Greensburg tornado rated EF-5

[RL3AO]

Source: KAKE

The tornado that hit the town has been rated as an EF-5 - the largest rating the Enhanced Fujita Scale. An EF0 tornado will likely damage trees but not substantial structures, whereas an EF5 tornado can rip buildings off their foundations leaving them bare and even deform large skyscrapers.

Read more: http://www.kake.com/weather/headlines/7347256.html

[Faygo Kid]

1. From the photos, it's no surprise it was an F5

Looked like Hiroshima. Greensburg is gone. Can't remember seeing such utter devastation from a tornado since Xenia, Ohio in 1974.

[MuseRider]

2. Such a nice little town.

I can't believe it when I see the pictures. No matter how many times this happens it never ceases to amaze me what nature can do to what we think of as permanent. Whole lives blown away.

I have been lucky so far, I am just trapped by flooded roads but the bad stuff has been all around. Lucky, I can stay here at the farm.

[Shoelace]

3. how to help (link) Also, this is the first F5 tornado since 1999

found this on anyther forum.

How to help tornado victims


For information about a loved one in the Greensburg area affected by the tornado or to contribute to assistance efforts, call the Pratt Red Cross: [phone].

United Way of Reno County, in partnership with the Reno County chapter of American Red Cross, has set up an emergency relief fund that will help individuals and families in Greensburg and the surrounding areas rebuild their lives.

Donations may be made to: United Way of Reno County Greensburg Relief, P.O. Box 2230, Hutchinson, KS 67504-2230. Contributions must be designated as "Greensburg Relief".
http://www.hutchnews.com/news/latest/stories/help050507.shtml

I believe the last F5 in Ok, 1999 was the one that flattened the town of Bridge Creek and believe I recorded the news footage of that horrid event.
Here's a link for other famous F5 tornadoes.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html

[RL3AO]

4. Yep. 8 years and 3 days since the last F5.

The longest period ever between F5's.

[Delphinus]

5. Was that the Oklahoma City one?

Or somewhere in the real Heartland? Seems it was May of 1999 that two friends of mine went through a huge tornado.

[RL3AO]

7. yes it was

[deminks]

12. Thank you for the link to the older ones

I have been through one of those. It looked very much like the pictures of Greensburg when we crawled out of our basement. I have special prayers for the survivors there. Thank you also for the link to the American Red Cross.

[MnFats]

6. i read ...somewhere...that the scale should be expanded to include a '6' but

...others in the field ridiculed the idea since it had been so long since there was a '5.'
...wonder if these folks will now change their tune.

also....despite the optimistic and brave statements....i just don't think that poor little town will come back.
couple little towns in Wis. and So Dak. all but disappeared after getting hit hard by tornadoes...it's just to big a task, especially if many of your residents are elderly....they need a permanent place to live and soon, and many don't have the means or the stamina to rebuild...

sympathy to Greensburg and all the communities hit in this 'constellation' of tornadoes.....never heard that word used in that manner until last night....sorry to say it seems entirely appropriate...

[RL3AO]

8. That was with the Fujita scale which they dont use anymore.

The new scale doesnt have anything above a 5.

[MnFats]

9. i knew fujita was gone...i could swear i read this about the new scale...

...but i'm probably recalling it incorrectly......memory loss is a hell of a thing...

[mvd]

16. I remember it too, but I think an F6 was purely

theoretical under the Fujita scale.

[RL3AO]

24. The Fujita scale goes thru F12 (which is mach 1)

However, since the F scale is based on damage, its impossible to tell any damage worse than an F5 since there is normally nothing left.

[mvd]

26. I think that's why it was only theoretical

They estimated that damage amounts would happen under certain wind speeds, but it would probably take a tornado hitting a big structure to tell a difference.

[MnFats]

10. storms from the same front now range from south texas to northern NoDak

look at

http://www.weatherunderground.com/severe.asp


it's fascinating stuff but gawd I hope more aren't being hurt right now....what a strange system..

[stray cat]

11. Wow!

[mvd]

13. An EF-5 is not the same as the old F5

Wind speeds for each rank were reduced so that a very high F3 can rank an EF-5. Still, it was a devastating tornado, and my thoughts and prayers are with Greensburg.

[RL3AO]

14. Wind speed has nothing to do with the fujita scale.

Every thing is based on damage. Scientists spent millions on estimating the speed of winds needed to cause F5 damage and they found that it wasnt 260 miles per hour, but closer to 200. So in theory, this would have also recieved a F5 rating.

