Glad you were out of the path of destruction. My wife and I were on 23rd and Pennsylvania. Right in the middle of the thing. We got down to the basement about 2 minutes before it struck. There's no experience like going down into the basement and everything is alright to coming up a few minutes later to complete destruction. Definitely the most terrifying experience of my life.
@@Ena48145 It will be determined if bell icon and Moderators are paying atention to the control over algorithmic activities even knew you left this Comment?
The thing about this tornado that always fascinated with me was how dark everything got. In so many videos, it looks like it's midnight when it starts to hit
I lived about 15 minutes south in Neosho, MO, so had no chance of being hit that day, but we had the same as the system passed over. It went from a picture perfect but hot day to the most rapid lightning I’ve ever seen in the time it took to leash my dog to go out for a potty break. Then it turned black as night in the middle of the afternoon. Eerie stuff.
Right, crazy. 540pm but pitch black out in May. Didn't seem like the stereotypical open field Oklahoma Kansas tornado, it was just a bad storm that kept getting worse and worse and worse and worse and darker and darker until it destroyed everything. Fucking wild
Yep then when they hit you at night the lightening makes it look like daylight now and then. We were just hit here in Sulphur ok April 27th at night. I lived 30 mins south of Joplin when this one hit.
For anyone wondering, he is standing at Willow Ln and E 13th St looking W/SW. Just East of Duquesne. Little did they know the tornado was headed in their direction but ended up taking a more SE turn towards the end.
Except for there being a child at that house the tornado should of wiped it out and left everything else in Joplin along. These lefty maggots go out sight seeing, don't help one person out, even turn some away asking for help. Fucking rot in hell maggots!
Any time you hear a deep guttural rumble like that from a tornado, it's either a high end EF4 or an EF5 and it means business. Glad you guies didn't get hit, but it was extremely dangerous trying to film this tornado since it was rain wrapped and hard to see. If it were me, I would have put the camera in the window and headed for shelter, but great video.
I drove through Joplin in 2015 and you could still see the clear path that monster took, all new buildings and houses everywhere with no trees or half trees. That thing was a monster.
That's what my grandmother said. She was in a bomb shelter taking cover from German bombs. Sirens always gave her chills. Don't have many in the UK now.
Boy what timing for your move, helluva “Welcome to Joplin”.I live in Seattle now, but born in Kansas spent time in Oklahoma some years ago helping my parents.
Of course, living in southwest Missouri, we get tornado warnings issued, the sirens go off, people take cover.. and nothing happens. I should know; I live in Webb City. My friend graduated that day from Joplin High and we were heading back to her house... if we had left the college any later and gone down Range Line, we probably would have been in it. It's a mind-numbing experience, but I'm glad that everyone back home is able to rebuild their lives from the ground up after this tragic tornado.
I was in California and crying with the rest of the country watching the horror that had just taken place. We were all with Joplin in thought on this devastating day and the weeks to follow. May all of the lost souls Rest In Peace. Thank you for publishing these videos.
"We're in a tornado right now." "Oh good LORD!" I know this was no laughing matter at the time, but hearing that 12 years later gave me quite a chuckle 😂
i was just thinking the same in every video ive watched the cg strikes and thunder look and sound way diffrent than even in a severe thunderstorm does than in a tornadic storm such as this!!
It is difficult to put into words the emotions I have when I see the devastation and destruction that was caused by this storm. My thoughts and prayers are extended to all the people who are dealing with so much loss
Just found your place on Google Earth. It's a new house so it doesn't show up on street view, but I found it. I like comparing these videos to the damage seen on Google Earth to see just how far from the tornado these videos were taken. That tornado was nosing towards your home. Just to your south and west, trees were flattened and homes got nailed pretty hard. You are lucky it turned. It would have gotten you if it hadn't. You would have been on the edge, but been in it nonetheless. Good video!
I've watched this video several times but now I just watched it for the first time now with good quality headphones over the ear ones and you can actually pick up the dam roar and rumble of the tornado it's like you can feel it very very deep rumble I've never noticed this before!!
Exactly!! Three things for these guys!! First, clouds aren’t suppose to rotate, especially in one direction, secondly, lightening doesn’t come from the ground up, and third, thunder has breaks in it, not a constant roar of rumble!! The light is going in to the storm as well on each side! Plus guys, when tornado sirens go off, please take shelter! Don’t be such a guy and stand there looking at the thing!! I guess guys want the tornado to say something to them, or yell, “ I’m a tornado stupid!!” Not sure why they stand there looking at the thing!!?? As though they needed to be pinched in the butt to get moving and to know it’s really a tornado staring them in the face!! If that’s a guy thing, then the guys can keep it!! That’s one thing I don’t mind handing over to them!! Lol!! It’s exactly like when a truck or car breaks down and all these guys, at least 4 or 5, are all standing around with the hood up looking at the engine!! First, what are they looking at?? Secondly, is the car going to tell you what’s wrong with it if you all stand there long enough?? I know!! I know!! It’s a guy thing!! Seriously, I’m so glad you two guys and your son were safe that day and no harm came to you!! The tornado was making a turn to the southeast by then, soon after crossing I44!!
