One of the most shocking stories to come out of the Oklahoma tornado this week is this one. The mind reels that in the middle of tornado alley, in a place where a previous F5 tornado devastated the town in 1999, no safe room existed in the school.
Full story: http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/22/school-where-7-students-died-lacked-tornado-safe-room/
Dr. Roger Pielke Sr. puts the issue into perspective with our QOTW:
http://twitter.com/RogerAPielkeSr/status/337023601314234368
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Reblogged this on Sunrise's Swansong and commented:
Considering the money our government wastes on “green energy” businesses, which then go belly-up, and wastes on plum-grants to so-called “climate scientists,” who then refuse to show their data even in the face of FOI laws, and who produce forecasts which fail to verify, it seems a very great shame that children die because their schools lack storm cellars, NYC’s subways flood because they lack storm barriets, and New Orleans’s levees fail because recommended improvement aren’t made.
Protecting students from no other thing than having consensual sex seems to be the top priority of the US education system. Gunmen can just stroll into the no gun zones and turn them into shooting galleries and tornadoes are invited to come in and have their way as well. What does that say about a nation?
Reblogged this on my site with the following comment:
Considering the money our government wastes on “green energy” businesses, which then go belly-up, and wastes on plum-grants to so-called “climate scientists,” who then refuse to show their data even in the face of FOI laws, and who produce forecasts which fail to verify, it seems a very great shame that children die because their schools lack storm cellars, NYC’s subways flood because they lack storm barriers, and New Orleans’s levees fail because recommended improvement aren’t made.
Ryan says:
May 22, 2013 at 10:00 am
“Yes, investigating an issue that a significant minority of scientists believe is a threat to modern civilization is clearly the thing we should drop. Bravo, Roger.
Is this the only time the right will agree to increases in school funding? At the cost of science funding?”
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That’s an asinine statement.
My comment vanished. Forgive me if I’m just being impatient.
steveta_uk says:
May 22, 2013 at 9:44 am
Dunno, but In Central MS, mid 90’s, before half the roof was torn off of my granddad’s house by a tornado, I was out front marveling at the lightning and became alarmed at this one region that was almost black by comparison. I knew that I was along the most likely path from the sightings reported on the NOAA radio. Before hunkering down, the first thing I did was to throw the main breakers to the house. Visions of tube and post wiring in the attic frightened me since I did not know if they were still being used.
Millions? Try BILLIONS Roger! http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/FY12-climate-fs.pdf
Bill Parsons says:
May 22, 2013 at 9:59 am
“Their report this morning covered the use of hurricane clips and foundation straps in building in tornado alleys. Approximate costs are a few hundred dollars per house. ”
Unfortunately, when winds are 150+ mph walls blow down. Roofing clips, straps and the like are of little use in those winds.
It is no surprise at all, if one sits down and examines the needs of Agenda 21. There are too many people, so dying from natural causes or events if okay. They do not want anyone living in that part of the country anyhow. They want it to be dangerous and force everybody to the few tiny cities they will allow. Very simply, storm shelters are not sustainable, in their books.
Nope, no surprise.
Well a colleague of mine, has his mother and sister, living in that area of Oklahoma, in a house his grandfather built decades ago..
During the storm and the actual tornado demolition of that town, my friend was on the cell phone talking with his mother and sister, who were right in the middle of the same storm complex, although not right where the tornado struck; and they were inside the storm room that his grandpa built into their house. They had also spent the entire previous night inside that room. It is 10 x 7 feet, made of steel reinforced concrete block construction, with a steel door.
I’m not into arguing about the appropriateness of federally funded useless research in lieu of federally funded safety provisions.
Taxation for community needs, should be determined locally, raised locally, and used locally, by communities, , who can best decide what their community need priorities are.
Both Federal and State governments should butt out of taxing local community people to then fund, at fed or state level, completely unrelated issues.
The feds, are supposed to provide and maintain a military for national defense; not tornado shelters which probably aren’t needed in Alaska or Maine..
It certainly sounds like these school students were the unfortunate victims of a Fukushima Emergency System Design SNAFU..
Well we can as Americans typically do, pitch in and support the recovery of this devastated community; sans politics
Dumb question: why are grants for tornado shelters in Oklahoma needed at all? This has been a known hazard of the area since it was first settled. Why weren’t storm shelters a standard requirement at the time the school was built?
