The Joplin Tornado

“It doesn’t matter how many years you’ve done this, it just rips your heart out when you stand and watch a family member waiting for their loved ones to be recovered from an environment like this.”

- Doug Westhoff (rescuer at Joplin tornado site)

At 5:41 p.m. CDT on May 22 Joplin, Missouri was hit by a deadly tornado, the first in sixty years to kill over 100 people (the prior such tornado was June 8, 1953 in Flint, Michigan). We extend our sympathies to the families and our thanks to the rescue workers.

In this blog we'll look at a status report to the Govenor of the state written 36 hours after the disaster. 

On going weather problems complicate the rescue efforts - thunderstorms continued to pound the area after the tornado. This hampered or delayed some search and rescue teams and led to additional power outages (53,000 customers without power with restoration "as early" as the next 24 to 36 hours ). Nearby McDonald County reports several road closings due to high water and flooding. Newtown County evacuated 32 homes due to flash flooding risk.

Search and rescue was roughly half way completed.

Large Potential Impact: The Joplin metropolitan area has 174,300 residents. At the time of the report, 2,000 structures were known to be destroyed including residences, businesses, schools, apartment complexes, the local hospital and churches.

Small Actual Impact? Given the number of destroyed building I would expect thousands without a place to stay. The United Way had received 1142 calls. And yet the reports only mentions three shelters; one with 143 individuals, a second with 34 and the third could not be reached by phone? Where are the homeless people staying? Perhaps with friends or nearby hotels?
The Red Cross (with 300 volunteers) was starting a hot meal food service for just 200.
Spontaneous pet shelters are going up.

Managing Resources: Joplin had 5 heavy rescue Teams and 5 ambulance strike teams (25 total ambulances) and did not want more since "Jasper County has all the search and rescue teams they can coordinate at this time". Complicating rescue team management was "a number of self deployed fire fighters" who showed up to help without being asked. Before these men can be used they have to have their IDs verified and skills accessed. Otherwise a thief could show up claiming to be a fireman and offer to search buildings. Or someone barely trained who becomes injured during rescue.

Keeping track of rescue workers is not easy. More constantly arrive:
"Mo Task Force 1 en route (85 members, 4 dogs, heavy equipment)...Kansas City fire heavy rescue en route. 3 cadaver dogs arrived last night, with another 3 to arrive this morning. Kansas City Power & Lights is sending 45 linemen today, and another 45 after storms pass through the Kansas City area."

These workers must be sheltered, fed, etc.

Another resource headache is unrequested supplies that people send hoping to be helpful. The report mentions, "Locating a larger warehouse for unsolicited donations."

Security:  There were 100 law enforcement personnel working to secure 30 roadblocks.  There were 100 National Guardsmen sent but assigned to search and rescue rather than security.

No Hospital: St. John's Regional Medical Center was badly damaged and patients evacuated. A Disaster Medical Assistance Team set up an emergency surgical site with 60 beds
1000 tetanus shots will be in Joplin, and another 300 in Jasper county.

Contaminated Water: In the first 24-hours a boil order was in effect. But quickly generators were powered up on the public drinking water system and clean water restored.

Cell Phones spotty:
"Sprint restored cell site near Memorial Hall, ... ATT reports 2 cell sites have been restored."

Some Rescue teams without Communications:
The Joplin Police Department communications system was not functioning. For repairmen at a Natural Gas plant, land line, cellular telephone, and their 2-way radios were out for a time last night and then cell phone service was spotty. They had walkie-talkies donated and had to use those for communication.

Mental health was attempting to coordinate with local faith based groups. The public was told to use https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php to locate missing persons.

Secondary Incidents: As seen in Japan with the earthquake and New Orleans with Katrian, sometimes the natural disaster triggers man-made emergencies that are far worse. In Jasper country the EPA confirmed that the radiological facilities were OK. There has been one confirmed anhydrous ammonia release of 3000-5000 pounds that occurred in east Joplin. Leaking gas from a natural gas regulator stations caught fire and a pipe was dug up to shut-off the natural gas underground.

Media: There had been about 100 media inquiries. The emergency management offices requested a Public Information Officer from the Dept. of Health to assist with media calls.