It was likely the rain shroud that surrounded it. The Joplin tornado was over a mile wide, and caused so much damage with so much speed that the debri became shrapnel. The poor souls who lost their lives had to be pieced together to identify. A horrific storm
Reminds me of my dad when it was storming. As a former fireman we would stand out in the lightening to see which was the storm was coming. He loved any kind of disaster because it reminded him of his fireman days. We just thought he was crazy.
Damn you guys were in a certain part of joplin cuz the house wasnt completely blown off but the roofing looks like it was torn off partially and had debris. Joplin had to be one of the scariest tornadoes
Two days after this, there was an EF4 tornado headed right at my town which miraculously dissipated about 3 mi. south of us( but left dirt and grass in the air that dropped on my car outside the shelter) . Another EF4 went about 10 mi. west of us and an EF5 took a 60 mi. long 3/4 mi wide path just NW of Oklahoma City about 40 mi. away. I certainly felt blessed and made a significant contribution to Joplin relief efforts. Btw, the May 3,'99 F5 that hit Moore Okla. went 10 mi. west of me also.
Yes, a basement is a good bet during a tornado. Safe rooms, however, are better. We're going to be getting one installed in our garage next month at our house here in West Plains, since our house doesn't have a basement. Also, there's a combination of factors that led to so many deaths from the Joplin tornado: 1) In 1973, a severe thunderstorm hit Joplin that killed 5 people from a mictoburst. This led Joplin city officials to decide to also sound sirens for severe thunderstorm warnings as well as tornado warnings. In turn, people began to ignore the sirens, since severe thunderstorm warnings are much more common than tornado warnings. 2) The National Weather Service in Springfield, which serves Joplin, has historically not been as good as the National Weather Service in Tulsa at predicting whether a particular storm will drop a tornado. In other words, Springfield has had a history of issuing tornado warnings without the storm in question dropping a tornado. This too led to Joplinites ignoring tornado warnings. 3) At 5:17 PM, when the NWS in Springfield first upgraded the severe thunderstorm warning that was in effect to a tornado warning, Doppler radar showed that the storm was headed for Carl Junction, and thus, they mentioned Carl Junction being in the path of the storm and said nothing about Joplin. Having other storms to keep track of, there was no update on the storm at all. In fact, at 5:39 PM, it was storm spotters who told police to sound the sirens in Joplin -- and the NWS in Springfield totally dropped the ball this one. In fact, IIRC, I think some NWS employees got fired over this. 4) The lack of basements in Joplin plus the fact that the storm was so loud you couldn't hear the outdoor sirens made for a deadly combination. 5) It wasn't until the following year that FEMA introduced the Wireless Emergency Alerts for cell phones that sound the infamous EBS tone on your phone if a tornado or flash flood warning is issued for your area.
It actually did not move that fast but it did develop exceptionally quick. I remember watching it on the Weather Channel that day as they were following it with their chase team. The storm was so disorganized and weak until it crossed the Missouri border. I actually turned off the TV and went to do something else. It showed little signs of development until it "merged" with another cell and became a high precipitation monster.
Wow thank God you're okay! My first experience with a tornado was when we moved to TX in Feb. 2001. That spring (on my son's 6th birthday) a tornado came right down the street next to the apt complex we were living in at the time. It wasn't as big as this one, but being the first one I experienced it was horrifying.
It was 20-25% destroyed. The "mess" is mostly cleaned up, though there are still empty lots where homes used to be. I believe St. John's hospital was finally recently demolished so that they can start rebuilding. It killed 158 directly and another four indirectly. I'm not sure how you define "worst." Costliest? Deadliest? Strongest? Largest? Either way it wasn't the worst ever. The Tri-State tornado in 1925 killed nearly 700. But that doesn't mean this one wasn't absolutely terrible and tragic.
It’s interesting that if you go online and read about “worst” tornadoes, there are tons and tons of “worst tornadoes” to hit this country that probably number in the 100’s. I think the gist of it is that anything EF4 and up earns a title of “worst” because they just plain are. 😲
The 1925 tornado had a lot more distance on it and the siren warning systems were not good. Sounded like the strongest and deadliest per capita most powerful highest wind was xenia ohio.
actually, the tornado sirens are activated when a tornado has been indicated on Radar or has been sighted by trained spotters. The local fire dept or police station has the key to set off the sirens.. hope this helps!
Please do not take ANY of this as insult as that is not my intention.... I think it is so amazing and awesome that you documented all of this. But.... being from and living in Missouri all of my life.... well I'm not sure if you are just really brave or really stupid. You are very very lucky that you weren't in direct path! Next time (I pray for you there never is a next time) go to the basement!! I am going to chalk this off to the fact that you had just moved here and maybe didn't realize how dangerous the weather can be... certainly most of us didn't realize exactly how bad it could be until Joplin. (I have lived in and around St. Louis all of my life.) Ever since this day, if there is even a warning, I run my butt to the basement.... I have bags with food and flashlights packed at all times, made sure to have pet carriers out and ready if there is any inclination we MIGHT get bad weather to put my cats into to take with me... it's scary. Stay safe and bless you for the risks you took to bring this footage to us!!
