and run the radar to see what's going on and if I should be concerned. These Environment Canada warning zones are the sole reason why emergency preparedness fails in this country. You'll never be able to devise tornado plans for businesses and schools without risking the countless false alarms for the non-specific warning zones. Also majority of our severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings come in huge blankets. Sometimes warnings go out covering 10 counties(which would no doubt be the size of 30 Kansas counties) before storms have even formed. Even the tornado siren network fails in this country. So many times the tornado sirens have gone off for a storm that will never impact this area, but we're in a blanket warning.
  8. Joplin uses the Federal Signal 2001 siren http://www.federalsi...D=4&lookup=2387 It's the most common siren in the US and it's spilling over into Canada. IIRC, the 2001 has a battery life of 30 minutes. If the power is still on, the siren can run for something like forty-five minutes before it needs a ten to fifteen minute break. If the power goes out mid-siren sounding, the siren won't turn off because the battery activates, but the pitch or sound it makes becomes a deeper tone because it's using less power so the motor chopping the air slows down. From what I gather about that article, Joplin believes if they run the sirens too long the batteries will die. But, the power would have to go out first, so as long as the power is still on, and the city can detect whether each siren still has main power, the siren can go off as often as the city likes. I'm no siren expert, but I'm 95% positive that is how it works.
  9. Memphis comes to mind where the city sounds their sirens for the entire duration of a tornado warning. Also, as the article states, Tuscaloosa sounds their sounds continuously, too. That city uses the same siren type as Joplin. Conflicting information? Joplin officials think the sirens will break if they run them continuously, but other cities are doing it just fine. Also it talks about grants for weather radios. Even here in Canada, sometimes the weather radio network can be real annoying. Going off in the middle of night for something silly like a frost warning. I had to program mine to only sound for severe thunderstorm/tornado watches and warnings. If you mandate or donate those radios to the public then I imagine a lot of radios will end up stored away in the closest due to too many alert messages for some of the dozens of silly NWS advisory products that make their way through the weather radio network. Weather radios should be restricted to just life threatening advisory products like severe storm and winter storm warnings.
  10. This video shows a pretty clear tower cam shot of the tornado at about 1:00
  11. Nunavut is missing off all those posted weather maps, just saying
  12. Sirens can make several different tones depending off if they are computerized or mechanical. The sirens in Joplin are mechanical, so they can make three tones: Steady Up and down Fast up and down Steady is an old cold war tone meaning "alert", you know, be on alert something is possible... such as if a tornado warning is issued based on radar per se, then "steady" should be "attention everyone" Up and down, or fast up and down, which during the cold war meant "attack", or an attack is imminent or occurring. So, if a tornado is spotted or reported the "attack/up and down" tone should be sounded on the sirens. Merrill Wisconsin does this apparently, in all the videos of the tornado from May 2011, or maybe April, whenever that MDT/PDS watch "busted" in WI, that city of Merrill did a steady tone when the warning went out, then as the tornado was moving into the city they did the up and down tone. Computerized sirens have a wide variety of tones, maybe six or more, plus voice capabilities. Sometimes in cities with talking computer tornado sirens it will be a high-low tone followed by a message "tornado warning seek shelter immediately" it's pretty creepy.
  13. Some of what you say may be true. An example could be the Christchurch 2011 earthquake. Every major news outlet carried the story for a day, but the NZ government didn't begin to release damage numbers or fatality numbers for three days. By then, aside from Australian and NZ news outlets, the rest had moved on to other stories. That earthquake killed 181 people and they don't even know how they will rebuild the city of 375,000 because it's been so badly damaged. Yet, you never heard any follow up story because the figures weren't made clear for weeks.
  14. Schools usually close on high risk days in the US don't they? Imagine if they canceled sporting events on high risk days... one of those cheap disaster movie plots with a mayor who refuses to cancel an event because the revenue will benefit the city comes to mind.