Bottom Line

Most people fail to understand just how chaotic and crazy life becomes after a disaster. Water, power, roads, police, phones, 911, hospitals all become unreliable. Shelters may handle hundreds but not thousands of families. Hence the recommendation that you must be able to take care for yourself without power and water for at least 72-hours.

Important Guidance on Helping Disaster Survivors

Yesterday FEMA sent the following email...

A second disaster threatens to overtake Joplin MO by way of a tidal wave of unsolicited goods (things like clothing, miscellaneous household items, mixed or perishable foodstuffs, diapers...) and volunteers who just show up to help.  Critical resources are being redirected from the important work of response and relief to managing what has become a crush of unneeded donated items.  Social networking sites are promoting collection drives while radio stations, small and large businesses, business and fraternal organizations and churches around the country fill semis with items that threaten to crowd warehouses and overwhelm distribution channels in the impacted area. 

Your help is urgently needed to stem the flow of unneeded goods and volunteers into Joplin.  You are encouraged to reach out to your employees, customers and other constituents on how those wanting to help can do so in a way that doesn't cause further impact, but rather aids in the response and recovery effort.

The following guidelines were developed by a coalition of government, voluntary agency and faith-based partners:

• Cash to a recognized voluntary agency is the single best way to help disaster survivors.  Cash doesn't need to be sorted, stored or distributed, and it allows the voluntary agency to  the donation towards the needs that most urgently need addressing.
• Visit http://sema.dps.mo.gov/recover/donations.asp to donate to the Missouri tornado recovery effort.
• For information on other ways to help go to: www.fema.gov/rebuild/recover/howtohelp.

Bottom Line

Two days ago I read a story praising four semi-trucks of supplies gathered via Facebook and Boy Scouts and delivered to Joplin. I thought about responding to that but didn't. During the aftermath of 9-11 authorities made it clear that they did not want random supplies pouring in. Ditto for Haitii after the earthquake. Send money instead.

In Monday's post I'll look at a status report from Joplin 36-hours after the tornado. Even then the Emergency Management Team was looking for a bigger warehouse to store unsolicited supplies.

More Twisters!

"Then the air was filled with 10,000 things. Boards, poles, cans, garments, stoves, whole sides of the little frame houses, in some cases the houses themselves, were picked up and smashed to earth. And living beings, too. A baby was blown from its mother's arms. A cow, picked up by the wind, was hurled into the village restaurant."
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 20, 1925

Last month the South was hammered by tornadoes. Two weeks ago a massive thunderstorm created 137 tornadoes, killing over 180 people, and destroying sections of Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville, Ala. Do you know what to do if a tornado is reported?

* Know where to go
If caught outdoors, where is the nearest shelter? If you live in a mobile home, leave it!  A tornado can tip, roll, and destroy mobile homes.

* Know what to bring to a shelter
After the tornado has passed you may find your home completely destroyed. Your go-kit should include identification, copies of important financial documents, insurance contracts, important contact information, and anything else you'll need to access your money and rebuild.

* Know who to contact
Have a relative outside your community serve as an emergency contact so if family members are caught by the storm in different locations, they can call their status and state what shelter they can be found at.

* Listen for NOAA tornado watches and warnings
As described yesterday, there are free and fee services that can alert you to a NOAA weather event in your area. NOAA weather radios will wake you up if a storm system arrives overnight, when you're sleeping.

Tornado WATCH = keep a eye to the sky. Conditions are favorable for tornadoes so prepare.
Tornado WARNING = a funnel cloud or its precursor has been spotted. Get to safety immediately.

* Know the local counties
If there's a Tornado Warning for Rockland county - how far away is that? Should you worry? At home I know the neighboring NY counties but no clue about Connecticut where I work.

* Get away from windows
The main danger is flying debris from high winds. Find a room that is window free if possible. Go to the lowest room or basement in the house (tornadoes can rip off the tops of homes.)  Duck under a sturdy piece of furniture and hang on.

* What to do if outdoors
If you are outdoors, lie flat on the ground in the lowest spot you can find and cover your head with your arms. Ditches or holes are great but don't spend so much time searching that the tornado catches you standing up.

