Oklahoma City/Moore Tornado

I'm listening to live local radio coverage and the newsroom is unable to keep track of damage and casualties, they're not even able to list shelter and triage sites at this point; I-35 is closed in both directions because apparently it was also hit by the tornado, and cars are strewn all over the highway. Lots of reports of rescue efforts at multiple elementary and middle schools, most residents are wandering the streets, many looking for their cars.

It sounds like this is going to be a historical mess, hope anyone nearby is okay; do let us know if you're in the area.

Residential area near Moore:



Comparison of today's tornado track versus the May 3rd, 1999 tornado (which generated the strongest winds ever recorded on Earth):

Video clips of the tornado itself; this confirms reports from stormchasers that the tornado was unusually slow, causing it to thoroughly raze everything in its path:

I was watching copter video last night of the aftermath of the Shawnee OK tornado. One could see the first responders working around the rubble and shining their lights this way & that; not sure what they were using, but their lights looked plenty bright.

StarHalo said:

Comparison of today's tornado track versus the May 3rd, 1999 tornado (which generated the strongest winds ever recorded on Earth):

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++++++++++++ ^

If that isn't the clearest definition of 'Tornado Alley' nothing is

As a little kid, I was outside when a tornado formed that tore apart my grade school very close to me.
It got absolutely silent,, like being in a vacuum, and felt as if the air was rising strait up,,, I looked to my friend and we ran inside.
Gives me shivers to this day on how strange it felt outside, just before all hell broke loose

when my school reopened, my desk still had lots of glass in it.

I'm still waiting to read a post on a particular car forum from a person who lives in Moore, OK. He's normally a prolific poster, so I'm hoping his absence is only from a power outage.

Geoff

The news is really bad from there tonight. My thought and prayers go out to those affected.

orbital said:

when my school reopened, my desk still had lots of glass in it.

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A reporter from a TV crew that was out in the storm was showing the exterior of their SUV, picking pieces of house insulation out of the wiper assembly..

Flying Turtle said:

I'm still waiting to read a post on a particular car forum from a person who lives in Moore, OK. He's normally a prolific poster, so I'm hoping his absence is only from a power outage.

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Every live TV shot I'm seeing from the area is only worklights and car headlights, it's darkness to the horizon in all directions, even the water plant its without power. News reports from the scene via cell phone have been completely unreliable, some stations can't even cover the press briefings because there's just not enough bandwidth available; AT&T and Verizon mentioned that they were going to move mobile cell towers into the area.

EDIT: I was trying to remember what the utility name was there, somebody just mentioned it on the radio, so I could look up the website outage map - they're reporting about 18,500 households without power; the population of Moore is ~56,000 [persons]; if you average three per household, that's the entire town.

News coverage is focused on damage and possible casualty count, but they're glossing over the number displaced; if you extrapolate from the 1999 tornado, there will be somewhere over 10,000 newly homeless tonight..

More on the power: There was a story earlier in the day where the water company confirmed that they had lost power but the water was still safe to drink, and that they were going to get a generator by midnight and operations would continue as usual. A news blurb just popped up stating that Moore has lost running water.

Just read in that other forum that the guy from Moore and his wife got away with their vehicles in the nick of time. Unfortunately their house suffered major damage. Supposedly they live a block and a half from one of the destroyed schools.

Geoff

A lengthy press conference just wrapped up; one of the managers conducting the search at the Plaza Towers Elementary school noted that he hasn't been informed of any children who were unaccounted for, so the site may already be clear.

Power and water are still out, utility crews from Texas and Louisiana will be assisting today. AT&T and Verizon got their mobile towers in place, so on-site news coverage is much improved, though locals are still advised to limit usage to text.

EDIT: The water is somewhat back; the water plant was damaged by the tornado, but is online with reduced pressure.

And speaking of tornado alley; red is May 3 1999, blue is May 8 2003, green is May 20 2013 (there was another tornado in the area May 10 2010, but there isn't a map that includes that one):

Historic devastation, it's a heartbreaking and shocking scene. Prayers go out to the ones who lost their loved ones.

KDM said:

Historic devastation, it's a heartbreaking and shocking scene. Prayers go out to the ones who lost their loved ones.

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Very hard to even think about the effect of these types of tragedies.

The sheer size of the devastation is astounding, even from seeing it on television. I can't imagine what the locals must be going through there. My heart goes out to everyone touched by this disaster.

The search at the Plaza Towers Elementary has concluded, there were no further casualties found at the site.

A bank vault successfully sheltered 24 bank employees:



Board games untouched on a shelf, but no longer indoors (and a poignant example of dangerous flying debris):

That's crazy how the building was destroyed but the board games are still sitting on the shelf. Wonder if they were placed there after the storm? I doubt anyone was really concerned about picking them up, amazing.

I'm sorry to hear that it is happening again. More tornadoes are currently striking the Oklahoma City and Moore area again. By the description of one of the tornadoes by a storm chaser, one tornado was estimated at about 3/4 of a mile wide. I think that would make it a strong EF 4, possibly an EF5. For those of you in this area, I'll be praying for you. Stay safe.

I hope everyone is safe. I've heard of five fatalities so far including a mother and her child, and one of the Weather Channel's storm chaser vehicles was thrown 200 yards, destroying the vehicle. The occupants survived with minor injuries.

Video from inside the weather channel's storm chaser vehicle as it got tossed around.

86,000 without power in OK, mainly around OK City; 90,000 without power in MO, mainly around St. Louis; 31,000 without power in IL.

Tornado spotted four miles NE of Moore, OK.

The Weather Channel's tornado chase vehicle, which found the tornado; it's a good thing they invested in a newer vehicle with as many airbags as decals: