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posted by martyb on Sunday December 12 2021, @03:45AM   Printer-friendly

At least 100 feared dead after tornadoes devastate six US states:

US President Joe Biden has pledged support to states affected by a swarm of devastating tornadoes that demolished homes, levelled businesses and left at least 100 people feared dead.

Describing the tornadoes as likely "one of the largest" storm outbreaks in history, Biden on Saturday approved an emergency disaster declaration for the worst-hit state of Kentucky, where at least 22 people have been confirmed dead.

"It's a tragedy," said a shaken Biden. "And we still don't know how many lives are lost and the full extent of the damage."

He added, "I promise you, whatever is needed – whatever is needed – the federal government is going to find a way to provide it."

The powerful twisters, which weather forecasters say are unusual in cooler months, destroyed a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, ripped through a nursing home in neighbouring Arkansas, and killed at least six workers at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the collection of tornadoes was the most destructive in the state's history. He said about 40 workers had been rescued at the candle factory, which had about 110 people inside when it was reduced to a pile of rubble.

[...] Mayfield Fire Chief Jeremy Creason, whose own station was destroyed, said the candle factory was diminished to a "pile of bent metal and steel and machinery" and that responders had to at times "crawl over casualties to get to live victims".

[...] The tornado outbreak was triggered by a series of overnight thunderstorms, including a supercell storm that formed in northeast Arkansas. That storm moved from Arkansas and Missouri and into Tennessee and Kentucky.

Unusually high temperatures and humidity created the environment for such an extreme weather event at this time of year, said Victor Gensini, a professor in geographic and atmospheric sciences at Northern Illinois University.

"This is an historic, if not generational event," Gensini said.

If early reports are confirmed, the twister may have touched down for nearly 250 miles (400km), he said, a path length longer than the longest tornado on record, which tracked for about 220 miles (355 km) through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in March 1925.

[...] The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center said it received 36 reports of tornadoes touching down in Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

[...] In Edwardsville, Illinois, Fire Chief James Whiteford said at least six people were killed when an Amazon warehouse collapsed. Some 45 people survived.

[...] In Monette, Arkansas, one person was killed and five seriously injured when a tornado tore through a nursing home with 90 beds.

Also at phys.org, CNET, and CNN


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  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:18AM (23 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:18AM (#1204073)

    Let's hear all the excuses why this is NOT about climate change. Please khallow, enlighten us how the consequences of our actions are, ummmm, what now. Just some bad luck seems to keep happening year after year?

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:33AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:33AM (#1204075)

      Enlighten us about how climate change also caused the 1974 super outbreak. I'll be awaiting your explanation.

      • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:01AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:01AM (#1204087)

        Climate change is so powerful that it can cause back-propagating timewise eddies in the space-time continuum. Is that Eddie's chesterfield sofa?

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by canopic jug on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:18AM (3 children)

      by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:18AM (#1204097) Journal

      The weather patterns have already changed. Look at the path the tornadoes took this time and how long they stayed on the ground. More heat equals more water and energy into the storms. Furthermore, the areas that do get water are getting more of it:

      Atmospheric rivers will become about 10% less frequent by the end of this century, but about 25% longer and wider, the study found. That will lead to nearly double the frequency of the most intense atmospheric river storms.

      Canada flood shows how climate change could fuel atmospheric river storms [reuters.com]

      So these rain events in the US and Canada over recent years are a small taste of what is yet to come if the crisis is not managed immediately.

      --
      Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @12:33PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @12:33PM (#1204182)

        a small taste of what is yet to come if the crisis is not managed immediately.

        FTFY. Past the point of no return.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @03:03PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @03:03PM (#1204229)

          Nah. If there were the will to take drastic measures and think longer term than a year or two, we could drastically change the climate intentionally and benefit from it.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:24PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:24PM (#1204302)

            I don't own a sea front resort in Florida. I don't give a shit about preserving the current status quo.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:31AM (2 children)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:31AM (#1204102) Journal

      Well, since nobody is going cut back on emissions, maybe the best thing to do is to up our building standards and codes to be more wind/flood resistant, fire too, while we're at it. Buy your Arizona beachfront properties before the prices jump.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by coolgopher on Sunday December 12 2021, @08:33AM (1 child)

        by coolgopher (1157) on Sunday December 12 2021, @08:33AM (#1204154)

        Adaption is going to be so much more expensive than mitigation would have been.

