Tornado strikes Oklahoma

JupiterKid

dfx- wrote: »

It's exceptionally difficult to put that into perspective, even when you see images of it.

In terms of Dublin City..what is it in width - Trinity College to Christchurch..

More like From Trinity to Heuston Station.:( The suburbs of Oklahoma City are utterly destroyed. There sadly will be a big death toll from this disaster.

dfx-

Think of the thousands of people in that area at 3pm on a weekday in Dublin when this one struck.

+ then the debris field around its edges and hail and lightning, it's hard to gauge the scale and the damage it would do here.

[-0-]

This system that is moving through has 8 tornadoes on the ground right now.

WilyCoyote

My wife's alma mater (early 70s) just outside OKC was built, then covered with earth and the doors and windows landscaped into it. Air was piped in. It was a kind of experiment then. Anyone know if they continued doing this kind of thing for any length of time?

The destruction looks awful. I feel so sorry for the residents involved.

IvySlayer

37 deaths confirmed with 24 children still missing

Dunny

51 deaths now confirmed.

I just feel sick every time I read or see anything else about it. Reminds me of the photos of the devastation in Missouri a couple of years ago, completely unthinkable.

Lapin

NiallSparky wrote: »

It's finished now.

If only that were true.

1ZRed

Great drying though

expectationlost

did they not get warning, or have proper shelter?

El Horseboxo

1ZRed wrote: »

Great drying though

Nice. Hope you're proud of that one.

I live beside Moore in Del City. A lot of my girlfriends family are from there and Newcastle. I can't get in contact with her or some of her family. The place is levelled. I don't know what I'll do if she was visiting. Feel so helpless here. RIP all the people taken by this event.

Pacing Mule

1ZRed wrote: »

Great drying though

It takes a special kind of callousness to make stupid gags about an incident where so many people / kids have died. I'd actually be banned if I said what I really thought.

Pacing Mule

El Horseboxo wrote: »

Nice. Hope you're proud of that one.

I live beside Moore in Del City. A lot of my girlfriends family are from there and Newcastle. I can't get in contact with her or some of her family. The place is levelled. I don't know what I'll do if she was visiting. Feel so helpless here. RIP all the people taken by this event.

Fingers crossed for you. Hope you get good news.

castletownman

I made a insensitive remark last night before I really learned the true devastation of what happened. Want to apologise for my ignorance and for any offense I may have caused.

Looking at the latest footage this morning and it's phenomenal to think of the true power of mother nature.

circadian

The cloud system above it is crazy looking. The scenes remind me of a twister ripping through your sim city, that's the only thing I can compare it to. The scale just seems THAT huge.

I hope any boardsies/relatives out there are ok.

noel farrell

and we complain of the weather here, around 100 dead most of the town destroyed mother nature can be cruel , saying that the american's are used to it in this area, i wish them well , rip all who have died

castletownman

Anyone see the interview with the old woman who survived uninjured, saw her house flattened and was talking about her dog being missing. Next thing the interviewer spots a dog in the debris and the old woman rescues it. That really pulled on the heartstrings

Dave!

Horrific.

Ever since I was a kid, it's tornados that have been the natural disasters that fill me with the most fear. Terrifying, monstrous things.

hoodwinked

can anybody who knows the place better than i do explain because looking at the images of the debris there is wood everywhere,

if they are used to getting tornados here why do they still build their houses with wood rather than concrete?

i know its the norm in the US to build wooden houses over concrete, but in areas like this why don't they? is it a cost thing? surely in tornado prone areas they could give grants for concrete built homes?

would it have made a difference here anyway?

so sad to hear of the school children, the poor parents who would have thought their children were safer there...

hoodwinked

castletownman wrote: »

Anyone see the interview with the old woman who survived uninjured, saw her house flattened and was talking about her dog being missing. Next thing the interviewer spots a dog in the debris and the old woman rescues it. That really pulled on the heartstrings

just saw that on sky news, brought a tear to my eye....

Pacing Mule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAKS0pjHjM

syklops

Pageant Messiah wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAKS0pjHjM

Thanks. not a dry eye in the house now.

dark crystal

What an awful tragedy.