* After the twister passes...
Don't enter damaged buildings - they may collapse on you. Leaky gas mains may start fires or explosions. Stay far away from downed power lines. Keep listening to weather reports, since the storm may be part of a system spawning several tornadoes.

Bottom Line

Here are some tornado myths from the Christian Science Monitor:

Myth: If a tornado comes, it will inflict less damage if you open your windows to equalize the air pressure inside and outside the structure.
Fact: don't bother; the tornado-blown debris will shatter your windows. It's not pressure but high winds that will cause damage.

Myth: If you're caught outside when a tornado approaches, head for a highway underpass. It will shelter you.
Fact: an underpass won't provide much shelter from wind or debris. Lie flat in a ditch instead.

Myth: A tornado can't happen here.
Fact: They happen in every state.

Tornado!!!

"The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind,
the answer is blowin' in the wind"
- lyrics by Bob Dylan

On June 5th an F2 class tornado hit the town Streator, Illinois; in total 15 tornadoes hit the region during the storm. 8,400 residents lost power. Here is a first hand account,

"The twister tore through the southern part of town, wreaking a path of destruction 400 yards wide. It didn’t sound like a freight train — the usual description you read in the newspapers. Freight trains don’t roar like a wild beast and beat holy hell against your windows seeking to get in. The rattling, clacking, and shaking of my brick house was augmented by the rending, tearing sounds of tree limbs snapping, the popping of transformers (sounding just like old-fashioned flash bulbs exploding), and a strange, terrifying high-pitched whine that made it sound as if all the furies in the world had been unleashed and were circling my home in anticipation of its destruction."

Here's an report from trailer park,

"[Dan] ran back inside, told his wife to get their 11-month-old daughter and for several terrifying moments, the mother and father hunkered down over their daughter, their bodies shielding her as windows shattered, appliances tumbled over and the entire trailer shook violently with the force of a tornado passing by. "I just kept praying," [the mother] said. "I thought that my baby would get sucked away."

The good news about this event is that no one was killed (although 50+ were injured and 30+ homes destroyed). Modern weather radar gave advance warning so residents could shelter in their basement. Even so there is an element of luck and fate and fickleness when dealing with tornadoes. It can destroy one house utterly and leave one next door untouched.

Also keep in mind that tornadoes are FAST. The event in Streator was over in three minutes. When the sirens blare you must respond immediately; don't dither and don't step out on the porch to see what the sky looks like.

I read another account today (must have been a different storm) of a father sheltering in the basement with his family. Almost immediately the power when out so he and dog went upstairs to start the emergency power generator. It was at that moment the tornado hit and blew away everything above ground level. If he had stayed in the shelter in the dark he would have lived.

Bottom Line

Most people who die in tornadoes are hit by debris from their own house. Do you have a safe room to shelter in? For tornadoes it should be below ground if possible, if not then a first floor interior room without windows. Stock the room with flashlights, water, blankets, games, hand-powered radio, bucket for a toilet, and anything else you might need for 30-60 minutes while a storm blows overhead. The purpose of the shelter is defeated if you have to leave it to get something you forgot.

Texas Tornado

A reader of http://www.survivalblog.com/ submitted the following first-hand account of the tornado that hit Texas last weekend.
Here is a copy of the letter to survivalblog.com.

"I have been reading your blog for a while but until Saturday, I never saw how a disaster could unhinge some people so quickly and what lack of preparedness can do to some people.

I went to deliver a chainsaw, some gas and water to a relative in Yazoo City and what is usually a 45 minute drive took over 2 hours. Land lines and cell towers were down, and if you had a phone with a certain carrier, the service was very spotty. The traffic was bad and the roads into the town were blocked and we were turned away twice by a motley group of authorities but mostly State police. One local deputy was sympathetic and told us a way to get in the town that was 35 miles out of our way and we eventually got close to the north side of town and we had to drive over live power lines and swerve around transformers. We got to the entrance of town and there were two State troopers blocking the exit but we told them we were delivering some supplies and they let us through.

