Samaras, 55, his son Paul, 24, and Young, 45, were all killed while trying to document and research the storm. Fifty people took shelter in the freezer at a Sinclair gas station in south Oklahoma City. See also: The Last Ride of Legendary Storm Chaser Tim Samaras). Okay, fair enough. This kind of movement is nearly unheard of in a tornado and that paired with the fact that the tornado was 2.6 miles wide, moving at an accelerating speed, turning 45 degrees suddenly, and had recorded winds of up to 295mph in it created the perfect scenario that no one could have predicted. On Tuesday, Storm Chasers star Joel Taylor died at 38. At the time that Samaras, his son, and his colleague, were crushed to death inside their tornado-chasing car, which was apparently rolled by the force of 200-300 mile an hour winds over a distance of a half mile or so, it was said by numerous news sources that this car had been trapped by a traffic jam caused by looky-loos who wanted to see the tornado and/or people sent out on the roads by a local weather reporter to "escape." Mike Bettes, a member of the Weather Channel Tornado Hunt Team, was driving in his SUV when it was picked up and thrown 200 yards by the monster rain-wrapped tornado near El Reno. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most - seven times each. I am stunned that that any forecaster indicated people should drive anywhere after 5pm that day. There is a great irony to the deaths of the three storm chasers from Twistex. please note that I did not claim in my post what you claim I claimed. Note the story of the HS football team that was viewing videos when the storm approached and the coach said put on your helmet. After 20 seconds, it rotates back around to the south side of the tornado. The people could be driving for many unattributed reasons. 10th St. and Radio Rd. On the one hand, researchers have to pay the bills somehow, and this is one way to do it. That's really all I have to say on that issue. I know cyclones are slightly more predictable than tornados (but much less predictable than hurricanes) they also have the habit of suddenly randomly changing direction. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN that motorists faced great danger when stuck on any freeway in the path of a twister. The authors are Joshua Wurman, Karen Kosiba and Paul Robinson with the Center for Severe Weather Research, and Timothy Marshall of Haag Engineering, a damage-path surveyor from Flower Mound whom I interviewed for our cover story on the tornado. 'We're going to die, we're going to die': Storm chaser's last words as The last people out will be stuck in traffic. The tornado then hurled the light Chevy Cobalt to the ground, leaving it looking as though it had been rammed through a trash compactor, police said. Pete, Born: I think this is a difficult question. The Weather Channel's severe weather expert, Dr. Greg Forbes, knew Tim personally. The police can close off that street and nearby streets and as annoying or inconvenient as that may be, they are not taking away your rights. Tim Samaras was found inside his car with his seat belt still on. Such a regulation or law would also require consideration of a certification of professional status for actual professional storm chasers. It airs at 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday. And two, the chaser would have to carry a business license on his person to prove he had a need to be there for whatever his business reason might be. This is my last post at Scienceblogs.com. It is unfortunate that when such behavior becomes a problem society sometimes needs to make a rule of some kind. Pay special attention to what the weather forecaster says starting at 4:35: if you can drive south, anywhere around Whitewater Bay, State Fair Park, the Ballpark, downtown Oklahoma City, southwest Integres, US Grant District, Rose State college, Midwest City regional medical center, Midwest City, and Parts of Del city, you need to drive south now. (approximate transcript). This is not an especially enforceable regulation but having such a thing on the books would probably encourage amateur storm chasers to think twice about putting others in danger by contributing to blocked roads. But seriously, I'll be talking about the story of the current, In every area of life, but especially in the overlapping realms of technology, science, and health, misunderstanding how things work can be widespread, and that misunderstanding can lead to problems. independent local journalism in Dallas. We are part of Science 2.0,a science education nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This included CNN. There are places in this country that I have almost no tornados This law would only allow people who "***work***" for the government to be there. When the winds were at their most powerful, no structures were nearby, said Rick Smith, chief warning coordination meteorologist for the weather services office in Norman. I don't know what they were thinking in a state packed with cars and almost no other transportation options and few shelters. In a separate incident, Brandon Sullivan and Brett Wright captured heart stopping footage of their exploits getting too close to the powerful twister near Union City, in southwest Oklahoma