The 2004 Roanoke F4 Tornado: A Lesson In Risk Mitigation
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
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NWS Roanoke Event -- www.weather.gov/ilx/13jul04
* To find the NWS safety presentation on event, www.slideshare.net/Revkin/tor...
Timestamps:
00:00 - 02:08 Introduction
02:09 - 03:40 Meteorological Background
03:41 - 06:19 Day of Tornado
06:20 - 14:11 On The Ground
14:12 - 16:49 Damage
16:40 - 21:19 Parson's Preparation
21:20 - 23:22 Aftermath and Survey
23:23 - 30:07 Recovery and Implications
30:08 - 31:02 Bloopers :)
MUSIC
Path of Purpose by Cody Martin: KAY7VFFJVHMCZUR1
All I Desire by Alsever Lake: IANEISXQN3OWVRSV
Playing Games by Cody Martin: SXVSZDYCTVV0MCWK
Sundiver by PALA: XK0HPUJASPX2EE15
A Construct by Falls: QZ9M63RU83BPQ6K0
The Grid by Cody Martin: NJQUIY1FAHNZRC2Z
Era by Shimmer: WGXEU17YIUQGKTSN
Find It In Yourself by Moments: KZORQYRHHLPVLDUC
Beyond All Time by Moments: 5LR3E5OGRES1QBM1
Beat The System by Cody Martin: 5LR3E5OGRES1QBM1
Sentinel by Falls: BKGUBVOATANPNN9W - บันเทิง
The lack of tornado shelter or even tornado drills frustrated me in one of my jobs. We moved into a brand new office building, and there was a tornado-warned storm heading in our direction. There was zero reaction by our management. I even spoke to one of my managers about it, and he basically shrugged and told me to do what I needed to do. So I was sitting in a concrete stairwell, on the ground floor, waiting for the warning to expire, all alone. No one, not even our ERT people, knew or seemed to care that a tornado warning had been issued for our area. I lost a lot of respect for management after that.
The oxymoron of management not managing the safety of the workforce. Glad the storm didn't impact your building at least, but still that sucks
Years ago, I was driving across the US, and I ended up spending a night in a North Platte, Nebraska motel. The weather was terrifying, and before long the tornado sirens were blaring. I ran to the motel office thinking that motel guests would be led to a shelter, but the only person in the lobby was the night clerk at the desk (she was reading a magazine at the time). I asked her about a shelter and she just shrugged and went back to her magazine! My only recourse was to huddle in my bathtub until the storm subsided. Fortunately, we were missed. It could have been a lot worse!
That's terrible!!
I had that same problem, I'm in southern Louisiana not a lot in the 🌪 front here, now I used to live in Missouri so I knew what needed to be done in the clinic should a storm come our way. The problem was I was the only person who knew what should happen and what to expect. One day we had a tornado warned cell, and thankfully we weren't super busy, so I got all the patients out of the lobby into the back, out of the exam rooms, shut all those doors, lock the three doors to the outside..it was nuts. Now guess who came up with our severe weather plan? And yes I bitched at the office manager bc ppl could have been hurt or worse. .
Do they just not believe in tornadoes?
Parsons is a hero. As a manager and owner you are responsible for your employees including safety. He saved everyone with his preparations and foresight. Kudos to him!
Also: funniest bloopers so far :D
Yes yes I am a hero.
Yes. Well done to the business owner.
South of the what??? lol
@@harryparsons2750Not you Harry Parsons, damnit anyway! 😤😁✌🏼
Absolutely this, and let me tell you one place I worked...no plans notta none of them ever been near 🌪s except me. So guess who developed the clinic's protocol for 🌪s ???
It’s great to see a responsible company. I’m impressed that they also paid employees for a while after the plant was destroyed
Had family members that worked there for a while. Great company to work for
Sounds like a great company. I'd certainly be a loyal employee if I worked there
This has been another excellent video. The Parsons example should be followed by all companies.
If those facilities in the December 2021 tornadoes had reinforced shelters, many of those lives could have been saved!
Yeah like that candle factory and Amazon warehouse
💯%!
One might rightfully assume that insurance companies would be interested in the existence of patented satellite technology to create or augment tornadic activity?
Unfortunately most don't but I'm hoping past tragedies changes that. Refusing to shelter your workers within a proper timeframe or threatening their job if they don't feel safe saying at work as storms begin is negligence and cruelty.
Tho am glad at least a few do the right thing.
Parsons definitely went above and beyond for their employees. No place I ever worked at had tornado safe shelters. Hell our employer made us continue working when an EF-3 struck a housing complex in 2004 only a few miles away and we had to work through 2 hurricanes and a tropical storm. So I applaud Parsons for doing all this in the name of employee safety. I wish I could work for a place like that!