Alan Watt, Climate Denialist Level 7 says:
May 22, 2013 at 10:49 am
Dumb question: why are grants for tornado shelters in Oklahoma needed at all? This has been a known hazard of the area since it was first settled. Why weren’t storm shelters a standard requirement at the time the school was built?
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This school had a basement, which served as shelter. The children were killed by drowning.
AFAIK, at this time, the only known deaths of children were off site, i.e. a toddler was killed with parents at a nearby 7-11 store, and another death of a child offsite, I think.
Do we really need to spend millions, maybe billions of dollars retrofitting schools in tornado prone areas with safe rooms? How many lives would that save annually on average? Maybe 2 or 3? I know human lives are priceless, but I also think there are far less expensive ways we can spend money and save lives as well.
correction: the only other known…
This is a great example of why Adaptation and Mitigation are better strategies for dealing with climate change than attempts at Prevention. If you build a shelter to protect you from additional tornadoes that some model predicts to occur in the future, you are protected. If you drive an electric car and destroy the fossil fuel economy to try to prevent climate change and the tornado strikes anyway, you are screwed.
Matt says:
May 22, 2013 at 11:01 am
Do we really need to spend millions, maybe billions of dollars retrofitting schools in tornado prone areas with safe rooms? How many lives would that save annually on average? Maybe 2 or 3? I know human lives are priceless, but I also think there are far less expensive ways we can spend money and save lives as well.
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Don’t worry about it, Matt. Oklahomans are taking care of business, as usual.
We certainly appreciate all the wonderful help and extended hands from around the nation and the world.
Luther Wu says:
May 22, 2013 at 10:16 am
dmacleo says:
May 22, 2013 at 9:58 am
doesn’t OK have a water table level issue that makes it really hard to build any sort of basement/below grade shelter?
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No. Witness this school had a basement… There are some areas in the state that have water table or bedrock issues, just like everywhere else.
FWIW, Oklahoma is about the most ecologically diverse area in the United States, or on the planet, for that matter.
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The school in Moore that took a direct hit from the tornado on Monday DID NOT have a basement. This was discussed in a press conference on Tuesday with school officials. And dmacleo is correct. Also, Oklahoma has a lot a clay in the soil that makes basements difficult.
Jackie Crow
Oklahoma City
Also, the Medical Examiner has said that no deaths were due to drowning.
Romm continues the rant that tornados are caused by man.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/05/21/2040221/tornadoes-extreme-weather-and-climate-change-revisited/?mobile=nc#
crosspatch says:
May 22, 2013 at 9:56 am
Tornadoes, like many emergent climate phenomena, appear when the surface is hot compared to the upper air. They move immense amounts of heat from the surface to various parts of the atmosphere.
Since the lake will generally be colder than the surrounding land, a tornado will likely either go around it or lift off the ground and perhaps even drop back down on the other side.
w.
I need to double check news sources, then… thought I was hearing the latest.
I have been giving out mistaken information. However, yes, clay soils can be unstable, but there are basements in Oklahoma clay soils.
I am also in Oklahoma City.
dmacleo says:
May 22, 2013 at 9:58 am
doesn’t OK have a water table level issue that makes it really hard to build any sort of basement/below grade shelter?
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Some areas do have water table issues and some areas have clay soils which make such structures more difficult, but there are many basements and below grade shelters (cellars) in Oklahoma. In the 50’s, before my parents built a cellar, we went down the street to a friend’s cellar. I had a home in Payne County on very heavy clay soils and that property had/has an underground storm cellar. Many buildings in Payne County had basements, as they do here in Oklahoma County.
Ryan says:
May 22, 2013 at 10:00 am
Yes, investigating an issue that a significant minority of scientists believe is a threat to modern civilization is clearly the thing we should drop. Bravo, Roger.
It seems to me that it’s those scientists that are a threat to modern civilization, not the “issue”. After all, it’s the manic catastrophists who believe that we should shun secure electricity supplies and, without those, we’re all destined to live in caves (at least, those of us who survive).
Moderator, could you please delete my comment above?
Maybe it depends on the walls. One thing for sure, if you lose your roof, your walls are next.
This was an engineer reporting to NPR this morning. All I can say is, if I lived down there, this would be one of the mitigations I’d consider for my house. People have to make their own decisions about what’s worth it for them. To save the lives of my family, I’d be in a shelter. But if my goal were to preserve some of my property value, I’d build in a few safeguards.
Popular Mechanics on the same method:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/interior/8-ways-to-protect-your-home-against-tornadoes-and-hurricanes-keep-your-lid-on#slide-4