So...how is Joplin, MO doing nowadays after that monster EF5 tornado? (Carthage: house, neighborhood)
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What is interesting about the Joplin tornado is that it was not on the ground for that long, and got big and powerful in a hurry. Usually the larger tornadoes we think of long track tornadoes.
I'm shocked the Alabama tornado didn't kill more. THat was a day of hell down there.
However this past May we ALMOST had that huge tornado outbreak in Eastern Missouri in late May. Storm predection center had us under high risk and even issued a PDS tornado watch for the St. Louis area and we had dozens of tornado warnings. I never saw anything liek it. Luckily none touched the ground. Here in South County we had a huge wall cloud that almost produced a tornado. If it had it would have been a very large twister. There are a lot of videos of that wall cloud on youtube. We narrowly escaped a historic tornado outbreak that day. The local media had a frenzy over it and even the schools and the city of stl let their employees go home early to avoid it.
What is amazing is the ef4 tornado we had in North St. Louis county in April and how no one was killed despite it being on a friday night and people were out and about. I work about 7- 10 miles from the path and we also had a lot of tornado warnings and sirens blaring multiple times the entire night and people just don't care and still come in and shop.
The sunset hills tornados path was less than 200 yards from where I work and I was there at the time in Crestwood when it hit and crossed watson. I'd say our winds at the store were around 100 mph gust maybe 110 because I watched powerpolls starting to snap like a toothpic and peices of roof flying around. The McDonalds next to us loss it's entire sign. The tornado was weakening by the time it crossed Watson. I would not want to be at work in a tornado, especially a EF3 or above in my building. A stronger side EF3 to EF5 would probably mean almost certain death being a retail store and no lower ground and not a very sturdy roof and large windows. If a Joplin style tornado hit where I work I would be dead. Even that north county tornado if it hit us as a Ef4 we would have been in big trouble.
Im still amazed how this tornado wasn't on the ground for a long time.
Can you imagine if it was a long track tornado across southern MO and trecked lets say the US 60 corridor and moved into places such as Springfield, ect and remained a powerful ef4 or ef5? It would been more devestating.
Last edited by ShadowCaver; 01-12-2012 at 09:21 PM..
The latest dead toll is up to 162 people as of December 2011. They also found out the tornado was a high end EF5 with winds up to 250 mph near Rangeline.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Originally Posted by NativeMissourian
What is amazing is the ef4 tornado we had in North St. Louis county in April and how no one was killed despite it being on a friday night and people were out and about. I work about 7- 10 miles from the path and we also had a lot of tornado warnings and sirens blaring multiple times the entire night and people just don't care and still come in and shop.
The sunset hills tornados path was less than 200 yards from where I work and I was there at the time in Crestwood when it hit and crossed watson. I'd say our winds at the store were around 100 mph gust maybe 110 because I watched powerpolls starting to snap like a toothpic and peices of roof flying around. The McDonalds next to us loss it's entire sign. The tornado was weakening by the time it crossed Watson. I would not want to be at work in a tornado, especially a EF3 or above in my building. A stronger side EF3 to EF5 would probably mean almost certain death being a retail store and no lower ground and not a very sturdy roof and large windows. If a Joplin style tornado hit where I work I would be dead. Even that north county tornado if it hit us as a Ef4 we would have been in big trouble.
The Joplin tornado made our tornado yesterday's news. Nobody cared much about it after that...although I did drive Interstate 170 to the airport and witnessed the damage the day after...more than I've ever seen.
The Joplin tornado made our tornado yesterday's news. Nobody cared much about it after that...although I did drive Interstate 170 to the airport and witnessed the damage the day after...more than I've ever seen.
True. The winds in that tornado were probably closer to 250mph in Joplin. I'm shocked more in Joplin didn't die.