I'm so sorry about what happened, you and your fellow employees never should have endured that.
A hurricane was predicted. I tried to go get meds, clinic was closed.
On the way there, I saw 3 "adult" stores doing business...
The priorities of some people are really weird.
@@grmpEqweer the Clinic cares about your safety, the ''adult'' stores care about your money.
I don’t mind any “long windedness” in the slightest. Having the level of detail and care to the science and social facets of these events is a gift to say the least. You tell us the detail I could only have wished for as a younger person and that’s rare. Some folks who do this type of educational video really mess up facts badly at times, sometimes often. But you take care and the resulting content makes that so apparent. Thanks Carly!
It's so rare to hear about such a big, dangerous tornado and yet find out that everyone was fine, not due to random luck but due to mindful preparedness like this. Kudos to Parsons. I was already so happy hearing about all the prep work they did and then you said they built back with 7 shelters and yeah, I'd hug them too lol. Thanks for another great documentary!
Another awesome video Carly! The Parsons plant should be a case study for all businesses in tornado alley to follow. If the candle factory in the Mayfield tornado had done so, maybe some lives would've been saved.
I wrote the comment before I got to the part where you mentioned the same thing. As they say, great minds think alike!
100%, the owners/managers of that place (and the amazon center) should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Disgusting behavior and disregard for life.
it’s really heartbreaking to see the immediate juxtaposition between how the companies in the Mayfield tornado handled things and the Parsons plant and their handling of the storm.
Kudos to the Parson's plant management and employees. It's unfortunate but having personal experience with tornado damage directly seems to improve how people choose to and build for responding to severe weather. No one needs to be harmed or even die to see why we need these preparations. So many stories on the news and people like you who make these retrospect videos will help people see. ❤ Thank you for all you do!
its crazy to me that building tornado shelters in this kinda area is considered 'going above and beyond' for your employees. Well done to parsons plant for looking after the people they work with.
It shouldn’t be. The Peoria Metro has seen their fair share of tornadoes in the past 20 years. 3 F3’s, 2 F4’s, and some F2’s as well
This thing was an absolute monster. Winds over 200 mph only moving at about 30 mph and everyone at the plant survived. Safety and preparation saves lives. Another masterpiece of a video Carly. Love your content.
Parsons has set the standard for emergency preparedness. They can be very proud of themselves, as can you, Carly, for another excellent video.
Glad to see this story being told. More people need to be aware of it! It IS possible to protect people from tornadoes relatively easily.
Not when you have cheap, uncaring business owners
@@Rick-mg1nv Complacency is a huge factor too. I've tried to make my family safer and more weather aware and shared lots of info from Carly's videos with them, Yet they still don't really care enough to be safe. They never will until it's too late. I honestly can't handle the fact that there's still people who think that any area is "safe" or "immune" to tornadoes.
@@RT-qd8yl my dad is the same way. He could care less if a storm takes him out. Probably part of why he moved to Texas
@@Rick-mg1nv My family's problem is they do care and WANT to be safe, but not badly enough to actually do the planning, preparation, and taking necessary actions during watches and warnings. I'm almost the same way as your dad though. I know the proper things to do, know what to look for and how to stay safe and protect my life; I just don't care enough about it to actually do so.
If I die in a storm tomorrow, that just means I won't have to pay for food and rent next month. 🥲
@@RT-qd8yl you need therapy.
So happy to see you making more new tornado videos Carly. You're a gem for the tornado fans.
I think partly, too, if you weren't a tornado video fan before you sure are after coming across her videos! She's got a unique way of capturing the audience. 😘😃
Great tornado content and kitty shows up. Win in my book
I love that she works with Ryan Hall too now :D @@mr.shardz7936
I love how you always cover the history of the towns that get hit by the tornadoes. It makes us viewers feel like we have been to these places.
once again, as always great job!
I was living in California and this made the news. At first I thought it was Roanoke Virginia because I had a buddy going to Roanoke College. I didn’t know it was Illinois and I really felt bad for that community!
Go as long as you need to, Carly, seriously. You offer great coverage of these events, and your compassion for the victims should be expressed too.
Totally agree! I am never upset with her doing super long video! In fact I love it
As someone who lives 10 miles from Parsons, I remember this storm very well from when I was a kid. It’s part of what got me into weather, as the Peoria metro area saw a lot of bad weather in 2003-2004. Even though I already knew a lot of the history behind it, it’s always nice seeing a person I’ve come to know in the weather community, cover events that hit close to home. Thank you for covering this one & putting together another great video, Carly! Love your content!