Erin Shea Don't forget a good pair of shoes in case you need to walk on debris. :-) Btw, not everyone has a basement. I noticed there were two electric meters on their home, so this might be a duplex, condo or whatever. /waves from west St. Louis County (far northern Wildwood, almost Chesterfield).
tscooter22 All so very true. I don't have a basement. I'm in a top floor apartment. I just go to the bottom level and hope for the best. I'm in Fenton these days. I know right where you are. Stay safe this storm season!
+Erin Shea these folks just moved here from Seattle, first time they ever even heard sirens....i think it said they were only in the 2nd week living in Joplin, they know now, for sure! like at around 5:45, one says, "its calm now" and the other says "it could be the eye".like a hurricane? lol to us in the midwest, but imagine seeing your first major storm, and have it be this!!
This had to have been very scary for you since you hadn't experienced a tornado siren and situation like this before. It really was a different world for you.
Willow is over near MSSU right? When the tornado was tearing thru town you had no idea how bad it really was. I had some friends who were at 17th and Virginia, they had some broken windows and roofing ripped off, and since there was no electricity (or tv), they had no idea how they were only a few blocks away from total destruction. I had relatives that lost everything, but none who lost their lives. I remember telling my friends, who were only a few blocks away, just how bad the tornado was, they were stunned and so thankful to have been spared the worst of it.
just remember that if there are storms in the area, turn on your local news in that moment. it could save your life. you'll learn in missouri you HAVE to pay attention to the weather forecast and warnings.
Great footage, gives me chills! One thing I would note (I tried scrolling down to see if anyone else had posted this but didn't see anything), is that lightening distance is not one mile for every second counted. It is actually 1 mile for every 5 seconds counted. In the opening sequence I heard someone count to about 1,000 and 4 after a lightening flash before thunder, and then you say, about 5 miles away. That bolt was less than a mile away! I thought the same way for a long time.
The guy who shot this footage was a fool, and the guy with him was also clueless to the danger they were putting themselves in. I mean, standing in front of a window with high winds and a tornado in progress??
Close call there. Very close! Glad they dodged that monster. After all. We all know how hellish it was that night and I highly doubt that home would have withstood impact. By the lightning strikes it more than likely just nipped them.
Hey there nuhurizon . I lived in Tacoma, WA and Springfield, MO. So we’ve both lived in similar areas in common. Man, I’m sorry you had to experience this atrocious disaster so soon after moving to MO. I never saw a tornado much less a bad T-storm living in WA for quite some years. But I’ve lived all over and had my share of Tornado experiences. I was in St. Louis on that day visiting family and I saw it on the news. A few days later I traveled back to NWA. Just horrible!
The "roar" of a tornado can only be produced by very high wind speeds, you wouldn't hear that deep menacing sound from a smaller tornado, so he is in fact marginally correct.
I saw this horrific tornado's aftermath, and one family from Joplin ended up hiding in the freezer at a local gas station. It was said that there were little to no survivors in that family.
people say the only siren was after the Tornado touched down.This proves the people lied.they were too worried about their precious movie or tv show interrupted by a little thing such as a severe weather update
+ACE Gardner the tornado went from like a bit of ground circulation to a full wedge in less than a minute. I'd imagine it's hard to get the warning out fast when that happens
I am from Illinois, but I happened to pick a great time to head to Oklahoma to vistit family. I was there for almost two weeks, and we were always playing board games by candlelight that week. We even had to hide in the pantry for a littile one night. One of my cousins was on the porch the whole time. Oklahoma was also have tornados around Tulsa.One also hit Jeinks Ok. When the bad whether was finished we headed toward Branson and drove by Joplin on the way and the damage was devastating.
So glad you are okay nuhurizon. Amazing video. Also amazes me how many people comment on this video that want to act holier than thou about how you guys handled it. You handled it incredibly well, especially for someone who moved there only two weeks prior. I saw you on the Nat Geo documentary of this tragedy. Felt so badly for you when they said how new you were to the area. I wish people who commented on this video would read the comments beforehand. This poor guy is getting asked the same questions over and over. Read and you shall discover. Geez.
You definitely handled better than the storm chasers that run into each other. And the ones that yell real loud. It's mostly about planning ahead isn't it. We had a neighbor in Wichita who let all the neighbors into their basement. Which like I say all those friendly people made it a lot less scary. Even the modular style houses foundations were remaining and the basements were untouched. But chimneys crashing are a problem. I've heard several story buildings often collapse into the basement. I wonder how many people would survive in storm cellars with only ground over them. Usually people get killed because they're not where they're supposed to be.
Im pretty sure when this video started, the tornado was crossing rangeline rd. From a map, Willow Lane and 13th St., are closer to where Hwy 249 and I-44 meet. Which the tornado goes through that as well. Still sad to think about
Puzzled by your counting in the first 3 mins of the clip. Counting between lightning and thunder, I waz always taught that a slow count of 5 meant 1 mile distant... count 10 it`s 2 miles distant, so it was closer than you thought. Glad you made it ok.
