It seems like every year Oklahoma is hit by massive storms and tornados that kill people and wound many others. Although some may say Oklahomans are used to getting hit by storms and tornados, but the outcome is never something we get used to and this year, just like any other, we got hit. On May 20, 2013 an EF5 tornado started to develop and little did we know that this tornado would be talked about everywhere. This tornado did major damage to houses, towns, and buildings, but what got this tornado so much attention was that it tore through an elementary school, that was unprotected from tornados, and killed seven children. According to the National Weather Service’s Top Ten Deadliest Oklahoma Tornados (1882-Present) this specific tornado is ranked number nine, killing 23 individuals and injuring 237 others. Even though there is a slim chance we could have saved everyone, we still could have saved those children in the Plaza Towers Elementary school. All they needed was a storm shelter at their school to take cover in and they probably would have all survived.
Oklahoma has a violent history of tornados, but for some reason placing shelters in schools still has not become a priority. Of course it has been talked about now since the May 20th tornado and some people are trying to make it happen for those schools that took a direct hit, but what about the other schools that have not been hit? On the National Public Radio Organization’s website they wrote an article about how many schools in Oklahoma do have shelters and how many of them do not have shelters. The state wide survey shows that out of the 1,804 public schools in Oklahoma 62 percent do not have storm shelters and only 15 percent have shelters that are built to withsta...
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...ools that are building or are fixing to build to have storm shelters within their walls, at their own expense, is the first step. Helping schools who don’t have the money and aren’t building a new school anytime soon get their own storm shelters is the second thing and making sure every school in the entire state of Oklahoma has a storm shelter is the last thing that needs to be done. This solution will save a lot of lives over the years. This will take a long time to accomplish, but it will be worth it in the long run. Schools hold the future of Oklahoma in their walls and we need to do whatever it may take to protect it. Getting this issue resolved and put away will make this state able to focus on other issues. Also, when issues get solved it makes this state even more great. Now, let’s help get this issue resolved and save the lives of future Oklahoma leaders.
I have chosen the scene when the tornado actually hits during this scene there are two main characters Dexter and famous storm chaser Dr. Norman Gage. Dexter is eleven years old and loves to study the weather he says when he grows up he wants to be a storm chaser just like Dr. Norman Gage. The other main character is Dr. Norman Gage he has his own T.V. series showing him chase storms but in the scene he makes a terrible mistake of getting out of his car and trying to get some good footage of the tornado and gets swept away. Dexter’s mom and dad allowed him to go storm chasing while they left the town.
According to the article The Joplin Tornado: The Evil Swirling Darkness it states,”Instead, they speak of the power of their faith, the strength of their community, and the generosity of the thousands of people from around the country who came to help heal their wounded city.” This is saying that they were happy that people came and helped them to persevere and rebuild their town. A Storm Chaser’s First Hand Account on the Joplin Tornado explains,“I'm watching a pick-up truck loaded with supplies and ladders--it's a local grassroots effort. That's what America's about. People helping people. That's what we're seeing here. It's not people waiting for government aid, even though there's going to be lots of people that need it. We've just got grassroots efforts of people pouring in and helping.” This shows that the people were helping those in need, and that they weren’t waiting for the government to come and help them rebuild they did it on their own. Finally Jeff Piotrowski says,”The way we got people out was that the people that came in there, they started picking up their family members and loading them into trucks and driving them to the only hospital left in Joplin. That's how we got people out of here.” He is telling us that family members and other people help each other, and help to bring back the people from their
what it looked like after the tornado struck up the street). More than 25 auto
On May 22nd, 2011 a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri killing 162 people and injuring 1150. With wind speeds of 322km/h, the tornado made a total cost of over $2 billion for the city. 8000 structures were destroyed, 2000 of which were homes. Many people were left homeless. The tornado held an incredible EF5 rating on the Fujita scale, measured from the amount of destruction. The tragic event lasted 38 minutes, from 5:34 pm to 6:12pm. Cool wind from the Rockies in Canada and warm wind from the gulf of Mexico formed into a supercell thunderstorm creating a tornado in Kansas. The tornado rapidly moved into Joplin and continued on its 35 km path.
...uilt inside of the house and safe rooms in the ground. These are just made up of steel or concrete and it gives them a better chance at surviving these deadly tornados. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) gives grants to some states to build one. They give around $3,000 to $5,000 in funds to build these so everyone can go to safety in the convenience of their home. Overall, the Joplin has been greatly affected from this massive tornado. There were some warnings that were sent out but there were issues, however, many changes today have been made because of that tornado such as adding safe rooms to the homes in Joplin. Also, the recovery in the area has changed the city because of the thousands of individuals that helped. From all these factors it has changed Joplin and the tornado that touched down on May 22, 2011 is one of the largest in recorded U.S. history
In conclusion, the deadliest and most devastating U.S. tornado outbreak of the 20th century was the April 3–4, 1974, “Super Tornado Outbreak.” It lasted 16 hours and at least 148 twisters tore up 2,500 miles of Earth through 13 states over a 24-hour period, according to the National Weather Service. The "super outbreak," as meteorologists now call it, left 330 people dead and 5,484 injured. Property losses were placed at $600 million and only ten of the thirteen states that were hit, were declared a disaster area.
On May 4, 2007, the town of Greensburg, Kansas was devastated by an exceptionally strong tornado. With maximum winds estimated to be in excess of 205 miles per hour, and leaving a damage path as wide as 1.7 miles, the storm would go on to be rated a rare EF5, the first recorded in the United States since 1999. When the storm finally subsided, 95 percent of Greensburg had been destroyed, killing eleven people.