I was never aware of how much Illinois is a hotbed for strong tornadoes until these last few years of my elevated interest in them, and my voracious appetite for videos like these. Thank you for yet another well informed, illuminating video.
seeing the photos you included, you were 100% correct in that most people would assume a lot of fatalities happened that day. good on Parsons for taking an experience and making the most of it for safety and education. that's genuinely surprising given that most management these days do not care about anything other than money. genuinely impressed
edit: AND they provided pay even after the plant was destroyed? even more impressed
Sometimes I watch videos of tornadoes and feel so guilty because usually there are fatalities associated. It was wonderful to come out the other side of this video with everyone safe.
It seems like such an easy precaution to take to reinforce a business’s bathrooms. Especially in tornado-prone areas, it should be standard practice.
Why feel guilty? Nature is violent and uncaring towards the plight of mankind. Nature must also destroy in order to create. That’s the world and universe we live in. Even the earth and sun itself are doomed. All energy is borrowed and must be given back in the form of something else. So don’t feel guilty for the natural order that you had no part in creating.
Blaze purring made my day, what a sweet creature Thanks for another fantastic video.
Nothing short of a miracle indeed. Mr. Parsons saved his employees, but the employees themselves deserve much credit for heeding the warnings, knowing their plan of action & implementing it. It was a "perfect storm" of preparedness that you don't see in areas at much higher risk. If there can be a happy ending to this type of natural disaster, the people of Roanoke Ill. demonstrated it perfectly.
No miracles, just smart people who used their brains and took the right precautions.
This channel and Alferia are my favourite in-depth tornado documentarians at the moment.
These are honestly the best case studies in any genre. They're always super well thought out and really well put together.
I know they're a lot of work to do, but I hope you know that it's worth it!
I think i speak for several people when i say, a long video from you is absolutely not a bad thing! I've never thought you were long-winded, either, the exact opposite actually. You're very efficient while still being descriptive and bringing a compassionate touch to your scripts.
Parsons' planning certainly saved lived and livelihoods! Thank you , Carly!
You are NOT long winded. You do you. I love your work in whatever form makes you happy.
Don't feel bad about the Mayfield video. You had a lot of feelings about it, but so did the rest of the community. The length of that video was suitable. I knew nothing of this Roanoke tornado and it was in my own state! I am learning a lot from your videos! I love your unique approach to these videos, bringing a more humanist perspective.
I love the bloopers and the fact that you can laugh at yourself and show you are a kind, gentle person.
As a child I watched this tornado from a few miles away as it strengthened and then struck the facility. Remember it like it was yesterday!
Wow...what a monster...and the poor animals left out in the fields 😢 Great video!
idk why but hearing you describe the measures the parson's manufacturing owner took to keep the employees safe during a tornado gave me goosebumps. what a wonderful thing to learn from history to make the present and future better.
The same storm that produced the Roanoke F4 became a big straight-line wind producer over portions of east-central Illinois north and east of Champaign-Urbana, and I rode out the storm in a mobile home that I moved out of not long afterward for reasons unrelated to the storm (I was a teenager at the time, and, in hindsight, that was a bad idea, because I can still remember the mobile home I was in swaying considerably from the straight-line winds). Much of Vermilion County, Illinois where I live was without power for quite a few days.
Video should be mandatory for all places of business in tornado prone areas, the Parsons example is a life saver. Thanks so much for your work.
Carly, you have an incredible gift for story telling.
I'm so, so glad you covered this! I lived in the area and my housemate worked there. I've got nothing but good to say about Mr. Parsons and his response after the event.
The best part was finding her Craftsman tool dresser, one of those tall ones, still locked and only a little dinged up. They found it in a field a few miles away, about three months later.
The worst part was finding her lunch still in the bottom drawer. 😂
I live right near Roanoke and remember driving here and seeing it in person the day it happened. It was a mess. Too bad in 2004 cell phone cameras were not really a thing or I would have pictures. Great video gave me chills!!
Great video Carly!👍 Don't ever worry about being long winded. You're always very informative and cover everything just right! You are so easy to listen too.
Carly, first off, I'm glad to see you back with the Y'all team in a much better role (I hope). Secondly, you provide a historical study in video form of these storms. You give the details in an easy-to-understand format, inserting interesting facts along the way, making each one enjoyable to watch, considering the subject matter. Those of us who are interested in such things do not necessarily find joy in the destruction found in these storms, but look instead for educating ourselves in how to better prepare for future events that may come to our communities by something similar. Living in the Dallas metro area since 2000, I've seen my fair share of rough weather, including the EF-4 storm in 2015 and the EF-3 storm in 2021 through North Dallas (just three miles north of where I was living at the time). Like Parsons, we help as best we can, making sure our fellow people are taken care of in their time of need. Because we never know when it will be our turn.
