Murphy, K. Kansas City Star, 30 July. Mustain, A. Neblett Fanfair, R. National Weather Service Service Assessment, 35 pp. Oliver, M. Paul, B. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. Quick Response Research Rep. Hazards , 64 , — , doi Disasters , in press.
Ryan, K. Joplin Globe, 24 May. Schmidlin, T. Disasters , 19 , — , doi Hazards , 48 , — , doi Simmons, K. Forecasting , 23 , — , doi Courbage and W. Stahel, Eds. SPC , : Annual U. Spotts, P. Christian Science Monitor, 26 May. Stein, A. Springer, pp. Stimers, M. Suckling, P. Sutter, D.
Hazards , 53 , — , doi Turner, R. Randy Turner, pp. Census Bureau , : Joplin, Missouri quick facts. Census Bureau. Wurman, J.
Younker, E. Joplin Globe, 16 June. Zagier, A. Huffington Post, 4 June. On 22 May , a massive tornado tore through a densely populated section of Joplin, Missouri, killing people. The EF5 tornado was the deadliest single tornado to occur in the United States since modern record keeping began in , surpassing the tornado of 8 June , which claimed lives in Flint, Michigan.
The Joplin tornado death toll was also far higher than the average annual number of deaths caused by tornadoes in the United States between and This study analyzed Joplin deaths by damage zone and place of death. Tabular data collected primarily from secondary sources revealed the number of deaths and death rates differ significantly by zone of destruction. The results of this study further show that more people died in nonresidential buildings in Joplin than is usual in a U.
Finally, the lack of basements in residential and other structures most likely contributed greatly to the high death toll, although the degree remains uncertain. Several recommendations are offered to reduce future U. The number of deaths and the extent of destruction caused by tornadoes are directly associated with their track length or path and their magnitude Paul ; Simmons and Sutter , In the United States, tornado paths typically range from less than a mile up to mi km.
The paths of long-track tornadoes differ in strength or magnitude, which is now measured on the Enhanced Fujita EF scale, along their paths. Although length is a dominant distinguishing feature, the width of tornado paths also varies, ranging from a few feet to a mile or more. One of the widest tornadoes was the Hallam, Nebraska, event that occurred on 22 May At one point, the funnel was 2.
In the United States, on average, tornadoes are approximately ft m across Lyons The strength of tornadoes varies not only linearly or horizontally, but also within or across the path. This zone generally sustains the most damage and is the location of the most deaths. The strength or intensity of tornadoes and hence the extent of damage and death usually decreases toward outer zones.
Empirical studies e. This is primarily because of variation in wind speed across the tornado track see Wurman et al. Unfortunately, damage zones of tornado paths are widely ignored by hazard researchers. As a result, tornado deaths are exclusively studied in relation to EF scale measured along the horizontal path. One notable exception is the study of Curtis and Fagan , who, using spatial video, analyzed of the Joplin tornado fatalities along the spatial video path by type of location and age category.
They also analyzed fatalities in terms of the Tornado Injury Scale TIS and four damaged areas derived using the spatial video system. The objective of this study is to examine the deaths caused by the Joplin tornado by damage zones. This examination also includes gender and age analysis of the tornado victims. We hypothesized that the number of deaths would decrease outward from the central zone.
Attempts are also made to study the locations where Joplin tornado victims died along with fatalities by structure type and damage zone.
The next section of this paper provides a brief description of the Joplin tornado, followed by an overview of tornado fatalities in the United States. Next, the data collection procedure, the results, and conclusions of this study are presented. A deadly tornado touched down at the southwest edge of the city of Joplin, Missouri, on the evening of 22 May Fig.
It grew to three-quarters of a mile wide between 26th and East 20th Street. Of the total track of Citation: Weather, Climate, and Society 6, 2; The Joplin tornado intensified remarkably quickly, changing from a mere funnel cloud into a violent tornado in fewer than 10 min Mustain This provided approximately a min lead time for touchdown and a min lead time before it entered Joplin NWS The damage swath covered 7.