About a week later a tornado razed a better part of North Houston. It brought rain. It brought hail. It upended cars; it flooded houses. And in its trail it left fallen branches and trees, and removed, in whole, one tiny tomato-onion-potato-and-green-bean garden located behind my garage.
From the first nigh the storm took over the city of Houston many people waited out for the storm to just pass by from their homes. Thousands of people refused to evacuate after the warnings of heavy rains and high rise of waters. Unfortunately, many regret not leaving their homes when they were told to do so. “Now they're having to be rescued,” Alston said. “If we had known it would be like this, I think we would've left.” (Malewitz). The situation became difficult once the rescue team
Thunder rolled intensely outside, my aunt, mother, sister and I were sat calmly in the basement. We had been through this many times before; I mean afterall, Kansas was part of Tornado Alley. 2. My sister and I were young when this happened, her probably four or five, me about eight. 3. Before we had even started driving to my aunt’s house; since she’s the only one with a basement; my sister and I were complaining about being hungry. 4. Mom said she would get us something to eat soon, but then the sirens started blaring. 5. She called my aunt and told her we would be over in about ten minutes. 6. Me and my sister continued to complain about being hungry because, we always had to get what we wanted. 7. So my mom stopped at McDonald’s and got us some food. 8. After we were almost five minutes later than we said we would be my aunt panicked. 9. Jenny, my aunt, was calling like crazy. 10. When we finally got to her house she lectured my mom about how it wasn’t safe to have us out there like that with a tornado in the area. 11.Afterwards, we all sat on the porch and watched the storm. 12. That’s my favorite memory with my family, and it’s one I’ll never forget.
There were fewer telephones or other forms of communication in 1925, Weather forecasters didn’t have modern technology like satellite images or Doppler radar. This tornado even killed farmers which were extremely rare, farmers are very familiar with tornadoes and it was believed that from the size of the storm they simply didn’t know it was a tornado until it was too late. In comparison to Joplin which had advanced warning systems and several sophisticated communications systems such as trained meteorologists on TV, Social Media, and audible alarms such as tornado sirens. These were all non-existent in 1925. I believe that it is these advancements is what ultimately saved many more lives than the one in 1925. I also believe that the advancements in technology is what sped up the response and recovery efforts in Joplin. Had the storm of 1925 occurred today there would have been several warning systems in place that could have prevented many of the tragedies that occurred during that time. The major problem that was reported in Joplin was the need to develop a more sophisticated warning system that can warn people of immediate danger such as tornados. Even as advanced as technology has become today, there still is no system in place to detect and accurately predict the path that a tornado can take. Weather meteorologists can predict but it’s mainly an opinion based on science. Even my family and I have been guilty of ignoring sirens during storms that usually always turn out to be false alarms. One final note was the recovery efforts were far greater in Joplin. The Tri-State Tornado only mentioned aid from the American Red Cross and the National Guard. In Joplin, it was combined effort of government agencies as well local businesses and nonprofit
August 29, 2005 was one of the darkest days for the residents of the State of Louisiana. Katrina, a category 3 hurricane, ripped through New Orleans and the surrounding areas causing catastrophic loss of life and property. The federal government’s disaster response team, which was formed in 1978, titled the Federal Emergency Management Agency, (commonly referred to as FEMA) responded to the needs of the survivors. Unfortunately the Bush administration through FEMA showed gross ineptitude in its response to the disaster. Pre-Katrina the lack of response resulted in a largely unsuccessful evacuation. After the storm, aid to the citizens of New Orleans was slow and inadequate. When we look back at the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, it appears that Bush’s FEMA botched much of the handling of the crisis and that overall, our “administration” could have responded to the situation much better.
There was no pre-planning in this disaster. What I learned from this is to take leadership in preparing for disasters, know what to do during the disaster, and teach others to do the same. The most important lesson that I learned is that citizens do not have to wait for their politicians and the federal government to provide resources to them. Many resources called social capital or community assets’ are already in our reach. Those places are schools, libraries, and even churches. Since Harvey, I have noticed that the local agencies have played a huge role in helping families recover over the past two weeks. Our federal government agencies are doing a lot but, there are other natural disasters occurring across the nation which splits FEMA time and resources in half. Such reason is why it is important for citizens to use the many avenues already provided to us within our community to repair what was lost and gain control over what is to
Tornadoes are one of the deadliest and most unpredictable villains mankind will ever face. There is no rhyme or reason, no rhythm to it’s madness. Tornados are one of the most terrifying natural events that occur, destroying homes and ending lives every year. April 29th, 1995, a calm, muggy, spring night I may never forget. Jason, a buddy I grew up with, just agreed to travel across state with me so we could visit a friend in Lubbock. Jason and I were admiring the beautiful blue bonnets, which traveled for miles like little blue birds flying close to the ground. The warm breeze brushed across the tips of the blue bonnets and allowed them to dance under the perfectly clear blue sky. In the distance, however, we could see darkness. A rumbling sky was quickly approaching.
Tornado safety and preparedness are key to protecting your loved ones during a tornado. So far there has been no evidence that tornadoes pick up objects and move it to Oz, but we do know they can lift enormous objects and cause billions of dollars in damage. It is important to remember that two percent of all tornadoes are severe and most well built homes can withstand the brutal punishment. The next time nature’s fury strikes in your city, you will be well aware of the raw power of the tornado. Nothing is guaranteeing your survival but since you are ready for impact, you have just tripled your chances. In the words of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “there is no place like home, there is no place like home.” If you are prepared!