Eventually, we reached the home and there were trees and power lines everywhere. No power, no gas lines, homes and cars crushed, etc. One generator was being shared by neighbors and gas was being siphoned out of boats and cars to power it. There was one electric chainsaw that was plugged into the generator. Things to note were that the authorities were very stressed out and not experienced with this kind of devastation and there were many people who tried to get to loved ones or family that couldn't get past the road blocks. Some people just left their cars on the sides of the road and were allowed to walk into town. One lady drove around the roadblock and was chased by a cop car.

There were people panicking and the Red Cross got there and all they were doing was handing out water bottles. The power company was only responsible for getting the trees off the power lines. You could see people just staring at their crushed homes and houses wondering what to do. There were cops on four wheeler ATVs just riding around and eventually the National Guard showed up but they were just driving around.

Some lessons learned:
* No one is getting into town right after a disaster
* Have a big chainsaw and make sure there are no trees in your yard
* Have a four-wheeler and a 15 foot trailer to haul out pieces of debris from your home/yard
* Have a siphon and a generator
* Know how to turn off your gas in your home because live wires and natural gas don't mix
* Know beforehand that the authorities are not there to help you but to maintain order and the power company is not going to cut down that tree that is now in your dining room.
* Brick homes fare better than stick ones
* Anticipate that neighbors are going to freak out and run around like chickens with their heads cut off and try to do silly things like get in their cars and drive over debris in the road and get stuck and pop their tires.
* Have gloves and chains in your truck and keep a full tank of gas at all times. Some people ran out of gas in the traffic.
* Realize that tensions are going to be high and seeing weird things like one group of people having a barbecue and getting drunk and across the street one family was sitting on the lawn waiting for help is a recipe for a bad situation. I saw a kid in the road trying to flag us down and there were some guys leaning up against a house a bit out of sight. We just drove around him. I couldn't believe that it was already getting strange and the tornado was only a few hours earlier.

So in a nutshell, that was my experience and one more thing, the tornado hit so fast that the siren didn't give enough warning. And what was worse, people are conditioned to think the siren means thunderstorm or it could be a test or something else. So no one was prepared until they heard the freight train sound and with no one having basements in Mississippi, there isn't really a safe place to be."

Bottom Line

Any “Disaster” will cause chaos by definition. Without the chaos, the natural event would be just a bad storm. Expect confusion, wrong advice, ill prepared officials, and inoperative infrastructure. You must be able to support yourself for at least three days without water and electricity.

I have a friend who is an EMT. After a major storm in our town that brought down huge branches everywhere and even a few trees, an ambulance needed two hours to deliver a heart attack victim to the hospital. In some places police prevented the ambulance from traveling closed roads. The family of the victim is suing because they encountered fewer road closures and arrived first at the hospital.

Emergency Sirens

"It's a twister! It's a twister!" - Zeke in Wizard of Oz

Do you know the sound of the emergency sirens in your town? Do you know the town policy for using them? A week ago several people in Mena, Arkansas were killed by a tornado. Some could not hear the town siren, some ignored it, some thought the emergency was over when the killer tornado struck.

Tornadoes (like earthquakes) can strike more than once. People often leave their safeyzone after the first strike and are surprised and injured by a second touch down or after-quake. The best advice is to stay put until you hear an all clear signal. Only evacuate if your "safe spot" has become unsafe because of fire, bad air or it might fall on you.

The situation in Mena was particularly confusing. The tornado sirens sounded three times and three times "harmless" funnel clouds passed over the town. After a half hour of this people either assumed the worst was over or clearly nothing bad was going to happen. "The siren was going off in plenty of time, I just didn't take it serious enough," said one resident.

Then the siren sounded for a fourth time and within minutes a killer tornado hit. 600 homes were damaged or destroyed. Another resident who ignored the siren said, "I didn't have time to go nowhere, I just grabbed a hold of the wall and held on."

Many residents were confused by the sirens going on and off, did "off" mean the danger was over? "We heard the siren two or three times. It would sound off and it would quit. We were getting ready to get out of the building when it hit."

Even the local weather caster wasn't exactly sure why the siren sounded multiple times. He suggested that some communities cannot run their sirens continuously because their motors will burn up.

Bottom Line
Find out the siren policy for your town. Will the motor burn up or will the sirens continue to sound so long as the danger will last?