What's the intersection of this location? S. Willow Ln. and.. ? Not trying to be creepy; just wanting to compare the location to the path of the tornado. Thanks.
And nobody bothered to turn on a local TV channel or local radio channel? You all dodged a HUGE bullet to be close enough to have all that debris in your yard!! I HOPE you know better now!
I'll tell ya what that it, it's an , uhumm da fuq is that? yo that's fuckin freaky as shit. maybe a jjin? taking off my tin foil hat and id guess it's a bush that's waving back and forth... hat back on, THAT AIN'T NO FUCKIN BUSH, ASSHOLE!
You did have warning, from those sirens heard in the video, but you guies probably get those a lot in Missouri. The closet under the stairs is a good idea for shelter, but if that thing would have directly hit you, you probably would have been either dead or injured anyway.
Hey man I have made a clip where I zoomed in and boosted the audio to make it sound close to what it really sounded like. I haven’t (nor would I) post it anywhere. Let me know if you would like to have it to maybe even add to your channel
The tornado sirens come on when a tornado warning is issued. Trust me, I live in S.E. Kansas and we hear them quite frequently. Acutally, they perform a standard test every Tuesday at Noon during the Spring to make sure the sirens work :)
Glad you were out of the path of destruction. My wife and I were on 23rd and Pennsylvania. Right in the middle of the thing. We got down to the basement about 2 minutes before it struck. There's no experience like going down into the basement and everything is alright to coming up a few minutes later to complete destruction. Definitely the most terrifying experience of my life.
I'm so glad you and your wife are okay Shawn
@@Ena48145 It will be determined if bell icon and Moderators are paying atention to the control over algorithmic activities even knew you left this Comment?
I was only about 10 miles away from the Plainfield tornado in '90. God had mercy on you.
“We’re in a closet, in the middle of the house.” *Standing at the window filming....boy you just lied to your momma! LOL
Wonder if she watched this? 😂😂😂😂
right, he could definitely still get in trouble LOL
🤣🤣
LOL, He told his momma a Bald Ass Lie
He clearly meant "im close enough to the closet to get in it if the nado gets close enough to me." Haha
The thing about this tornado that always fascinated with me was how dark everything got. In so many videos, it looks like it's midnight when it starts to hit
Agreed! So apocalyptic and terrifying.
I lived about 15 minutes south in Neosho, MO, so had no chance of being hit that day, but we had the same as the system passed over. It went from a picture perfect but hot day to the most rapid lightning I’ve ever seen in the time it took to leash my dog to go out for a potty break. Then it turned black as night in the middle of the afternoon. Eerie stuff.
Right, crazy. 540pm but pitch black out in May. Didn't seem like the stereotypical open field Oklahoma Kansas tornado, it was just a bad storm that kept getting worse and worse and worse and worse and darker and darker until it destroyed everything. Fucking wild
Yep then when they hit you at night the lightening makes it look like daylight now and then. We were just hit here in Sulphur ok April 27th at night. I lived 30 mins south of Joplin when this one hit.
For anyone wondering, he is standing at Willow Ln and E 13th St looking W/SW. Just East of Duquesne. Little did they know the tornado was headed in their direction but ended up taking a more SE turn towards the end.
This actually was very helpful. It’s useful to know where they were in proximity to the tornado.
Except for there being a child at that house the tornado should of wiped it out and left everything else in Joplin along. These lefty maggots go out sight seeing, don't help one person out, even turn some away asking for help. Fucking rot in hell maggots!
Any time you hear a deep guttural rumble like that from a tornado, it's either a high end EF4 or an EF5 and it means business. Glad you guies didn't get hit, but it was extremely dangerous trying to film this tornado since it was rain wrapped and hard to see. If it were me, I would have put the camera in the window and headed for shelter, but great video.
I drove through Joplin in 2015 and you could still see the clear path that monster took, all new buildings and houses everywhere with no trees or half trees. That thing was a monster.
The sound of those tornado sirens is the scariest sound I have ever heard.
Chicago ones are horrible. ua-cam.com/video/LnkMSmLc6mM/v-deo.html
Watch the Rochelle il tornado. Those sirens are so spooky.
That's what my grandmother said. She was in a bomb shelter taking cover from German bombs. Sirens always gave her chills. Don't have many in the UK now.
They were never meant for tornados, they were meant for the cold war
Hearing them live and close up is even scarier.
Boy what timing for your move, helluva “Welcome to Joplin”.I live in Seattle now, but born in Kansas spent time in Oklahoma some years ago helping my parents.
Funny you say that. I moved to Moore 2 weeks before the 2013 monster. That was my "welcome to Oklahoma!"
I feel that.
Of course, living in southwest Missouri, we get tornado warnings issued, the sirens go off, people take cover.. and nothing happens. I should know; I live in Webb City. My friend graduated that day from Joplin High and we were heading back to her house... if we had left the college any later and gone down Range Line, we probably would have been in it. It's a mind-numbing experience, but I'm glad that everyone back home is able to rebuild their lives from the ground up after this tragic tornado.
