Severe weather leaves millions at risk as storms sweep across the South
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 2 weeks ago • 44 commentsBy: Noah Osborne, Kathryn Prociv and The Associated Press
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Millions of people in Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, Nebraska and Oklahoma are bracing for dangerous conditions as forecasters warn of possible tornadoes, 80-mph wind gusts, flooding and hail as the extreme weather outbreak rolls into its sixth week.
About 18 million people are at risk for severe storms Monday night across the Central Plains in areas like North Texas and South Dakota and eastbound into Illinois.
The cities most at risk include Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Wichita, Kansas; Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Wichita Falls, Texas; and Des Moines, Iowa.
The severe storm risk extends to 25 million people across the Midwest, the Ohio Valley and the Tennessee Valley on Tuesday.
By Monday night, multiple tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service, which located at least some of them in Oklahoma's Garfield and Blaine counties, and in Smithville, Tennessee.
Jim Shelton, director of the Blaine County Office of Emergency Management, said no injuries or deaths were reported after a tornado touched down in Okeene. Some outbuildings — garages, sheds and the like — were damaged, and one home was struck by lightning, he said by email.
The NWS on Monday night issued a rare tornado emergency statement for the area of Osage, Oklahoma, about 38 miles west of Tulsa. "A large, extremely dangerous and potentially deadly tornado is on the ground," it said.
After a week of heavy flooding that included rescue crews pulling hundreds of people to safety, the Southeastern part of Texas is underwater.
In recent days, the weather has been problematic in parts of Texas, including the Houston area, where there were more than 500 rescues and evacuations in a matter of days.
On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott said severe weather was to blame for at least three deaths in Texas: those of a 5-year-old boy swept away by floodwaters in Johnson County early Sunday; Lt. James "Jimmy" Waller, a Conroe police officer whose home was hit in the April 28 tornado in Trinity County; and a man, not identified, who was also swept away by stormwater in Bosque County in recent days. Details about the latter death were unavailable.
"It is heart-wrenching to see our fellow Texans being literally inundated with record water fall," Abbott said at a news conference Monday.The child was with his mother and her husband when the vehicle they were in became immobile in swift water, the Johnson County Office of Emergency Management said in a statement. The three searched for dry ground, but the child became separated and was found dead more than two hours after the man and the woman were rescued, the office said.
Abbott put the impact of the weather in numbers: Fewer than 7,000 utility customers remained without power after a weekend peak of about 160,000 in the dark, roughly 800 homes have been damaged, 43 locations on state roads remained closed because of high water, and 14 state road locations are shuttered as a result of storm damage.
"Damage to structures is catastrophic," he said.
In Houston, conditions remained hazardous, as police had to use jet skis to pull another man and three dogs out of nearly 8 feet of water. An official told NBC News that recovery will prove taxing with homes and cars flooded by the rain.
"For these people, it's very difficult. These people might not be back in their homes for a year or two," the official said.
Caney Creek Fire and Rescue workers in River Plantation, Texas, on Friday. Jason Fochtman / Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Throughout last week, areas northeast of Houston got more than 23 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, areas in northeastern Harris County got 6 to 17 inches in the same period.
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It is a terrible tragedy for those affected by this weather phenomenon and I wish them a speedy recovery of their homes and lives but building in a flood plain comes with risk - it will not happen every spring, but heavy rain and floods are always a possibility.
I am reminded of when I lived in Ft Lauderdale, Fl (during hurricane Andrew) and saw hundreds, even thousands of homes destroyed by the storm only to be rebuilt in the exact same spot awaiting the next major hurricane.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different outcomes (or something like that)
Again - prayers and good wishes for all those affected by the storms.
People like to live near water and so as long as insurance companies choose to keep insuring property prone to flooding people will keep rebuilding in those places near rivers, lakes, oceans and streams.
Even if insurance is unavailable some would choose to take the risk.
Although, this is a completely different issue than living in hurricane and tornado zones which encompass pretty much the whole US...
jbb
I think it is wonderful that they wish to live by water (be it the ocean or in a flood plain) and I wish them well doing so, but ...
There should be an understanding of why insurance costs are so ridiculously high and these costs should be accepted along with the decision to rebuild in areas prone to weather disasters
Q. what's the state bird of oklahoma? (kansas, iowa, nebraska, texas panhandle)
A. the single wide trailer.
Tornadoes in Tornado Alley, are more frequent than any other area with hundreds of tornadoes touching down each year. But the odds you'll actually be near one there are not very great. And the odds you'll take a direct hit from one are even lower. I lived in southern Ohio and saw one in my life.
According to NOAA, the most tornado-prone parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, any specific location can expect just one direct strike from a tornado every 1,585 years.
DotW
Beginning with the May 3, 1999, outbreak, there have been 45 tornadoes in the Oklahoma City metro area, an average of two to three tornadoes each year.
Moore, Oklahoma, about 8 miles south-southeast of downtown Oklahoma City, has been hit by five separate tornadoes, four of those rated F/EF4 or 5, from 1999 through 2015 .
Moore and Oklahoma City's Terrible Tornado History, Particularly Since 1999 | Weather.com
Well this is just one metro area that seems to disprove your theory somewhat.
Thanks, but it's noy mine, but the NOAA's.
got a source
Sounds more like a political answer than a meteorological one - a math formula where every place on th globe is inserted to lower the true frequency in bad weather prone areas.
Thanks though for giving a source of the opinion
In the words of Doug Heffernan:
"Whatever happened to global warming, I had such high hopes for that."
Using Doug Heffernan to make your point just naturally detracts from the validity of the point you were going for in the first pace.
gee, all red states. bummer...
Exactly, the tornadoes avoid blue households and only strike the red ones.
double bummer...
Sorry that you’re all bummed out. You need to find a way to balance your emotions.
just waiting for the green light ...
And all Americans....
thoughts and prayers...
Where atheists offer absolutely nothing.
Some here offer scorn and hatred.
Exactly!
And those damn Atheists don't even have any songs-- yuk!
... while others like to return those at an equal velocity, to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the counter comments.
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gee, didn't everyone believe that weather targets places based on politics?
Get a grip.
sorry, I keep forgetting it's god's wrath...
On social media sites--- everything is politics!
Wow, didn't know you'd gone thumper!
not quite yet, I'm still navigating my way thru deceit, fraud, and adultery to qualify.
So, another week, and then you're in?
Will they give you a bible and some business cards to hand out while you preach door-to-door?
I'd have to get remarried to become adulterous, so that's a no go. plus, I didn't make it all the way thru the last sermon before getting up to leave.
something about the preacher telling the congregation that all thumpers are republicans...
That post is pure ignorance.
Hateful ignorance
Pretty damned cold hearted sounding as well.
they weren't all red states?
Is that what you think my post stated?
gee, all red states. bummer...
You can blame the MAGA people for that.
Or blame Progressives.
(Depends upon one's political preference).
People who think weather occurs because a state votes red or blue are science deniers.
Thankful that I live in Sonoran Desert in SE Arizona where we do not get that kind of weather short of occasional flash floods. Ironically, the area I live in on border is considered a floodplain area.
Morning ed...yes I am grateful for my part of the world where I l live..
Don't get tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, cyclones, droughts etc..get the odd bushfire kicking around up the road, but that is about it...
Arizona gets much of the same in different parts of the state except for cyclones as we are a fair was inland. We did get the fringes of a hurricane that hammered Southern California pretty good a few months back. I live near a active fault line that produces mild tremors every once in great while. Tornados occasionally hit Arizona as well, but again not in the SE corner of the state where I live.