Heard one of the rescue volunteers being interviewed there and she was saying apparantly the children in that elementary school were on a storm drill in the main hall when the roof collapsed on them, a water main burst and they drowned in the debris. Absolutely heartbreaking to hear reports like that

Son Of A Vidic

castletownman wrote: »

I made a insensitive remark last night before I really learned the true devastation of what happened. Want to apologise for my ignorance and for any offensive I may have caused.

The ability to say sorry is a quality sadly lacking in these parts, nicely done.


Watching the scene of devastation from the Tornado is truly shocking. Some shots look like the aftermath of a nuclear strike. RIP to the poor souls who lost their lives.

syklops

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

Watching the scene of devastation from the Tornado is truly shocking. Some shots look like the aftermath of a nuclear strike.

Oh don't say that, you will have the tin foil haberdashers on now claiming it was an inside job.

Super-Rush

1ZRed wrote: »

Great drying though

You and the rest of the funny lads who were posting at the beginning of the thread must be proud.

Such a needless loss of life.

Local authorities will have to shoulder a lot of blame.

Weather radios should be provided to every house and business. Places like schools and hospitals should have underground bunkers. Quality of infrastructure needs to be improved a lot.

syklops

hoodwinked wrote: »

can anybody who knows the place better than i do explain because looking at the images of the debris there is wood everywhere,

if they are used to getting tornados here why do they still build their houses with wood rather than concrete?

i know its the norm in the US to build wooden houses over concrete, but in areas like this why don't they? is it a cost thing? surely in tornado prone areas they could give grants for concrete built homes?

would it have made a difference here anyway?

so sad to hear of the school children, the poor parents who would have thought their children were safer there...

I believe, and I am open to contradiction, in very strong winds, wood is actually the better choice because the wood can flex in the wind, and there is a better chance of the house surviving. Also, if your house collapsed, which would you prefer to be buried underneath a load of wood, or a loads of bricks?

ilovesleep

Dave! wrote: »

Horrific.

Ever since I was a kid, it's tornados that have been the natural disasters that fill me with the most fear. Terrifying, monstrous things.

Earthquakes and tsunamis are deadly too.

I didn't see any footage on this and I don't think I want to.

Mile and half long is huge. I'm just imagining it here in distance. A tornado of a mile and half in diameter swept around the place. How long did it last, I wonder.
RIP to those who have lost their lives. The story of destroyed schools is gut wrenching. Young kids going into school for the day and then that hits them away from their mammies and daddies.

Sending good thoughts and wishes to all those dealing with the aftermath.

Meritocracy Wins

1ZRed wrote: »

Great drying though

ffs. there are a million threads to act the cúnt on, why do it on a thread like this?

I am convinced that too much time in AH fúcks peoples perspective of humanity.

RIP to those poor people.

ilovesleep

El Guapo! wrote: »

Someone reported seeing a badly injured teacher lying across three schoolkids to protect them during the storm. They said the teacher looked in a bad way and didn't look as though he was gonna make it, but he was still trying to protect the kids.
I'd say it was terrifying. Poor kids.

Oh my god

Kerrydude1981

As bad as our poxy weather is,thank god we don't get extreme weather like other parts of the world.

fishy fishy

ProudDUB wrote: »

My apologies. My comments were not intended as a dig on posters here. It was directed at those people who hijack any US themed thread with irrelevant posts about what is going on in the Middle East. It happened to a very annoying degree after the Boston Marathon bombings.

you do know tornados are not man made and are completely different to bombings anywhere in the world - tornados are "natural" disasters.

Harps

Terrible news again this morning with so many deaths, looks like it's on par with some of the worst the tornados two years ago

While obviously concrete would withstand the wind better it really doesn't make that much difference when you have vehicles and debris flying through the air at over 200mph. Imagine a car traveling at motorway speed ploughing into your house, triple that speed and combine it with the wind and all the other debris and you get an idea of what it must be like.