        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:49PM

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:49PM (#1204369) Journal

          Doesn't matter now, adapting is what we have to do. Now is a good time to start.

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @03:54PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @03:54PM (#1204254)

      Let's hear all the excuses why this is NOT about climate change.

      Was it also climate change in the 19th Century? https://www.axios.com/extreme-weather-worst-tornado-outbreak-89dbf8f6-5c63-4593-8890-0cf944513350.html [axios.com]

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 14 2021, @02:18AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 14 2021, @02:18AM (#1204840)

        It doesn't bother you at all that all your examples are in spring or early summer, but that we now get that weather in December?

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:59PM (9 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:59PM (#1204330) Journal
      Hi!

      Just some bad luck seems to keep happening year after year?

      Sounds like you just answered your own question. As I've noted before, extreme weather harm is mostly due to non-climate factors like idiots building in harm's way and poor emergency preparedness. Here, bad luck indeed seems the best explanation not ambiguous climate change.

      • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:40PM (8 children)

        by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:40PM (#1204364) Homepage Journal

        Seems to me we've had a decade or more of "bad luck", Mr. Ostrich.

        --
        mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday December 12 2021, @11:29PM (7 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday December 12 2021, @11:29PM (#1204449) Journal
          We've had bad luck from before there was an oxygen atmosphere. The "but this time the tornadoes are climate change" argument is just a brazen display of confirmation bias.
          • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday December 14 2021, @07:29PM (6 children)

            by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Tuesday December 14 2021, @07:29PM (#1205053) Homepage Journal

            Yes, just like the species that caused the first mass extinction by exhaling a gas that was toxic to them, oxygen, we are making our own environment uninhabitable to our own species. Unlike them, we can do something about it unless we all have our heads in the sand (or up our asses). The fact that WE are causing this unprecedented climate change is the difference between past climates.

            We could become another Venus, you know. Is that what you're hoping for?

            --
            mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday December 14 2021, @08:15PM (5 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 14 2021, @08:15PM (#1205085) Journal

              Yes, just like the species that caused the first mass extinction by exhaling a gas that was toxic to them, oxygen, we are making our own environment uninhabitable to our own species.

              How? I can't help but notice that the "species" that caused the first mass extinction (which incidentally probably was far from the first mass extinction!) is still around to soak up the problems that are allegedly making our own environment uninhabitable. I think such hyperbole poorly suits you.

              • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday December 18 2021, @08:47PM (4 children)

                by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday December 18 2021, @08:47PM (#1206208) Homepage Journal

                Oxygen was toxic to the first species that exhaled it. When a similar species later appeared, the oxygen was here. Not all species die in any mass extinction, and that's when you have the biggest leaps of evolution.

                And there were no previous extinctions than the one caused by oxygen, they've looked back as far as life has existed here. The first billion years of life on Earth is called "the boring billion" because there was no evolution at all for that first billion. 750 million years later and here we are, half a dozen mass extinctions later. Were it not for the one 65 million years ago, we would not be here.

                --
                mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday December 19 2021, @08:41AM (3 children)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday December 19 2021, @08:41AM (#1206327) Journal

                  And there were no previous extinctions than the one caused by oxygen, they've looked back as far as life has existed here.

                  I strongly doubt that. What happened to all those organisms without cell walls, for example?

                  The first billion years of life on Earth is called "the boring billion" because there was no evolution at all for that first billion.

                  Or rather, there's no fossil record about which to describe that evolution. The cell wall and much of the internal biochemical processes came from somewhere.

                  • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Sunday December 19 2021, @06:08PM (2 children)

                    by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Sunday December 19 2021, @06:08PM (#1206418) Homepage Journal

                    What happened to all those organisms without cell walls, for example?

                    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/tiny-vampires-fossils-life-evolution-earth-science/ [nationalgeographic.com]

                    Or rather, there's no fossil record about which to describe that evolution/I>.

                    RTFA.

