Tornadoes are one of the most feared and destructive forces on the planet capable of producing Catastrophic damage in a matter of seconds and it's that trail of destruction that is used to determine the tornados rating It's called the Enhanced Fujita scale or EF scale and today all the ingredients are coming together for some big storms Let's take a look outside Trouble is already brewing. We've got a tornado warning for that cell right there This is when you and your family need to get to your safe place to ride out the storm Wow take a look at this storm. It's incredible. Great looking structure here guys We've got rotation going on at the base here. Alright a lowering of that base We call this a supercell by the way a rotating thunderstorm is a supercell not all of them produced tornadoes But this one's got a chance. We're watching this base. It's lowering almost looks like there's a funnel Starting to appear from the wall cloud. Yes. There it is. Do we have debris on the ground? Yes, we do There's a debris cloud a connection Now you have a tornado on the ground a tornado on the ground at this time when tornadoes form they're not usually that wide Okay, just like this one, but it's important to point out that size doesn't always equate to the intensity today There's a mobile Doppler radar actually feeding back real-time wind speeds, you know And I'm being told that those wind speeds are approaching about 85 miles per hour So that's likely going to be an EF-0. All right EF-0 damage here is tree branches thrown around some roof shingles peel back, but hold on. Let's look at this tornado It's going for more of a rope now to a much thicker tone a much wider 22 looks more like a stovepipe now It's called stovepipe because it resembles one this can produce EF-1 damage potentially All right, 86 to 110 mile-per-hour winds here. Mobile homes now can be flipped or rolled roof severely damaged here And there can be extensive power outages...[power line falls over] jeez that was close Look at when you got a tornado like this power lines are gonna fall sometimes like dominoes just like you see here You've got to stay clear of these even if they don't appear to be live They're still extremely dangerous the ground may be energized around the pole All right stand at least 40 feet away and frankly if you're standing where I am, you're way too close; way too close All right, that was intense. Let's keep looking at this tornado because it's still moving toward us and from what I'm hearing From the Doppler on wheels. It is still intensifying they're giving winds now 111 to 135 miles per hour So this is likely an EF-2 All right If they can find the damage that equal today that is equal to that Winds are now strong enough to not just roll a mobile home But completely destroy it tear off complete rooms and send debris through the air like missiles. [2 by 4 breaks window] Geez! How are you gonna get out of the way of that thing? This is exactly why we need you away from all the exterior walls Because debris flying through the air like that leads to so many injuries and deaths and tornadoes We're still under a tornado warning. The twister is now more than likely producing EF-3 damage Doppler winds exceed a 150 miles per hour This tornado is capable of severely damaging large structures and destroying Well-constructed homes like this one that we brought into the studio roofs gone The only thing left in this house are a few interior rooms All right, the safest place in this house is the central bathroom This is the lowest level that you should be in if you don't have a shelter that is below ground put as many walls between you and the outside that you can and remember when you go to take cover grab a helmet grab a Sturdy pair of shoes because you have to walk outside after the tornado and that presents all kinds of new hazards Clearly an EF-3 is life-threatening. Thankfully that less than 1% of all tornadoes In the US are classified higher the problem is that's exactly what we're seeing here The mobile Doppler radar now detecting winds in excess of 180 miles per hour that is likely EF-4 damage I mean look at the funnel You can't even see it from edge to edge this type of tornado is pulverizing everything in its path Huge heavy objects thrown into the air and carried several hundred feet [car falls to ground] Geez you got to be kidding me Look at this this beat-up 3000 pound car it was lofted by the tornado and tossed around with that piece of wood that we saw earlier It could have come from a mile away Mangled. We got gasoline leaking out That's even creating more hazards, you know It's not unusual for tornadoes to displace large objects in the past A bus was carried a half a mile a mattress some 40 miles and paper lofted and carrying over 200 miles from its original starting place Surely this tornado is lofting objects up and centrifuge in the mouth. It means business and believe it or not. It is actually getting stronger This thing is this is called a wedge tornado it is wider than it is tall they Two miles across Imagine that thing coming at you with 200 mile-per-hour winds. This is a deadly EF5. Lights? Yeah, they're starting to flicker now. We're about to get hit. This is as bad as it gets I'm grabbing my helmet and I'm taking shelter now I've made my way to the Weather Channel escape room. This happens to be our fire suppression room But in your case, it may be a bathroom It may be an interior closet somewhere when you are at the farthest distance on the first floor from the outside walks What's going on there? Those big objects. Maybe the roof is being torn off. We don't know, but I've got a helmet but that sturdy pair of shoes You're gonna walk out of here Take a deep breath for you emerge From your safe room