  15. CNN had an official on the phone today who said up to 270,000 people can be in Joplin for work, shopping, visiting, etc. Seems surely plausible there was a very high number of people in the shopping districts, restaurant districts, driving, etc. Also, with families at home instead of at school and at work... Someone said on here it's a good thing it didn't strike at night, but if it did then there wouldn't have been hundreds of people in the Wal-Mart that was hit, all the restaurants would have been closed and those tens of thousands of possible visitors would be back in their rural homes, etc. I really don't know any statistics, I'm just speculating right now, but I'm studying emergency management and there is just so much going on right now my mind is going a thousand miles a minute.
  16. Everyone in tornado alley needs an underground tornado shelter. All shopping centres, libraries, schools, and campgrounds need tornado shelters. I know there has already been enough debate about the need for tornado shelters since April 27, but come on really... so many lives can be saved it people can go into a reinforced underground or above ground structure. Hiding in a main floor closet in a woodframe plastic siding home is just no longer an option. Something really needs to be done. Also, stores like Walmart etc should at least be built now with safe rooms in the back. That is just my opinion, though. It's good there has been a long stretch without extremely deadly tornadoes, but it's just becoming too clear there is really no hope for you when the next major tornado hits a city if you don't have a shelter.
  17. I don't think anyone realized how big the tornado became. The storm went from very broad rotation and a messy looking hook to extreme rotation and a massive debris ball in just one scan. Look at chaser video, it went from a small funnel to wedge tornado in what feels like seconds. The NWS began using strong wording immediately after.
  18. SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 542 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011 MOC097-222300- /O.CON.KSGF.TO.W.0030.000000T0000Z-110522T2300Z/ JASPER MO- 542 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011 ...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM CDT FOR CENTRAL JASPER COUNTY... ...A TORNADO WARNING ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL FOR NORTHERN NEWTON...SOUTHEAST CHEROKEE COUNTY...AND SOUTHERN JASPER COUNTIES... AT 538 PM CDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR JOPLIN...OR 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF GALENA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE AIRPORT DRIVE...ALBA...ATLAS...BROOKLYN HEIGHTS...CARL JUNCTION...CARTERVILLE...LAKESIDE...NECK CITY... NORTHEASTERN JOPLIN...OAKLAND PARK...ORONOGO...PURCELL AND WEBB CITY. INTERSTATE 44 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 13 AND 18 WILL ALSO BE IMPACTED BY THIS TORNADO. IN ADDITION TO A TORNADO...THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE DAMAGING HAIL UP TO BASEBALL SIZE. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND SOUTHERN MISSOURI.
  19. It was warned some 15 minutes before it hit BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 517 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPRINGFIELD HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHWESTERN NEWTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI... SOUTHEASTERN CHEROKEE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS... SOUTHWESTERN JASPER COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI... * UNTIL 600 PM CDT. * AT 514 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR RIVERTON...OR 4 MILES NORTH OF BAXTER SPRINGS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE BAXTER SPRINGS...CLIFF VILLAGE...DENNIS ACRES...DIAMOND...DUENWEG...DUQUESNE...FIDELITY...GALENA...IRON GATES...JOPLIN...LEAWOOD...LOWELL...REDINGS MILL...RIVERTON... SAGINAW...SHOAL CREEK DRIVE...SHOAL CREEK ESTATES...SHOAL CREEK ESTATE AND SILVER CREEK. INTERSTATE 44 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 0 AND 13 WILL ALSO BE IMPACTED BY THIS TORNADO.
  20. They took about four or five months to determine it was an F5. Not like they jumped the gun right off the bat. I'm still suspicious about that tornado, but WFO Winnipeg is just about the best performing office out of them all, so it adds credence.
  21. I don't trust Environment Canada tornado ratings. Most of the time they confirm tornadoes over the phone with possibly a picture or two of damage emailed to them. All the damage pictures I've seen from Elie MB show roofs off houses and pine trees on their side. But then again, I'm no expert.
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