                    --
                    mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday December 19 2021, @09:18PM (1 child)

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday December 19 2021, @09:18PM (#1206494) Journal
                      The very first line:

                      The corpses of the victims are roughly 750 million years old.

                      The Great Oxygenation was thought to have started 2 to 2.4 billion years ago. So you're speaking of a period of time afterwards (the "Boring Billion" seems crudely to be the span of time 1 to 2 billion years ago - and I remain in strong doubt that they have enough information to know that period of time was boring in the evolutionary sense). And I'm speaking of extinctions that would happen well before the Great Oxygenation event.

                      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 22 2021, @09:14PM

                        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 22 2021, @09:14PM (#1207215) Journal
                        As example of my doubt about the "Boring Billion", it's thought that there was a snowball Earth at the end of that time. Glaciers erode rock quickly. The interesting part of that time span may be lost to us due to such erosion.
    • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Monday December 13 2021, @06:31AM (1 child)

      by istartedi (123) on Monday December 13 2021, @06:31AM (#1204544) Journal

      That's not me, but I'll bite. As always, "weather is not climate", unless it fits an agenda and this applies to *both* sides. Super-violent F4 and F5 tornado outbreaks have always been rare, but they've always happened. The fatality profile of an outbreak will additionally correlate to population, construction quality, and random chance.

      For example, let's compare this outbreak to the Great Natchez Tornado of 1840 [wikipedia.org], which struck at a time when the population of the US was considerably lower and the Earth colder, but it looks like the fact that it struck flat-boats on a river had a lot to do with the high fatality figures.

      So. This outbreak doesn't prove climate change; but it also doesn't disprove it. A lot of people either can't or don't want to understand events in a statistically sound way.

      --
      Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by dalek on Tuesday December 14 2021, @04:55AM

        by dalek (15489) on Tuesday December 14 2021, @04:55AM (#1204880)

        I understand the sentiment of your post, but there is at least some merit to discussing a link with climate change.

        There's a downward trend overall in tornado events in the Plains, the area historically known as Tornado Alley. Tornado frequency seems to be increasing in the Southeast, so there seems to be an eastward shift in tornado activity.

        There's also some evidence that cool season tornado events are increasing in frequency, even if there isn't a similar upward trend in the warm season. The vertical wind shear (change in wind speed and/or direction with height) was on the very high end of what would be expected in the cool season, but I don't see a clear link with climate change. That said, dewpoints were in the upper 60s in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. You typically need a dewpoint at a minimum in the low 60s to be favorable for strong to violent tornadoes like these, and that's on the low end. One of the predictions associated with climate change is an increase in the moisture content in the atmosphere. It's highly unusual to have dewpoints in the upper 60s in that area at this time of year, but it happened. There's often abundant shear during the cool season, but moisture and instability are generally limiting factors. If there's an increase in the moisture content of the atmosphere, it might very well mean that the humidity and the instability needed for tornado outbreaks will be present more often during the cool season.

        I have a hard time attributing a single event like this to climate change. There is the precedent of the tri-state tornado, which occurred in March, and not far from where this event occurred. I don't know the return period for this type of event, but for the sake of discussion, let's say it was a once-in-a-century event. The limiting factor is that the atmospheric conditions needed for a tornado outbreak like this just don't occur very often at all. However, if climate change causes those conditions to occur more frequently, it might no longer be a once-in-a-century event.

        These trends definitely matter because there are more tornado deaths in the Southeast than in the Plains. In a place like Oklahoma City, the preparedness (e.g., building codes, systems for disseminating warnings, emergency plans at public places, etc...) and societal attitudes are different than in the Southeast. Although there's no way to be certain, I suspect that if the same storms moved through areas like Oklahoma City and Wichita at the same time of year and the same time of night, there probably would have been much less loss of life. If strong and violent tornadoes are going to become more frequent in the Southeast, the issues that already lead to more tornado deaths in the Southeast would be exacerbated. There are very important policy considerations if events like this are going to become more frequent in the Southeast.

        --
        THIS ACCOUNT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:35AM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:35AM (#1204076)

    A bunch of right wing nutjobs died. Boo hoo. I'd care if this involved people who hadn't sold their souls to Trump, but it didn't. Boo fucking hoo.

    • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:55AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:55AM (#1204083)

      My New Year's wish is that the next one rolls through your neighborhood.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:24PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:24PM (#1204272)

        ...And sends a hundred illegal aliens to live in your house.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:05AM (7 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:05AM (#1204088)

      Most of them were workers in a candle factory. Are people with actual jobs more likely to be D or R? And does it really matter when the poor bastards are being crushed by tons of shit falling on them?

      You are not a human being. You might look like one, but you are obviously not sapient. Some sort of scum sucking soulless cockroach would be my guess.

      • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:16AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:16AM (#1204096)

        YOU got caught impersonating APK and got shot down by him easily by facts of APK's successes with hosts files vs tons of threats online https://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12598948&cid=57292126 [slashdot.org]. Same with barbarahudson the tranny freak (who is webmistressrachel also as a sockpuppet) that also admitted to impersonating him plus failed miserably on technical information in programming vs APK here https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=33430&page=1&cid=889582#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] with links from slashdot verifying it as fact that destroyed that Transtecticular Monstrosity, lol, totally. It's all there and there is no denying it. It's all there and there is no denying it. whipslash (Logan Abbott) /. owner said he'd ban APK? For what?? Stopping his main financier in Google ads, helping others go faster and safer online using hosts files AND literally for 3 yrs. straight in APK making him out a fool for saying he'd ban APK when he couldn't?? The reason ac posting got stopped on /. was APK PROVED NOBODY COULD STOP HIM POSTING FACTS that made them look like unskilled powerless fools against him. Fact. That was classic and the icing on the cake there, here and for putting you in your rightful place. The crapper where a do nothing nobody shitbag like you belongs!

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 14 2021, @02:21AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 14 2021, @02:21AM (#1204842)

          NOBODY can STOP apk FROM posting FACTS and LOGIC! FACTS and LOGIC!

          - APK

          P.S. - APK

          - APK

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @02:47PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @02:47PM (#1204226)

        Kentucky is going to reject the offer of Federal assistance, aren't they? It would be extremely hypocritical of them to take that socialist free Government money.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:44PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:44PM (#1204283)

          Money isn't free. Somebody pays. Eventually, we all do. Ultimately, you will.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:28PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:28PM (#1204305)

            Actually money *is* free. Ownership is fiction. The only rules are the laws of physics, with a thin veneer of civilization held up by a fraglle police state.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:44PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:44PM (#1204383)

          Kentucky is going to reject the offer of Federal assistance, aren't they? It would be extremely hypocritical of them to take that socialist free Government money.

          Well sure, if you're going to give everyone in the state a permanent exemption from any and all federal taxes.

          • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @11:13PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @11:13PM (#1204440)

            They pretty much have that situation now. Kentucky gets way more money from the Fed than it pays in taxes. And how do they thank the rest of the country for their mooching? By doing their part to try to destroy democracy and keep a virulent disease raging.

            Thanks Kentucky.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:39AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:39AM (#1204077)

    Good riddance.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:57AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:57AM (#1204084)

      Hopefully the next one scours you and your ilk from the face of the earth.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:45AM (#1204079)

    Next time you do this, pay a visit to Runaway's house.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:51AM (#1204081)

    I bet all 100+ just happen to vote for Democrats in 2022 and 2024.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:54AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:54AM (#1204082)

    100+ dead after Jews send tornadoes after Goys in six states

  • (Score: -1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:59AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:59AM (#1204085)

    Democrats can't wait to dance on their graves and shout about climate change. Sickening.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:05AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:05AM (#1204117)

    ... I didn't vote for Biden :grin:

  • (Score: 2, Flamebait) by Frosty Piss on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:06AM (3 children)

    by Frosty Piss (4971) on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:06AM (#1204118)

    As we all know, Kentucky is God’s Country. Therefore this is all part of His plan, and all is well. Most of the dead probably were liberal abortion supporters.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by fakefuck39 on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:20AM

      by fakefuck39 (6620) on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:20AM (#1204123)

      They were vaccinated masked sinners transmitting 5G to the devil. The true test of Godliness is whether you enjoy putting worm medicine suppositories in your ass. The tornado proved the vaccine increases your chance of death by tornado.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:54AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:54AM (#1204149)

      I think God is punishing them for convicting Josh Duggar.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:20PM

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:20PM (#1204376) Journal

      Therefore this is all part of His plan

      Yes, they were raptured by this blessed event

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:51AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @07:51AM (#1204147)

    I got it on authority that the tornado is a false flag operation. Keep slurping down the Brain Force Plus so you can see thru their lies.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @01:18PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @01:18PM (#1204192)

    The dead count was up to 70 at 2:30am 12/11/2021.