because you're not gonna believe when you're gonna see a special ability here and going on outside Here's the deal I'm gonna stay with you guys as long as I possibly can until we lose our signal which may have been at any time Unbelievable Absolute utter destruction a sea of destruction as this area took a direct hit while we were away in our storm shelter I mean this is terrible homes completely wiped off their foundation here Asphalt ripped up from the ground to the point where we don't even know what street that we're on here Even automobiles stripped of their paint we can still smell gas Some fires going on behind us in through here. This is a hazardous situation So we know the tornado has passed for you and your family your pets Make sure that you recognize this we have huge pieces of debris Sharp edges all over the place, nails, two by fours with nails that are sticking up on the ground. Be careful where you walk once you emerge from the tornado shelter This is classic EF5 damage. People's lives have been changed forever And although rare these types of tornadoes and this type of destruction are a reality for this country Think back to Moore Oklahoma on a couple of occasions Joplin Missouri of recents Tuscaloosa, Alabama strong EF-4 there. Complete towns can be wiped off the map like Greensburg, Kansas was back in May of 2007. No one in America is safe from the threat of a tornado Even in the winter you need to have a plan that's communicated with your family and acted upon when you're under a tornado warning You won't know the EF rating until the damage is done So be prepared for any tornado no matter what the size or the EF rating
Pretty impressive for an informational piece. :D
Great video, but I just wanted to add some safety advice for the downed power lines. He goes into it little, but never explained how to properly move away from downed lines if you are in fact within 40ft. The ground could still be energized, and will want to send current through your legs, this is called "Step Potential". To minimize this happening, you need to shuffle away from the site keeping both feet in contact with the ground. Alternatively, you can keep both feet together and literally hop to safety. Shuffling allows you to separate your feet, but you are still grounded. Hopping with your heels together creates one point of contact which avoids having current pass in and out of you. I hope this helps and implore anyone to look into power line safety if you live in a natural disaster prone area.
edit: To clarify with the shuffling technique, as others have pointed out, the ultimate goal is to limit the distance between points of contact. Hence the name "Step" potential.
On May 22nd, 2011 an EF-5 tornado hit Joplin Missouri, as in a direct hit through pretty much the worst possible line it could have taken. Many people I know lost everything, including my mom. None of my friends or relatives were killed but a few of them were badly injured. It was amazing only 162 people were killed. If you saw the devastation you would have assumed, like I did at first, it was at least 1000. Anything in the path was outright destroyed. A large hospital was moved 6" off its foundation, patients were sucked out of the 6th story windows. Wal-Mart Super Center, Home Depot, and 600 other businesses were destroyed. Something like 8000 homes, 40 apartment complexes, and 13,000 vehicles utterly destroyed. The tornado hit a bit after 5 PM on a Sunday, which meant the 6 schools, including the high school, were empty when they were destroyed.
Some interesting things I heard from people afterwards:
An EMT told me that he was on the scene at 20th and Main just minutes after the tornado hit. He lived just a few blocks from the path. If you were just a block away from the path, chances are all you'd have is some downed tree branches and maybe a damaged roof or a broken window. He said that the vast majority of fatalities and horrible injuries were from flying debris, but not just any debris. Asphalt shingles. At over 250 MPH you can only imagine what a frisbee-like shingle can do to a human body.
One of the businesses destroyed was a place called Christina's Toy Box. Right next door to a brand new Walgreens, they sold adult novelties. That is, dildos and stuff. I had a conversation with a lady who said she had to explain to her two young daughters what they were because they had about 600 of them in their yard. Yes, you could have been hit by a flying dildo.
Duquesne (pronounced due-cain), a small town just east of Joplin, was in the path also. The workers who came to clean up often didn't know the names of roads, all the street signs were gone. But Duquesne road, their main north-south street, was called Dead Cow Road for a few months. Everyone knew exactly what road that was.
One house in Duquesne was spared any tornado damage. Then, as the tornado was disappearing back into the sky, a piece of earth moving equipment, bigger than a bulldozer, fell on the roof and completely crushed the house. It was determined that piece of equipment came from over 4 miles away.
Lots more of course.
Does anyone know what company is behind this?
I grew up in tornado alley and helped with cleanup when Greensboro was hit and this had some quality info that even we weren't taught.
And of course the flag survives. America never surprises.
Props to the VFX guy who did believable digital artifacting as opposed to weird analog static that filmmakers are still using in 2018 for some reason?
What a sweet holodeck
This should be required viewing in schools. I have been heavily affected by tornadoes twice in my life. A lot of people who didn’t grow up learning about them are not aware of how serious it can get. This is engaging, and extremely informative. Well done!