It's easy to say that they should build better quality homes but the reality is that even in tornado alley the chance of your house being hit by a tornado is very slim. You're probably just as likely to see a tornado in this country or the UK as living over there. Shelters in schools should be a given though, horrific news coming out of that school collapse

Chucky the tree

hoodwinked wrote: »

can anybody who knows the place better than i do explain because looking at the images of the debris there is wood everywhere,

if they are used to getting tornados here why do they still build their houses with wood rather than concrete?

i know its the norm in the US to build wooden houses over concrete, but in areas like this why don't they? is it a cost thing? surely in tornado prone areas they could give grants for concrete built homes?

would it have made a difference here anyway?

so sad to hear of the school children, the poor parents who would have thought their children were safer there...

Pretty sure concrete isn't going to be able to withstand 320km/h winds either. You'll also then end up with lots of concrete being thrown around which will just add to the disaster.

electrobanana

1ZRed wrote: »

Great drying though

Jesus you are fcuking hillarious aren't you.

hoodwinked

syklops wrote: »

I believe, and I am open to contradiction, in very strong winds, wood is actually the better choice because the wood can flex in the wind, and there is a better chance of the house surviving. Also, if your house collapsed, which would you prefer to be buried underneath a load of wood, or a loads of bricks?

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Pretty sure concrete isn't going to be able to withstand 320km/h winds either. You'll also then end up with lots of concrete being thrown around which will just add to the disaster.

ah ok see i thought it would stand up better than wood, thank you.

such devastation from mother nature, makes you grateful for living in this cold relatively safe country....

Super-Rush

Super-Rush wrote: »

You and the rest of the funny lads who were posting at the beginning of the thread must be proud.

Such a needless loss of life.

Local authorities will have to shoulder a lot of blame.

Weather radios should be provided to every house and business. Places like schools and hospitals should have underground bunkers. Quality of infrastructure needs to be improved a lot.

TheUsual posted this on the first couple of pages. Sorry, mobile won't allow me to multiquote.......

"They were saying on CNN that parts of Oklahoma City are built right on bedrock and you would need to basically dynamite out a shelter so most people (including a Senator on the phone to CNN) said he had no underground shelter, but that strong brick and steel "strong rooms" are common inside houses to shelter in."

Can you really be fully prepared for what Mother Nature decides to throw at us?

El Guapo!

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Can you really be fully prepared for what Mother Nature decides to throw at us?

No.
No matter what technology we come up with, Mother Nature is always the most powerful force on this planet.
But surely there are additional steps that can be taken in places like Oklahoma to reduce the number of fatalities in cases like this.
Places like schools, hospitals etc should be built with some sort of adequate storm shelters, rather than just bringing all the children to the gym which then collapses on them.
Awful tragedy but it seems the authorities are not sufficiently prepared even though this is a regular occurrence.

Lirange

Harps wrote: »

It's easy to say that they should build better quality homes but the reality is that even in tornado alley the chance of your house being hit by a tornado is very slim. You're probably just as likely to see a tornado in this country or the UK as living over there. Shelters in schools should be a given though, horrific news coming out of that school collapse

Well Moore has just been hit twice in the last 14 years by EF4/EF5 tornadoes, destroying homes that had been constructed upon previously obliterated properties. They say metaphorically that lightning never strikes twice but...

ProudDUB

fishy fishy wrote: »

you do know tornados are not man made and are completely different to bombings anywhere in the world - tornados are "natural" disasters.

Yes, I am aware of what a "natural" disaster is. The NY Breezy Point hurricane was one too, but that didn't stop the thread about it getting derailed by people asking in quite a snarky manner why we cared so much about lives lost in a storm that was about to hit NYC, and not those lost in an earth quake/mudslide that had just hit Iraq and/or drone strikes in Pakistan. It got so bad that mods can to step in and ask people to cool their jets. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised to see this thread not go down the road that that one did. I still stand by my point, but I apologized last night for any offence caused by the manner in which I made it.

December2012

ProudDUB wrote: »

Yes, I am aware of what a "natural" disaster is. The Sandy Hook hurricane was one too, but that didn't stop the thread about it getting derailed by people asking in quite a snarky manner why we cared so much about lives lost in a storm that was about to hit NYC, and not those lost in an earth quake/mudslide that had just hit Iraq and/or drone strikes in Pakistan. It got so bad that mods can to step in and ask people to cool their jets. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised to see this thread not go down the road that that one did. I still stand by my point, but I apologized last night for any offence caused by the manner in which I made it.