    It went just north me by able 2 miles. Missed our NOC by about 2/10 mile, that failed a DR test 2 days earlier,

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @01:41PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @01:41PM (#1204203)

      Missed your WHAT that failed a WHO???

      I haven't got the faintest idea what you said. Could you please use English instead of Jargon?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @02:02PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @02:02PM (#1204213)
        I think GP is referring to https://twitter.com/drnocphd [twitter.com] (Dr. Noc, PhD) and some failed lab test on a patient two days ago?
      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @03:10PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @03:10PM (#1204232)

        DR should be Disaster Recovery test, emergency drills/preparedness stuff basically. NOC - Network Operations Center?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:33PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:33PM (#1204310)

        NOC = Northrop Grumman Corporation [google.com]
        DR = Medical Facilities Corp [google.com]

        Make sense now? It's the start of the MIC takeover.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by dalek on Sunday December 12 2021, @01:54PM (1 child)

    by dalek (15489) on Sunday December 12 2021, @01:54PM (#1204211)

    I have a lot of thoughts on this, in no particular order... Sorry for the long post, but I have a lot to say about this.

    Cool season tornado outbreaks may be rare, but they are very dangerous when they do occur. The peak tornado frequency in the US is in May, but the peak for strong tornadoes is in April. There's a bigger north-south temperature difference earlier in the year, which produces a stronger pressure gradient in the upper atmosphere, and stronger upper-level winds. This generally means vertical wind shear (change in wind speed and/or direction with height) is stronger during the cool season, which is favorable for supercells and tornadoes. The strong upper-level winds also cause faster storm motions, which is a big factor in long track tornadoes. There are also more nighttime tornadoes in the cool season. All of these make cool season tornado outbreaks very dangerous. The peak of tornado season is earlier in the Southeast than in the Plains, and there's also a secondary peak in the fall. Although it's not part of tornado alley, there are still a lot of strong and violent tornadoes in the Southeast.

    There have been fairly recent attempts to examine the damage from the tri-state tornado and determine if it was actually a single tornado. There wasn't a proper damage survey done in 1925, and it's very challenging to get good data for an event nearly a century ago. Some of those areas are very sparsely populated, so it's hard to know if it was a continuous track. If it was a single tornado, recent analyses suggest it was actually 235 miles long instead of 219 miles.

    There really weren't any other tornadoes with tracks even close to that length, making it a huge anomaly. The general consensus among meteorologists is that one supercell spawned multiple tornadoes along that 235 mile track. If this quad-state tornado really is a single track, it would be comparable to the tri-state tornado, and show that it really is possible to have tornado tracks of that length.

    Tornado deaths are considerably more frequent in the Southeast than in the Plains even though as many or more strong tornadoes occur in the Plains. If this had occurred in Oklahoma and Kansas, even if it affected densely populated areas like Oklahoma City and Wichita, I have to wonder if there would have been fewer deaths. Tornado forecasting in the Southeast is challenging from a meteorological perspective.

    But many of the reasons for more tornado deaths in the Southeast are societal. Part of this may be the result of building codes and better shelters in parts of the Plains. There's probably a better level of preparedness to receive warnings and alert people to take shelter in businesses, schools, and other public places. Part of the issue may be how the public responds to tornado warnings in the Southeast versus in the Plains. I hope that this event, awful as it is, will encourage better tornado preparedness in the Southeast, similar to what is done in the Plains. That was one of the objectives of the VORTEX-Southeast program, to examine and try to address the societal issues that lead to more tornado deaths in the Southeast.