I was in California and crying with the rest of the country watching the horror that had just taken place. We were all with Joplin in thought on this devastating day and the weeks to follow.
May all of the lost souls Rest In Peace. Thank you for publishing these videos.
I was born in Joplin 1956 Can remember as a kid every spring and summer watching thunderstorms and being fascinated Was in GA when it hit
I ended up watching monsters inc. for a moment and not the window =P
They had put that on for his friends child, if this is the same guy...
every time i've been in a tornado i get chills from the eerie sight of all the trees bending over at the same time
"We're in a tornado right now."
"Oh good LORD!"
I know this was no laughing matter at the time, but hearing that 12 years later gave me quite a chuckle 😂
That tone seriously said "I WILL beat your ass if you don't get in shelter!"
Yep, I'm pretty sure that was the tornado *just* missing them. They're pretty lucky to come away from that with only some roof and tree damage.
What was crawling around at the bottom right hand corner of the window at the 6:02-6:07 mark of the video?
Yeah! I’m wondering the same thing!
Weather fascinates me. I cannot believe how quickly the skies changed color. Wow.
thunder in tornadic storms sounds much more different than in regular thunderstorms
Yeah
I can also hear the difference.
i was just thinking the same in every video ive watched the cg strikes and thunder look and sound way diffrent than even in a severe thunderstorm does than in a tornadic storm such as this!!
the reason the right I have a great time SDHBG BNHPFGSAQWERL
Tornados have positively charged lightning, unlike regular storms with negatively charged.
Very fortunate they were on the fringe end of an EF-5. Luckily they weren't one of the 158 souls that lost their lives that horrible day
162 souls
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Crispy Nips how?
162💔
It is difficult to put into words the emotions I have when I see the devastation and destruction that was caused by this storm. My thoughts and prayers are extended to all the people who are dealing with so much loss
for future references, a battery operated weather radio, or one of those hand crank survival radios.
I've got a ✋ Crank weather radio with a flashlight
that roar is scary!!!...dang!...great video an I am glad you guys made it through safe!
It's crazy how tornados can drop on a community and literally wipe it off the map. My heart goes out to all the souls lost. RIP🙏
Just found your place on Google Earth. It's a new house so it doesn't show up on street view, but I found it. I like comparing these videos to the damage seen on Google Earth to see just how far from the tornado these videos were taken. That tornado was nosing towards your home. Just to your south and west, trees were flattened and homes got nailed pretty hard. You are lucky it turned. It would have gotten you if it hadn't. You would have been on the edge, but been in it nonetheless. Good video!
I've watched this video several times but now I just watched it for the first time now with good quality headphones over the ear ones and you can actually pick up the dam roar and rumble of the tornado it's like you can feel it very very deep rumble I've never noticed this before!!
I agree
Creepy! 😱
Exactly!! Three things for these guys!! First, clouds aren’t suppose to rotate, especially in one direction, secondly, lightening doesn’t come from the ground up, and third, thunder has breaks in it, not a constant roar of rumble!! The light is going in to the storm as well on each side! Plus guys, when tornado sirens go off, please take shelter! Don’t be such a guy and stand there looking at the thing!! I guess guys want the tornado to say something to them, or yell, “ I’m a tornado stupid!!” Not sure why they stand there looking at the thing!!?? As though they needed to be pinched in the butt to get moving and to know it’s really a tornado staring them in the face!! If that’s a guy thing, then the guys can keep it!! That’s one thing I don’t mind handing over to them!! Lol!! It’s exactly like when a truck or car breaks down and all these guys, at least 4 or 5, are all standing around with the hood up looking at the engine!! First, what are they looking at?? Secondly, is the car going to tell you what’s wrong with it if you all stand there long enough?? I know!! I know!! It’s a guy thing!! Seriously, I’m so glad you two guys and your son were safe that day and no harm came to you!! The tornado was making a turn to the southeast by then, soon after crossing I44!!
I think I have that same brand of TV, lol. Anyways, I have a feeling the haziness before you guys went inside was the tornado.
It was likely the rain shroud that surrounded it. The Joplin tornado was over a mile wide, and caused so much damage with so much speed that the debri became shrapnel. The poor souls who lost their lives had to be pieced together to identify. A horrific storm
Reminds me of my dad when it was storming. As a former fireman we would stand out in the lightening to see which was the storm was coming. He loved any kind of disaster because it reminded him of his fireman days. We just thought he was crazy.
Damn you guys were in a certain part of joplin cuz the house wasnt completely blown off but the roofing looks like it was torn off partially and had debris. Joplin had to be one of the scariest tornadoes
Two days after this, there was an EF4 tornado headed right at my town which miraculously dissipated about 3 mi. south of us( but left dirt and grass in the air that dropped on my car outside the shelter) . Another EF4 went about 10 mi. west of us and an EF5 took a 60 mi. long 3/4 mi wide path just NW of Oklahoma City about 40 mi. away. I certainly felt blessed and made a significant contribution to Joplin relief efforts. Btw, the May 3,'99 F5 that hit Moore Okla. went 10 mi. west of me also.