Wasn't Sandy Hook the elementary school massacre?

[-0-]

syklops wrote: »

I believe, and I am open to contradiction, in very strong winds, wood is actually the better choice because the wood can flex in the wind, and there is a better chance of the house surviving. Also, if your house collapsed, which would you prefer to be buried underneath a load of wood, or a loads of bricks?

This is true. I've seen weaker tornadoes destroy brick just as easily to be honest. Don't forget this tornado took an entire floor from the hospital.

Schools in these areas need MANDATORY bunkers under them. Unfortunately they don't have them and that's why the loss of life at the schools is so high. It could be way worse mind you.

People who were in bunkers under their homes spoke of how the doors were ripped off and the bunker filled with glass and wood and that they are lucky to be alive. Having a bunker is one thing but you really need a strong door as well.

Considering the schools are completely gone, surely they should put a bunker in before rebuilding anything. It's baffling.

fishy fishy

i don't think all of the fatalities are at the school - it said only seven kids. The rest are from different areas. The way I understood it earlier it seemed like everyone at the school perished. A lot got out.

El Guapo!

The radio said 91 dead now so far.

Harps

Lirange wrote: »

Well Moore has just been hit twice in the last 14 years by EF4/EF5 tornadoes, destroying homes that had been constructed upon previously obliterated properties. They say metaphorically that lightning never strikes twice but...

Dublin has had two quite significant tornados in the past year alone yet 99.9% of people have never seen one or would even think it possible to be hit by a tornado. Tornado alley is about the size of Germany and France combined yet there's only a handful of damaging tornados in any given year so the chances of your house being hit one is next to nothing. They could spend billions building tornado proof houses in one city only for the place to go the next 50 years without seeing a single tornado.

Schools and public assembly buildings are a different story though and there really should be better provisions in place than having to ride it out in the hallway and hope for the best as seems to have been the case at that school

ProudDUB

December2012 wrote: »

Wasn't Sandy Hook the elementary school massacre?

Sorry, I meant Breezy Point. I haven't had enough coffee today.

Harps wrote: »

Dublin has had two quite significant tornados in the past year alone yet 99.9% of people have never seen one or would even think it possible to be hit by a tornado.

I think it all depends on what you consider to be significant. An F0/F1 tornado in Dublin would get peoples attention as it happens so rarely. In the US, it would barely make the evening news.

The Fujita Scale lists tornados in order of wind speed/damage caused. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujita_scale Has Dublin ever had anything stonger than an F1?

Clandestine

http://i.imgur.com/F7hFRAM.jpg

Teachers carrying students out of levelled school

dfx-

expectationlost wrote: »

did they not get warning, or have proper shelter?

Supposedly the tornado exploded from an F1 to a wedge F4 in no time at all.

Harps

ProudDUB wrote: »

Sorry, I meant Breezy Point. I haven't had enough coffee today.



I think it all depends on what you consider to be significant. An F0/F1 tornado in Dublin would get peoples attention as it happens so rarely. In the US, it would barely make the evening news.

The Fujita Scale lists tornados in order of wind speed/damage caused. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujita_scale Has Dublin ever had anything stonger than an F1?

Pretty sure I've read that the one last October was comparable to an F2, it ripped up trees and caused some structural damage but luckily didn't hit a populated area. The one in Bray was luckily over the sea but again if it happened to come ashore it could well have caused damage.

Lirange

Harps wrote: »

Dublin has had two quite significant tornados in the past year alone yet 99.9% of people have never seen one or would even think it possible to be hit by a tornado.

We must have very differing views on what "quite significant" means.

Tornado Alley earned it's name for a reason. It's a climactic breeding ground for extreme weather and very strong tornadoes. Nothing of the like is seen here. Joplin, Missouri is a city with a similar population to Moore and a large swathe of it was obliterated by an even stronger EF5 two years ago, killing 158 people. Just over the border from Kansas it's also in Tornado Alley.