[mvd]

15. Well it does have something to do with it..

since they reduced. But you are right that they looked at the damage caused and re-adjusted. In fact, they thought the old Fujita scale relied TOO MUCH on wind speed estimates.

[uppityperson]

17. Dupe, asked to be combined

Source: Witchita Eagle

GREENSBURG - As rain fell softly in Greensburg on Sunday, work crews sifted through the rubble looking for more victims, bulldozers leveled unstable structures, and spray-painted orange V's on vacant houses and street names on the asphalt so people know where they were.

Meanwhile, meteorologists confirmed today what everyone who has seen the damage suspected: the tornado that hit Greensburg on Friday night was the strongest possible type, an EF-5. On the new "Enhanced Fujita scale," that means the storm had estimated winds of more than 200 mph.

Dan McCarthy of the National Severe Storms Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said the storm was at least as strong as the F-5 tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., and parts of Oklahoma City in May 1999. McCarthy said the Greensburg tornado traveled 22 miles and was an awesome mile and a half wide.

As evidence of how powerful the winds were, McCarthy pointed to what he saw in the wreckage of the Greensburg High School, built about 100 years ago. He is the son of a bricklayer and said the brick workmanship in the school building "was as good as I've seen anywhere." And yet the storm tore that formidable structure to pieces...(more)

Read more: http://www.wichitaeagle.com/625/story/63289.html

---

Sorry, didn't see in the search. Sorry. DU link to other topic on this here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2836596

Picture of tornado by Marty Logan

[Little Wing]

18. The most powerful tornado in Earth's 6,000 year history

:wow:

[kestrel91316]

32. Xenia, OH 1974 was bigger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Outbreak

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1615

http://www.xeniatornado.com/

Everything for a path a mile wide and thirty-some miles long was flattened. Severe damage went out another mile on either side. I saw it. I lived there.

On edit: I just watched, for the first time, the video clip on the xeniatornado.com site. I'm speechless and shaking.

[RL3AO]

34. That wasnt even the 5th most powerful tornado of this decade.

[RL3AO]

19. The tornado that hit Moore had estimated wind speeds of over 300 MPH

[mvd]

20. That's incredible

My thoughts are with the people affected as they have to start over again. Yes, Bush, that means real aid! I wouldn't be surprised if one of the Kansas tornadoes rivaled that one.

[uppityperson]

21. Moore, OK 5/3/99?

Moore, OK 5/3/99?
http://www.rogerbondy.com/56781AS+.JPG

[RL3AO]

25. Yes.

A radar van estimated speeds of 302 +/- 17 mph. For wind speed, the F5 is 260-318 mph. Thats what cause the specualation for it being named an F6.

[kath]

36. The underpass in the center of that photo is the one from which one or two people were sucked out

from under the underpass and killed.

You can trace the path of the tornado by looking for the brown areas in the middle of otherwise green ground - the twister was so intense that the grass was scoured right out of the ground.

[rocktivity]

22. PLEASE tell me this tornado was moving up a hill

when the pic was taken, and that I'm looking at its TOP. It CAN'T have been that wide at touchdown!

Lucky for us there's no such thing as global warming...

:scared:
rocknation

[uppityperson]

23. 1+ mile wide. BIG monster.

[rocktivity]

31. Enhanced Fujita?

That sounds like something you'd find on a Taco Bell menu!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Systematic Chaos]

35. Next to the Super Value Al-Qaidas.

:rofl:

[MuseRider]

27. F5 1966 Topeka

I watched this one go through my city. Probably it is part of the reason I love storms and am fascinated by them and also terrified that this will happen again, like maybe tonight.

[uppityperson]

29. I went through an F5 as a 3 yr old.

Pictures of houses 5 houses away that had major damage. My poor mother, huddled under the steps with a (almost) 5 yr old, (almost) 3 yr old, 1/2 yr old and pg. Big parts of town were not rebuilt for 40 yrs, even now I can picture the water pipes sticking out of the rubble of a neighbor's house. Could be why I am fascinated and terrified also, really really hate those air raid siren wails.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html
#11

[jollyreaper2112]

28. I'll take my hurricanes, thank you very much

At least they're kind enough to give a few day's warning. Then again, tornadoes seem mightly friendly when compared to quakes; at least you can see the tornado coming!

[RL3AO]

30. Speaking of hurricanes, we may get our first named storm of the season tomorrow.

[rocktivity]

33. "Enhanced Fujita?"

That sounds like something you'd find on a Taco Bell menu!

:dunce:
rocknation