City. Regarding the rest of your comment. Sheltering in place should always be recommended. Do not rely on others, including the T.V. Why is it these days that every time someone dies someone wants to make a new law restricting freedom? A new book chronicles his harrowing last days Maya Wei-Haas April 4, 2018 The tornado that touched down near El. The men spent years capturing and sharing storm videos with TV viewers and weather researchers. One of the first rules you hear about what to do in a tornado is "Do not try to outrun it." Were 20 of those people storm chasers? His body was found but the wildlife officer is still listed as missing. This storm changed track. Our community has suffered a terrible loss and our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones. In fact, the general wisdom is that if you are unlucky enough to be in a car when a tornado hits, you should pull over, get OUT of the car, and find a low place to hide. People who tried to get away in their cars faced potential dangers from flash flood waters as well as tornado-force winds. Which, I think, was one of Greg's original points. CBS from Dallas agrees with Dorothy from KC and OL from OKC. Storm chasers should absolutely pull off the road and yield to emergency vehicles as well as people trying to escape. The point of this post is to note two things that I can't prove are relevant in this case but certainly are relevant generally. Closing all of them strains law enforcement. This probe registered a world-record 100-millibar drop in pressure inside the twister. Or, amateurs could get to a good viewing area well ahead of anticipated severe weather, and then stay put and off the road. Storm chaser Tim Samaras died Friday doing the work that made him so well-known: following tornadoes. Trooper Randolph said roadways quickly became congested with the convergence of rush-hour traffic and fleeing residents. Officials added five victims on Monday to the confirmed list of dead from the tornadoes and from storms that caused severe flooding: three adults and two unidentified children, the medical examiner's office said. Enough said. The worry soon turned to flash flooding and floodwaters topped four feet in Oklahoma City on Saturday morning. Samaras shows probes he uses to measure. Tim's death is a stark reminder of the risks encountered regularly by the men and women who work for us. Police/authority do have the power to stop vehicles/storm chasers from continuing down a road if there is an immanent threat. The National Geographic Society made 18 grants to Tim for research over the years for field work like he was doing in Oklahoma at the time of his death, and he was one of our 2005 Emerging Explorers. Take your time.'. When the amateur storm chasers descend upon the same area they create a real hazard for the professionals by blocking escape routes. Oklahoma wasn't the only state hit by violent weather Friday night. Winds swept one vehicle with a crew from The Weather Channel off the road, tossed it 200 yards and flipped it into a field -- they escaped major injury. Absolutely educate people on the safest way to ride out a storm. I've had several police hop in my car to look at radar and ask for opinions while chasing because they are not equipt with it. 'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. Jim Cantore, a Weather Channel meteorologist, tweetedSundaythat meteorologists were in mourning. But that brings in another issue doesn't it? Public safety workers already enjoy wide latitude in the execution of their jobs. Tim Samaras - Biography - IMDb That area might include three or four of the several states that make up Tornado Alley. However, within that area, the exact location of a killer tornado isnt predictable at the scale of several hours. I also think its called natural selection. "I don't know if I would say I worried about it because one of the biggest things he stressed was safety. So when an alert is issued the authorities only have a few roads to close, and not much population to evacuate. The debris field created by Samaras' wrecked car, the report concludes, corroborates the footage, which shows the subvortex moving across the face of the larger tornado at about the time Samaras' headlights disappear. Photo by George Johnson. And if public safety is truly the issue at hand here then instead of telling people to get in their cars and trying to figure out some sane and responsible way to evacuate from the path of a tornado mandate better public and privet shelters in areas more prone to this kind of weather. After seeing last month's tornado also turn homes into piles of splintered rubble, Ms Black said she decided to try and outrun the tornado when she learned her southwest Oklahoma City home was in harm's way. Actually, to get my point all you really have to do is read the post but to restate the idea: Jamming a county road or a state or federal highway during an emergency is a public danger. One thing in your favor: Tornadoes do not have politically powerful, wealthy backing, so it should be easy to enact laws regulating how people enjoy them :-), "I suggest that law makers in tornado alley states consider legislation making it a violation to intentionally drive into or near the path of known or likely tornados.