Yes, a basement is a good bet during a tornado. Safe rooms, however, are better. We're going to be getting one installed in our garage next month at our house here in West Plains, since our house doesn't have a basement.
Also, there's a combination of factors that led to so many deaths from the Joplin tornado:
1) In 1973, a severe thunderstorm hit Joplin that killed 5 people from a mictoburst. This led Joplin city officials to decide to also sound sirens for severe thunderstorm warnings as well as tornado warnings. In turn, people began to ignore the sirens, since severe thunderstorm warnings are much more common than tornado warnings.
2) The National Weather Service in Springfield, which serves Joplin, has historically not been as good as the National Weather Service in Tulsa at predicting whether a particular storm will drop a tornado. In other words, Springfield has had a history of issuing tornado warnings without the storm in question dropping a tornado. This too led to Joplinites ignoring tornado warnings.
3) At 5:17 PM, when the NWS in Springfield first upgraded the severe thunderstorm warning that was in effect to a tornado warning, Doppler radar showed that the storm was headed for Carl Junction, and thus, they mentioned Carl Junction being in the path of the storm and said nothing about Joplin. Having other storms to keep track of, there was no update on the storm at all. In fact, at 5:39 PM, it was storm spotters who told police to sound the sirens in Joplin -- and the NWS in Springfield totally dropped the ball this one. In fact, IIRC, I think some NWS employees got fired over this.
4) The lack of basements in Joplin plus the fact that the storm was so loud you couldn't hear the outdoor sirens made for a deadly combination.
5) It wasn't until the following year that FEMA introduced the Wireless Emergency Alerts for cell phones that sound the infamous EBS tone on your phone if a tornado or flash flood warning is issued for your area.
6:47
That’s pieces of your neighbors lives scattered on your lawn. 😪
You should drop a map on some of these showing your location.
He is standing at Willow Ln and E 13th St looking W/SW. Just East of Duquesne.
Even before it formd, that strange feel and that colour of the sky. Man, that feels like trouble
The Joplin tornado fascinates me because it developed so quickly and moved so fast. Something to watch for every tornado season.
It actually did not move that fast but it did develop exceptionally quick. I remember watching it on the Weather Channel that day as they were following it with their chase team. The storm was so disorganized and weak until it crossed the Missouri border. I actually turned off the TV and went to do something else. It showed little signs of development until it "merged" with another cell and became a high precipitation monster.
A day full of sunshine is ideal for later evening storm development :D
First time seeing a smile with a capital D? ☺ I think 1 will give it a try ya it does work after the :Development:D oh befor too :)
Why didn't you have the TV tuned to the local news?
"I see things flying around outside."
"Do you?"
"Ahh, I saw a piece of paper."
Ha ha!
Lol
There's a piece of paper outside right now as I type.
Blue skies...
Lol
That roar is frightening.
Watching from Seattle all these years later. Very cool footage
Wow thank God you're okay! My first experience with a tornado was when we moved to TX in Feb. 2001. That spring (on my son's 6th birthday) a tornado came right down the street next to the apt complex we were living in at the time. It wasn't as big as this one, but being the first one I experienced it was horrifying.
It was 20-25% destroyed. The "mess" is mostly cleaned up, though there are still empty lots where homes used to be. I believe St. John's hospital was finally recently demolished so that they can start rebuilding. It killed 158 directly and another four indirectly. I'm not sure how you define "worst." Costliest? Deadliest? Strongest? Largest? Either way it wasn't the worst ever. The Tri-State tornado in 1925 killed nearly 700. But that doesn't mean this one wasn't absolutely terrible and tragic.
It’s interesting that if you go online and read about “worst” tornadoes, there are tons and tons of “worst tornadoes” to hit this country that probably number in the 100’s. I think the gist of it is that anything EF4 and up earns a title of “worst” because they just plain are. 😲
The 1925 tornado had a lot more distance on it and the siren warning systems were not good. Sounded like the strongest and deadliest per capita most powerful highest wind was xenia ohio.
They claim over 300 mph with the xenia but I wonder if there was an airspeed indicator .
actually, the tornado sirens are activated when a tornado has been indicated on Radar or has been sighted by trained spotters. The local fire dept or police station has the key to set off the sirens.. hope this helps!
Please do not take ANY of this as insult as that is not my intention.... I think it is so amazing and awesome that you documented all of this. But.... being from and living in Missouri all of my life.... well I'm not sure if you are just really brave or really stupid. You are very very lucky that you weren't in direct path! Next time (I pray for you there never is a next time) go to the basement!! I am going to chalk this off to the fact that you had just moved here and maybe didn't realize how dangerous the weather can be... certainly most of us didn't realize exactly how bad it could be until Joplin. (I have lived in and around St. Louis all of my life.) Ever since this day, if there is even a warning, I run my butt to the basement.... I have bags with food and flashlights packed at all times, made sure to have pet carriers out and ready if there is any inclination we MIGHT get bad weather to put my cats into to take with me... it's scary. Stay safe and bless you for the risks you took to bring this footage to us!!
