Possible EF5 Tornado Devastates Moore, Oklahoma

[mmhmm]

57 people are known dead at this time (ETA:  Some articles are saying 51 dead).  This monster was a mile wide and on the ground for 40 minutes, covering a 20 mile track.  Scary as hell!  Those poor people.

Some pictures and link to article:

Tornado in Moore Oklahoma

[Jaguar]

Oh geez,

[mmhmm]

Poor Moore!  They just got hit with an EF5 in 1999.  Now, this.  I just read an elementary school was leveled and 7 children are known dead.  It breaks my heart to think what these folks must be going through.

[Jaguar]

So they checked that school. These storms are so damn unpredictable. And it is so damn heart breaking.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Prayer are with my fellow Americans in OK. We have family about 15-20 miles outside Moore, and they said that it wasn't just tornadoes- their home was pelted with hail, they had softball sized strikes that penetrated the decking and cracked the drywall ceilings.

[mmhmm]

One of the pics I saw showed a hailstone that looked at least as big as a tennis ball, Paul.  I grew up in Oklahoma and I've never seen hail that size.  I'm sorry about the damage to your family's home, but glad it wasn't a lot worse!  They just need to hunker down.  It's not over yet, I'm afraid.

[mmhmm]

There are reports now that more than a dozen children were killed when the school was flattened.  Last I read, teams were still working in the area to try to get people out if they can find them. It's just horrible.

[mmhmm]

Ain't that the truth, lonewolf?  I can't even imagine how they must be coping right now; especially, since the storms are still all around them.

[Peace Of Mind]

I just heard on the news that out of 51 people killed 7 were kids. Although that is horrible - with TWO schools leveled - isn't that pretty amazing? The teachers were so brave and awesome!!

They also said it was 2 miles long. 

Prayers and warmest thoughts to you all (and your families and friends) in Oklahoma!

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I've been watching on the news & online. Oklahoma seems to be in the tornado alley and gets struck by these devastating and killing storms all too often. Prayers to those lost, and those who are dealing with the aftermath (or what's yet to come for them before it's over this time around).

[mmhmm]

May 20, 2013 22:26:56 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

I just heard on the news that out of 51 people killed 7 were kids. Although that is horrible - with TWO schools leveled - isn't that pretty amazing? The teachers were so brave and awesome!!

They also said it was 2 miles long. 

Prayers and warmest thoughts to you all (and your families and friends) in Oklahoma!

It was 20 miles long!  The darned thing was on the ground for 20 freaking miles!  At least a mile wide, as well.  Darned thing was huge!

[Peace Of Mind]

  I thought they said the tornado itself was 2 miles wide.  But I was multitasking while listening.  I just read on the other thread that Sammy said 20 children died.   I hope the news people are making errors in that number.  The teachers were really quick in getting them to safety and/or covering the kids with their own bodies but that is still too many.  

[Jaguar]

I'm reading and watching, yes 20 miles long. Oh those poor people.

CNN just said it was 2 miles wide in Oklahoma City. How on earth can a city withstand that.

[mmhmm]

It didn't hit OK City broadside, Sugi.  It skirted the southeastern edge, apparently.  That's where Moore is located.

Just heard verification on ABC of the 20 children dead.

[Jaguar]

Sorry, those little ones.

[Jaguar]

CNN is saying 51 are confirmed dead with another 40 bodies to be confirmed. Peace Be With Them All.

[jkapp]

May 20, 2013 21:54:16 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

There are reports now that more than a dozen children were killed when the school was flattened.  Last I read, teams were still working in the area to try to get people out if they can find them. It's just horrible.

Schools are terrible places to shelter from tornados...especially an F5.  Basically, if you don't have a basement/underground shelter there is a very small chance of surviving an F5.  And schools rarely, if ever, have basements.  The elementary school and high school I went to had zero places to take shelter during a tornado...during the drills we would all be covering our heads while squatting in the hallways, surrounded by metal lockers and fluorescent lights - a total death trap of flying glass shards and small metal doors if tornado-force winds started whipping through there.