The Alabama tornado was bad too, but that was also nowhere near as powerful.
remember last May that day we had all those tornado warnings? I think it was May 22, or the 25th. The Storm Prediction center had us under high risk of severe weather and strong tornadoes and the media was having a frenzy over it. So much so schools let out early and the city left their employees go home. That was so close to being a historic outbreak, but what happend the individual storms formed so close together they interfered with each others outflows so none of the storms could get going enough to produce tornadoes. There was a huge wall cloud that passed over Jefferson, and South county. You can watch it on youtube. It almost did produce a tornado. Luckily it didn't because if it had that would have been a large, violent tornado most likely. That was a huge wall cloud.
What is interesting about the Joplin tornado is that it was not on the ground for that long, and got big and powerful in a hurry. Usually the larger tornadoes we think of long track tornadoes.
I'm shocked the Alabama tornado didn't kill more. THat was a day of hell down there.
However this past May we ALMOST had that huge tornado outbreak in Eastern Missouri in late May. Storm predection center had us under high risk and even issued a PDS tornado watch for the St. Louis area and we had dozens of tornado warnings. I never saw anything liek it. Luckily none touched the ground. Here in South County we had a huge wall cloud that almost produced a tornado. If it had it would have been a very large twister. There are a lot of videos of that wall cloud on youtube. We narrowly escaped a historic tornado outbreak that day. The local media had a frenzy over it and even the schools and the city of stl let their employees go home early to avoid it.
I'm glad I wasn't there. That thing looked like a monster in the video!!
What is amazing is the ef4 tornado we had in North St. Louis county in April and how no one was killed despite it being on a friday night and people were out and about. I work about 7- 10 miles from the path and we also had a lot of tornado warnings and sirens blaring multiple times the entire night and people just don't care and still come in and shop.
The sunset hills tornados path was less than 200 yards from where I work and I was there at the time in Crestwood when it hit and crossed watson. I'd say our winds at the store were around 100 mph gust maybe 110 because I watched powerpolls starting to snap like a toothpic and peices of roof flying around. The McDonalds next to us loss it's entire sign. The tornado was weakening by the time it crossed Watson. I would not want to be at work in a tornado, especially a EF3 or above in my building. A stronger side EF3 to EF5 would probably mean almost certain death being a retail store and no lower ground and not a very sturdy roof and large windows. If a Joplin style tornado hit where I work I would be dead. Even that north county tornado if it hit us as a Ef4 we would have been in big trouble.
The "safe" places to go in a tornado are not necessarily safe in an EF5. Houses cave into to basements...floors are peeled up leaving the basement exposed to flying and falling debris. But the again...Joplin had a multi Vortex (several tornados in one). It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my life. But the safest places clearly are the basement, storm shelters and coolers. I assure you...we will never take a siren for granted again.
The news just reported that over 3600 building permits have been issued in Joplin since the tornado! Which means that people are intent on rebuilding and staying. I'm glad they are trying to move forward with their lives.
A side note: I went on Google Maps and viewed the satellite images of Joplin. It has been updated to show post-tornado images, so you can really get a clear bird's-eye view of the massive devistation that the city endured. There's an unmistakable mile-wide brown path running west to east through the middle of town. That ugly brown scar is all that's left of the thousands of homes and businesses that once stood. Pretty awe-inspiring.
I also have a question about Joplin, since I've never been there. Were pretty much all the structures that were destroyed made of frame construction? Or were there also a sizable number of brick and stone structures leveled?
I also have a question about Joplin, since I've never been there. Were pretty much all the structures that were destroyed made of frame construction? Or were there also a sizable number of brick and stone structures leveled?
When I drove through there in July, the only thing still semi standing that was in the direct path of destruction were a couple of Rock Houses. Plenty of piles of brick to see and stick houses were just gone...remember this was so strong that the few trees still standing had thier bark ripped off of them....
Many of the homes that were destroyed were made of brick, as well as several schools. St John's Hospital was concrete and rebar (10 stories) and it is structurally unsound, although still standing. I don't know what strip malls are made of, but several of them were torn apart. There isn't much that can stand up to a tornado of this size.
Wonder how a steel skyscraper would have fared?
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