Erin Shea
Don't forget a good pair of shoes in case you need to walk on debris. :-)
Btw, not everyone has a basement. I noticed there were two electric meters on their home, so this might be a duplex, condo or whatever.
/waves from west St. Louis County (far northern Wildwood, almost Chesterfield).
tscooter22
All so very true. I don't have a basement. I'm in a top floor apartment. I just go to the bottom level and hope for the best. I'm in Fenton these days. I know right where you are. Stay safe this storm season!
+tscooter22 (waves from Webster Groves, getting ready to play in the Turkey Day game against Kirkwood)
Good luck!!
+Erin Shea these folks just moved here from Seattle, first time they ever even heard sirens....i think it said they were only in the 2nd week living in Joplin, they know now, for sure! like at around 5:45, one says, "its calm now" and the other says "it could be the eye".like a hurricane? lol to us in the midwest, but imagine seeing your first major storm, and have it be this!!
In the video it looks like these are RFD (rear flank downdraft) winds, not those caused by the main funnel.
they are a couple miles north of the tornado, so just heavy winds, rain and possibly hail.
I'm a trained skywarn storm spotter and storm chaser if you get rfd winds you are very close to the tonado
This had to have been very scary for you since you hadn't experienced a tornado siren and situation like this before. It really was a different world for you.
One thousand one, one thousand two.
Smart. I judge distance the same way and it works like a charm.
Willow is over near MSSU right? When the tornado was tearing thru town you had no idea how bad it really was. I had some friends who were at 17th and Virginia, they had some broken windows and roofing ripped off, and since there was no electricity (or tv), they had no idea how they were only a few blocks away from total destruction. I had relatives that lost everything, but none who lost their lives. I remember telling my friends, who were only a few blocks away, just how bad the tornado was, they were stunned and so thankful to have been spared the worst of it.
just remember that if there are storms in the area, turn on your local news in that moment. it could save your life. you'll learn in missouri you HAVE to pay attention to the weather forecast and warnings.
*almost the entire USA
It’s not just Missouri.
could you all hear how loud the tornado was at it passed by..what did it sound like?
Great footage, gives me chills! One thing I would note (I tried scrolling down to see if anyone else had posted this but didn't see anything), is that lightening distance is not one mile for every second counted. It is actually 1 mile for every 5 seconds counted. In the opening sequence I heard someone count to about 1,000 and 4 after a lightening flash before thunder, and then you say, about 5 miles away. That bolt was less than a mile away! I thought the same way for a long time.
Is the howling sound in the beginning of the video the sound of the tornado approaching?
The guy who shot this footage was a fool, and the guy with him was also clueless to the danger they were putting themselves in. I mean, standing in front of a window with high winds and a tornado in progress??
Would be interesting to know the street/adress to see how far the tornados path were from you guys
"AH, TORNADO! Ooh, Monsters, Inc!"
Close call there. Very close! Glad they dodged that monster. After all. We all know how hellish it was that night and I highly doubt that home would have withstood impact. By the lightning strikes it more than likely just nipped them.
What kind of camera was you using to film this? You did excellent!!!
"I see things flying around"
"You do?"
"Well I saw a PIECE OF PAPER"
I live in Dixie Alley, Huntsville,Al.
what siren am i hearing? ASC 128?
What is that? bottom right corner of the window. @ around 6:00-6:09 maybe optical illusion?
Looks like an animal 😭
Debris from the homes ripped up by the twister. You are so lucky you weren't hit!
At 4:26, the thunder, was that an echo?
i guess i mean you can hear the thunder go on for atleast 5 seconds so it has to atleast have some sort of echo.
Was just in Joplin this past weekend. Amazing the destruction even 8 months after the tornado itself. But it's great to see progress as well.
Welcome to Southwest Missouri! How are you enjoying our weather?
Knowing now it was an F5 makes watching even scarier
it was crazy dark...wow!!!!...thanks...how are the repairs coming with the city.
That sucks you are only there 2 weeks and a tornado hits. Were you okay and was your house okay?
*outside watching and hears wind, screams runs inside* I’m ok.
Hey there nuhurizon . I lived in Tacoma, WA and Springfield, MO. So we’ve both lived in similar areas in common. Man, I’m sorry you had to experience this atrocious disaster so soon after moving to MO. I never saw a tornado much less a bad T-storm living in WA for quite some years. But I’ve lived all over and had my share of Tornado experiences. I was in St. Louis on that day visiting family and I saw it on the news. A few days later I traveled back to NWA. Just horrible!
The "roar" of a tornado can only be produced by very high wind speeds, you wouldn't hear that deep menacing sound from a smaller tornado, so he is in fact marginally correct.
Holy shit, you guys were next to the beast...
Yeah this tornado was rain wrapped, so it was very hard to see. With the roar being as loud as it was, I would have been running for shelter.
Glad you guys are ok!!!!
I saw this horrific tornado's aftermath, and one family from Joplin ended up hiding in the freezer at a local gas station. It was said that there were little to no survivors in that family.