[mmhmm]

I recall the same conditions in the schools I attended, jkapp.  There were no underground shelters for students and staff then and, apparently, there still aren't.  I'm sure it would be cost-prohibitive to build such things on the off-chance something like this might happen.

The official death toll has been reduced to 24, at this time and they're hoping to lower that number as the search continues for survivors.  They worked all night.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I'm guessing that the rebuilt school is going to have a basement shelter, no matter the cost. 

[mmhmm]

I'd sure hope so, Beth.  Their hospital was flattened, as well.  Poor Moore got it again, and it's just heartbreaking to see the pictures.  Fortunately, they had some warning so many were able to get to safety.

[thyme4change]

I don't know if they had a basement in the school, but they said the kids drowned because wherever they were flooded when the pipes bursts.  As a mother, I think I would prefer the ceilings caved in and took my child immediately than to have them trapped alive and then drown.  Ugh!

ETA:  The school did have a basement.  The kids were in the basement.  

[jkapp]

May 21, 2013 11:26:57 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I don't know if they had a basement in the school, but they said the kids drowned because wherever they were flooded when the pipes bursts.  As a mother, I think I would prefer the ceilings caved in and took my child immediately than to have them trapped alive and then drown.  Ugh!

ETA:  The school did have a basement.  The kids were in the basement.  

Wow, that's even worse...the parents probably figured the school was safer because of that

[thyme4change]

It upsets me to even think about it.  

[mmhmm]

Yeah, I'd read that, thyme.  Obviously, the basement wasn't made as a "safe-room" should be.  I have no idea what it would cost to design and incorporate a proper basement area for use during a major tornado, but I'll bet it would be a lot more than a "pretty penny".

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Well, before we get too far down the road in making our schools tornado-proof, maybe it's time to re-think the whole school clusterf*ck? Is it really necessary for so many kids to congregate all in one spot at the same time in order to learn? It's this underlying belief- the belief that at a particular time, kids all head to a central location for school that precludes cost-effective safety measures. Having this belief is what necessitates having a building that is impractical from a safety standpoint. And btw- this is no comment on "government run schools". It's a comment on the whole idea. Maybe we use technology to spread out, meet in smaller groups in varying locations. And as we found out in CT earlier this year, schools aren't just a target for the weather. Maybe it's time to re-think bunching our kids up in one spot all day? Just a thought.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

OK TV Reporter: "This was the worst tornado in recorded history".

Not sure if that's true, but for a Sooner that's quite a statement.

[Robert not Bobby]

I think it was a 4, but it could have been a 5.

Not to seem callous but aren’t those folks in some sort of "tornado alley"…it happens virtually every year; why not build more substantially, with reinforced concrete with rebar, blocks, bricks and mortar, not some 2 x 4 wood planks sitting on top of the ground? And why no basements?

Also, you build on the banks of the Mississippi, you are going to get flooded, you build in parts of Oklahoma, and you just might end up swept away.

My heart goes out to those folks. It always seems that the hardest working Joes and Janes…not too sophisticated, but genuine decent people, always get hit hardest.

Mother Nature is a very powerful force...she is humbling.

[mmhmm]

It appears the NWS has rated this tornado as an EF5, Robert.

Moore Tornado

[jkapp]

This same area was hit by a F5 in 1999 and that one was a much stronger tornado (over 300 MPH winds).  So yesterday's tornado was bad, but I don't think it classifies as the worst.  But I'm not sure what the reporter was using as his basis for "worse" (death toll, property damage, wind speed, or what?)

[mmhmm]

From listening to the comments, jkapp, I think the guy was talking in terms of damage.  I recall the comment and the reporter seemed to be pretty amazed at what he was seeing as far as the force of the tornado and the damage being done.  I guess, if you're in the middle of one of these things it doesn't matter much to you what number they give it.  If it's flattened everything around you, it's nasty mean!