    We really need to know what happened in the businesses where people died so that we can prevent that from happening again. Did they receive tornado warnings in a timely manner? Were there places where employees could safely shelter from tornadoes? Were employees able to stop working and take shelter, or did they feel they should just continue working? How sturdy were the buildings? The answers to these questions will help us know what went wrong and what can be done to prevent similar loss of life in the future.

    From what I can tell, the issue was not with the forecasts and warnings. I didn't follow the event from start to end, but I looked at the radar a few times during the evening. The National Weather Service office in Paducah had tornado warnings out on the supercell that produced the quad-state tornado, using enhanced wording to say that it was a particularly dangerous situation. When I looked at a couple of the warnings, the impacts listed at the end of the warning said that the damage threat was considerable. Although this is one step below the maximum impact that can be listed, which is catastrophic, it still conveyed that this was a very serious situation.

    Farther north, there were two rounds of storms affecting the St. Louis area. The first round was a line of storms had several thunderstorm cells along a roughly north-south line, moving northeast. The St. Louis office pretty much just put a tornado warning on every cell within the line, likely because conditions were favorable for tornadoes to rapidly develop pretty much anywhere within the line. Because of the rapid storm motions, they were issuing tornado warnings for the county in which the thunderstorm was in and also for one or two counties ahead of the storm. There was a second line that was much smaller but definitely had some strong rotation over St. Louis County, and I believe this was what actually caused the damage farther east in Edwardsville. Again, the St. Louis office issued warnings a county in advance, so they tried to give plenty of lead time.

    From what I can tell, the National Weather Service did a really good job issuing warnings for this event. I don't think the forecasting was a problem at all. But I hope we can get to a point where tornado deaths are as rare in the Southeast as they are in the Plains.

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    THIS ACCOUNT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:54PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:54PM (#1204324)

      The storm continued to the NE without tornado touchdowns, for example, near Buffalo, toward the eastern end of Lake Erie, 75 mph winds were measured yesterday December 11. The storm also moved a lot of Lake Erie to the east, I believe about 2 feet of storm surge or seiche.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:40PM (3 children)

    by TheGratefulNet (659) on Sunday December 12 2021, @04:40PM (#1204279)

    well, the enemy declared they want us wiped out, any way they can.

    I'm talking about red staters and trumpers. pretty much just where the big storm hit. (cue the 'where is your god now?' part)

    as a liberal, I never wanted this war. I wanted to be left alone and to have our country make forward progress, not regression back to the bad old days.

    but the red states will have none of that. they are doing all they can to set us backwards.

    they are exstatic when bad things happen to blue states. they live for that kind of news.

    its at the point where I'm all out of fucks to give, as the phrase goes. they actively do all they can to fuck us up. they attack our government and are basicially home grown terrorists at this point. and NOTHING SHOWS ANY SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN. red states double down more and more.

    so, I have no sad feelings when bad things happen to bad people. and sorry to say, but the whole bible belt can just fall into the ocean or be wiped off the planet by a super storm. and the earth will be smarter for it, by some measurable amount.

    the sooner we end this culture war, the better; but the far right likes this war and has no plans to end it. so, well, fuck them. when they die, I just dont care anymore. all out of shits to give.

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:35PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 12 2021, @05:35PM (#1204312)

      We need President Biden to make a sprawling speech about how State mismanagement caused the tornado and that's why he won't authorize federal help. That would be sweet.

      • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by TheGratefulNet on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:13PM

        by TheGratefulNet (659) on Sunday December 12 2021, @06:13PM (#1204342)

        we need the right to come back (well, closer, anyway) to their senses so we can start to repair this country and get back to actual living.

        its so tiring having to fight wedge issues just to placate the right and give their bored idiot something to do other than whittling wood and burning crosses on lawns.

        the right can decide to stop the war THEY CREATED at any time, now.

        any time you are ready, guys.

        but until then, go ahead and continue to fuck off and die. deny the vaccine and keep dying. eventually we'll fix this problem. just a shame you guys had to learn it the hard way.

        oh well.

        --
        "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 14 2021, @05:14AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 14 2021, @05:14AM (#1204884)

      If you truly are liberal then you need to start seeing people as individuals and not demonize entire groups because you perceive some of them to have done the wrong thing. At the moment you are part of the problem.

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