Census Bureau The Joplin tornado destroyed homes and damaged others, causing displacement of at least people. It destroyed businesses of varying sizes and affected nearly jobs Joplin Globe a. Several buildings of Freeman Hospital West, the other hospital in Joplin, also sustained damage. In hazard literature, the latter deaths are considered delayed deaths i. It stands as the deadliest single tornado to hit the United States since , surpassing the Flint, Michigan, tornado of 8 June that claimed lives Mustain ; NWS No single tornado from to has killed more than 40 people Simmons and Sutter The Tri-State tornado, with a mi path, killed 2.
Despite the record number of deaths, it is fortunate that, with the tornado on a Sunday, schools were empty and nearly commuters were home in the suburbs Kayyem Whether people are in their homes or driving, whether they are asleep or awake, and whether the tornado is visible or surrounded by rain are factors associated with the probability of death in a tornado Wurman et al.
Studies e. Old houses—those with walls not anchored to the foundation—and houses without a basement are risk factors for high tornado mortality Balluz et al.
If the path passes over highly populated areas, deaths are likely to be higher than if it passes over less populated areas. Tornado deaths also depend on the nature of tornado warnings and compliance with such warnings Daley et al. If warnings are not issued in a timely manner, or warnings are not issued at all, the population at risk is unable to seek safety, which may contribute to higher instances of deaths Balluz et al.
Socioeconomic characteristics of residents are also important determinants of tornado mortality Cutter et al. These characteristics dictate who receives hazard warnings and who does not comply with such warnings, and who owns a sturdy house and who does not Paul and Stimers In general, the greater the intensity or magnitude of a tornado is, the higher the fatality potential Paul , although in absolute terms, more people have died as a result of F0 through F4 tornadoes because EF5 tornadoes occur much less often.
In terms of fatalities per tornado during the period —, F0 killed 0. Another graduate was sucked through the sunroof of his family's SUV as they drove home.
His body was found five days later in a pond. There was another deadly tornado on May 22, , but it wasn't anywhere near southwestern Missouri. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center issued a "moderate risk" for severe thunderstorms, its second-highest level in their daily severe outlooks, from Oklahoma to Wisconsin. However, its highest tornado probabilities were in the upper Mississippi Valley. That's where the day's outbreak started. An EF1 tornado tore through the west and north sides of the Minneapolis metro that afternoon.
One person was killed along the tornado's six-mile path through north Minneapolis, St. A band of torrential rain just south Joplin on the night of May 22 prompted a release of water from Table Rock Dam into the White River. The city was then soaked by almost two inches of rain next day. Hail-producing thunderstorms occurred west of Joplin, near the Kansas state line. An outbreak of tornadoes May , , occurred primarily from the Plains to the Ohio Valley.
Most notable among these was another EF5 tornado that tore a mile path across central Oklahoma to the west, northwest and north of Oklahoma City. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM. Daily 13 Today. Tornado Central. By Jonathan Erdman May 21, Destroyed homes and debris cover the ground as a new storm moves into Joplin, Missouri, on May 23, , a day after a devastating tornado struck the city.
It was America's deadliest tornado since and the costliest on record. Joplin wasn't the only deadly tornado that day. A view of St. For more information on the recommendations that have progressed see the excerpt slide from the full presentation below.
The complete presentation can be found here. Joplin Missouri Tornado Share Facebook. The National Weather Service's official count of "direct fatalities" was There were additional indirect deaths that added up to or even beyond deaths, Runnels explained. The storm hit on a Sunday afternoon. It no doubt would have been more deadly had it come in the middle of the night when people were asleep or even that morning when hundreds of people would have been in the churches that were destroyed, Runnels said.
In the days, months and years following the Joplin tornado, the citizens of the Ozarks "were more keenly aware" about the danger of tornadoes, Runnels said. He worries that as time goes on, some are becoming less vigilant when it comes to severe weather alerts. It might be too late. As the storm rolled into Joplin that Sunday afternoon, Nigel Holderby was in her yard in northwest Springfield.
She recalled the sky turning red with strange dark clouds. At the time, Holderby volunteered for the local chapter of the Red Cross, sometimes working at the front desk at the Springfield office and helping manage the social media accounts. And I just remember my husband took some pictures of the sky. It's just this moment of — what we didn't know at that point in time — this beauty was really the precursor to just devastation.
About the time her husband was taking photos of that double rainbow, Holderby got a text from the Volunteer Services Manager telling her about the tornado and that the Red Cross would be opening a shelter in Joplin. He gave the address of the shelter and told Holderby to start sharing the information on social media.
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