Ones in the Freezer Did survive at the Gas station so what are you talking about? its in a video.
To think this same storm could've dropped this tornado over my town, I didnt even know joplin was hit til 4 hours later
And the Tornado Siren sings a lone, distant solo: The arrival of the Joplin Tornado is here!...
people say the only siren was after the Tornado touched down.This proves the people lied.they were too worried about their precious movie or tv show interrupted by a little thing such as a severe weather update
+ACE Gardner the tornado went from like a bit of ground circulation to a full wedge in less than a minute. I'd imagine it's hard to get the warning out fast when that happens
charlie saville especially considering it immediately became rain wrapped as well. This was the “perfect” (lack of a better word) disaster.
Xaptus_4 Living Mice∞. It surely does. Wow
I am from Illinois, but I happened to pick a great time to head to Oklahoma to vistit family. I was there for almost two weeks, and we were always playing board games by candlelight that week. We even had to hide in the pantry for a littile one night. One of my cousins was on the porch the whole time. Oklahoma was also have tornados around Tulsa.One also hit Jeinks Ok. When the bad whether was finished we headed toward Branson and drove by Joplin on the way and the damage was devastating.
It looks like you got the outer wind field of the tornado. Lucky
Sounds like you had some window damage possibly? How bad did it mess up your home?
What a terrible, terrible life changing storm for so many. I hope that never happens again to those people.
So glad you are okay nuhurizon. Amazing video. Also amazes me how many people comment on this video that want to act holier than thou about how you guys handled it. You handled it incredibly well, especially for someone who moved there only two weeks prior. I saw you on the Nat Geo documentary of this tragedy. Felt so badly for you when they said how new you were to the area.
I wish people who commented on this video would read the comments beforehand. This poor guy is getting asked the same questions over and over. Read and you shall discover. Geez.
You definitely handled better than the storm chasers that run into each other. And the ones that yell real loud. It's mostly about planning ahead isn't it. We had a neighbor in Wichita who let all the neighbors into their basement. Which like I say all those friendly people made it a lot less scary. Even the modular style houses foundations were remaining and the basements were untouched. But chimneys crashing are a problem. I've heard several story buildings often collapse into the basement. I wonder how many people would survive in storm cellars with only ground over them. Usually people get killed because they're not where they're supposed to be.
Im pretty sure when this video started, the tornado was crossing rangeline rd. From a map, Willow Lane and 13th St., are closer to where Hwy 249 and I-44 meet. Which the tornado goes through that as well. Still sad to think about
Is that a PS3 next to the flat screen TV.
Puzzled by your counting in the first 3 mins of the clip. Counting between lightning and thunder, I waz always taught that a slow count of 5 meant 1 mile distant... count 10 it`s 2 miles distant, so it was closer than you thought. Glad you made it ok.
What's the intersection of this location? S. Willow Ln. and.. ? Not trying to be creepy; just wanting to compare the location to the path of the tornado. Thanks.
Yeah I tried to find it as well. Google Maps brings up Willow Ln, but it looks nothing like what's in the video.
There's another Willow Ln in East Duquesne.
Can’t make out where there at
And nobody bothered to turn on a local TV channel or local radio channel? You all dodged a HUGE bullet to be close enough to have all that debris in your yard!! I HOPE you know better now!
@nuhurizon at 3:04 was it night time or was it really that dark out side...couldnt see any thing out of your window....
5:54 bottom right of window, what is that?
Matt Burke raccoon?
I'll tell ya what that it, it's an , uhumm da fuq is that? yo that's fuckin freaky as shit. maybe a jjin? taking off my tin foil hat and id guess it's a bush that's waving back and forth... hat back on, THAT AIN'T NO FUCKIN BUSH, ASSHOLE!
You did have warning, from those sirens heard in the video, but you guies probably get those a lot in Missouri. The closet under the stairs is a good idea for shelter, but if that thing would have directly hit you, you probably would have been either dead or injured anyway.
Did your house receive much damage?(glad you guys were safe)
Hey man I have made a clip where I zoomed in and boosted the audio to make it sound close to what it really sounded like. I haven’t (nor would I) post it anywhere. Let me know if you would like to have it to maybe even add to your channel
“We’re in a closet.” He says to his mom as his face is against the glass, watching one of the deadliest tornadoes in US history 😂
7:30 thats some of the scariest sounds ive heard!
The top of that tree that got knocked off, There's your Christmas tree 🌲
This IS BAD!!! God Bless all of you that made it through this! The thunder is non-stop!!
Haha. Fellow breadman. Nothing can stop the bread truck. Even if you want it to..
Where does tornado appear in tHis vid?
In the start, it was a rain wrapped tornado you couldn't see it before it was to late😮
who keeps on turning the lights off
Cant find any further episodes...are there any more?
ua-cam.com/play/PL149CC1C537CEEF50.html
The tornado sirens come on when a tornado warning is issued. Trust me, I live in S.E. Kansas and we hear them quite frequently. Acutally, they perform a standard test every Tuesday at Noon during the Spring to make sure the sirens work :)