Tornado strikes Oklahoma

MadYaker

Some people don't even have rubble left where their houses were, everything just gone entirely. Hard to imagine.

ProudDUB

Harps wrote: »

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.

The thing that happened in Crumlin? No way that was an F2. It was barely an F1, if even that. I used to live in Tennessee. I've seen up close, the damage that F2 tornadoes can cause. What happened in Crumlin doesn't even come close. When some people hear the word tornado, they automatically start conjuring up images of scary stuff that you see on the telly. But what they don't realize is that to be classified as one, you only need winds of 40mph. That's not a lot really, not compared to the freakish wind speeds that the folks in Tornado Alley have to put up with.

Bray was just a water spout. You can't have a tornado over open water. They are no fun if you encounter one when you are out at sea in a boat, but they generally break up as soon as they hit land.

Harps

Lirange wrote: »

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.

Comparable to what you'd expect in this country the two in Dublin were fairly significant, obviously I'm not comparing them to what they get in the US, my point was simply that you're probably just as likely to see one in this country as over there. The chances of being hit are so slim that it wouldn't be worth the expense of making every house tornado proof.

Anyway I see news reports are now saying only 24 dead so not sure what happened there, where did the 91 deaths report come from?

JP Liz V1

Majority of the dead are children

juicyduckie

RTE reported earlier that '24 bodies have been recovered'.

Dave!

RTE saying the death count is revised from 90-odd down to 20-odd

December2012

Apparently some deaths were recorded twice.

I hope more are found safe.

Why do people live there?

CrazyRabbit

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...

Even stone buildings won't survive a direct hit from a 200mph EF4/5 tornado. Also, wood is far more flexible, which is actually more beneficial in cases of high wind.
And, if a building does collapse on you, do you want it to be timber or concrete blocks falling on you?
There's also the cost factor. It's much cheaper and easier to repair damaged wooden buildings or to rebuild them.

As for underground bunkers...they can be dangerous. Watermains burst from the damage and can flood basements/bunkers resulting in drowning. Many of the children that died in the school died from drowning.

EDIT: Doh...should have read the rest of the thread before replying. syklops gave similar answer already. Sorry.

Super-Rush

Texas is now under tornado watch.

Killer Wench

Tornado watches aren't uncommon at this time of year. Truthfully, that is part of the issue. You grow immune to them because they are so frequent. I admit that I would be one of those dumb people who would be caught sitting on my porch.

eire-kp

Yep while living in Kansas and watching television on the local/state channels every so often there would be a loud beeping and the screen would change giving weather warnings etc. You grew immune to it after a while.

My thought on it was a single room in each house made with reinforced concrete would be the job. Obviously some people would be stuck in them, but some supplies would solve that. Plus they would be above ground so no fear of drowning.

ProudDUB

Killer Wench wrote: »

Tornado watches aren't uncommon at this time of year. Truthfully, that is part of the issue. You grow immune to them because they are so frequent. I admit that I would be one of those dumb people who would be caught sitting on my porch.

Me too. When I lived in Tennessee, Tornado Watches were a bi weekly occurrence at this time of year. After a year or two, I got so used to them I just ignored them. I only started paying attention if a Tornado Warning was declared. And even then, if my own handy, dandy, 110% infallible, inbuilt, early warning system, didn't also start going haywire, well.... I ignored them too. I'm a moron, I know.

Karl Stein

December2012 wrote: »

Why do people live there?

Home. Family. Roots. Friends.

Also, I'd say the chances, statistically, of having your home wrecked or being killed are quite low.

mayoman1973

I'm still baffled as to why people in that area do not have concrete tornado proof bunkers. The cost is the main factor it seems. Its Bull S**t to say that a concrete bunker would not with stand a tornado. An F5 tornado will throw a 5 ton truck about like a rag doll. However this is not the same as 25 Ton Reinforced Concrete structured anchored to the ground. No Way hose would it move it. ( I used to work with a bridge engineering firm in Scotland and the forces to be considered when designing a bridge across a fast flowing river are infinitely greater than a tornado ) The cost of such a structure is in the region of 60 Eur per Ton = Approx 2 - 3 Grand in material. An awful lot less than a lot of the shiny cars I saw scattered about the place. Chances of being hit are very small? This is not an excuse. In the process of buildinig a house and spending a lot of dough on concrete upper floors. Far better fire retardent properties. Chances of a fire = very small. Consequences of a fire = unthinkable. You connect an earth wire to ground all copper pipes, Rads, taps in your house at a lot of expense. Again, chances of an electrical short = small, consequences = unthinkable. Folks in that part of the world need to start thinking of the consequences of a tornado hitting them, not the chances of it and let that be the driving force behind deciding if a proper Tornado bunker is cost effective or not.

TheSean

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.

Haha you're such a knob G...

refusetolose

another one happening right now

cherryghost

Live video here

http://www.news9.com/Global/category.asp?C=207228&BannerId=1022

refusetolose

and here

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/cvplive/cvpstream2.html

FFS Mother Nature, give these poor people a break!

Watching CNN. There are serious traffic jams on the highways. I really hope this tornado doesn't pass over them

WilyCoyote

Just one touchdown. That was in a ranch. This is usual activity for there at this time of year. The news channels are hyping

Killer Wench

It's tornado season and its tornado alley. This isn't that uncommon.

Killer Wench

Also, keep in mind that this is the area that was devastated by last year's drought. Pragmatically speaking, they are getting rain now.

cherryghost

5 confirmed dead, 5 in critical condition, dozens injured. Same area as a few weeks ago.

LoonyLovegood

These people just aren't getting a break, are they? It's heartbreaking.

TheSean

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.

No you don't. You live in dublin!!

electrobanana

TheSean wrote: »

No you don't. You live in dublin!!

How do you know this are you a spy?
How awesome would it be if you really were a spy...you are a spy aren't you???:eek:

TheSean

It's the internet. Not that hard to find out where someone's coming from.

"Yes Lisa. A wonderful mahagical animal"

electrobanana

TheSean wrote: »

It's the internet. Not that hard to find out where someone's coming from.

"Yes Lisa. A wonderful mahagical animal"

ah i see....so you're just a plain old stalker then.

TheSean

electrobanana wrote: »

ah i see....so you're just a plain old stalker then.

Ah no, he's in my friends on Facebook. Stalking is done in trees outside girl's houses. Hmm boobies.

Well, this thread has taken a weird twist -er

TheSean

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Well, this thread has taken a weird twist -er

We're just BLOWING smoke...