AWESOME job, I appreciate how you always give as much respect to victims as possible. Some weather content creators get caught up in the science, or the damage that they forget that they are looking at people's lives being destroyed. Whenever I see a debris cloud on radar, as amazing, and cool as it is, I just remember the stuff making up that debris cloud is hundreds of people's lives being ended, or ruined. Thanks again Carly!
Also it'd be cool to see a video on the La Plata, Maryland F4 tornado. I was 13 at the time, in a town about 30 minutes from La Plata, and I'll never forget how the sky looked that day. Never seen anything like it since. It's the farthest east F4 tornado I've heard of, so it was VERY out of the ordinary around here. Be cool to hear the science behind how it happened.
Sometimes it helps to just not think about that. When I was a firefighter, it helped to just block out the idea of people being people. Made the job a lot easier to do.
@@RT-qd8yl Oh for sure, if you have to deal with the situation first hand, separating yourself from it is almost required. I worked at an animal hospital for years, and had to assist euthanizing people's pets all the time. I had to check out mentally for that too. But making a youtube video, I think it's important to bring in a humanizing touch so it doesnt come across as just "disaster porn".
I drive past the Parsons plant once a month from Peoria and had not realized this was it!
Oh can you also do a video about the Hallam Nebraska tornado?
Great video!
This documentary is inspiring, it leaves me with a feel good and hopeful lift to my day. One day your work should be compiled into collection used at the collegiate level for those seeking careers in forecasting and broadcasting.
The military and law enforcement refer to the benefits of frequent drills in behavior as "muscle memory". The frequency of repeated behavior reduces awkwardness of the unfamiliar, reduces time of performance and ultimately focuses the mind on what is to be done next rather than the fear of what is happening.
You referenced wind speed in knott's. Spelling grieves me. Do you know the rationale behind land speed measurements and sea and air speed measurements? Do not worry about being "wordy"; I'm in my eighth decade and, as you can attest , it works for me.🤫
Great job on this video and the Mayfield one Carly, your video production is getting better! I like how in this one, you talk about how a disaster was narrowly avoided, rather than one actually occurring, and how they can be prevented in the future. Thank you for the work on these videos, can't wait to see more!
This tornado looked terrifying. 😮
Excellent work as always!
I just want to say thank you for talking about both this tornado and the Mayfield tornado. I firmly believe that the Roanoke tornado is an important example to discuss in the context of the Mayfield tragedy. In the days after Mayfield I actually made just a very informal video on Facebook for my friends comparing and contrasting the two events and emphasizing having a personal safety plan, etc. I was going to remake it better and perhaps begin to make more storm and safety videos…then a few days later my husband (age 29) died instantly in an accident. While I don’t personally know any Mayfield storm victims, I do feel very connected to them because we were all grieving the sudden loss of loved ones that Christmas (though obviously under very different circumstances). So discussing the Mayfield and Roanoke storms is very difficult for me for personal reasons at this point…but it is such an important conversation and I’m very grateful that you decided to tackle it. Your videos are great and thank you for what you do.
Wonderful video, I was 12 and in Roanoke at the time. We actually had a lot of false alarms that year and that was the only tornado we did not go to the basement for. I remember my mom standing at the door and continuously shutting off her car alarm as debris kept setting it off. Parsons had also just completed new additions at the facility just before this tornado. Glad you mentioned the 2013 tornado, I was thinking about that just before you mentioned it; those storms were in opposite directions. We always worry about storms that come from the North or South as they generally come from the East. I also remember people that were at Parsons talking about right after it passed, the sky got dark again and started to worry everyone, turned out to be nothing but still scary when you've just been through that.
Good job Carly! I am impressed that parsons actually took the extra mile to improve the bathrooms and make them tornado shelters. Oh and I also followed you on social media before the video😊
Great video, as a CI resident it's always so crazy to see our area pop up. Amazing coverage of both the event, and what a difference employers can make in the safety of those within their business.
Quick note, during the news footage it says WBMD, it should be WMBD. Can't wait for the next video!
Really inspiring conduct by everyone in Roanoke and the Parsons facility. While freak accidents and violent violent tornadoes can happen, every city should strive to be so disaster ready.
So excited as always to see another video from you. You have very quickly become my favorite weather history channel for your no-frills reporting of facts, compassion, and ability to explain meteorology in layman's terms.
A remarkable story of what right looks like. Also, Blaze and bloopers! Loved it!
After we were in a strong wind event in Tasmania (Australia, 18 months ago where wind broke the recording instrument at 192km/hour, hundreds of trees down over 50km path, some major width trees twisted in half like matchsticks. After whir people were talking the possibility that it had been a tornadic event) I started to look up tornadoes and came across your videos. It isnt as if Australia doesn't have tornadoes (one in Qld just last week) but so much less than yours in frequency and severity. I have trouble comprehending the intensity it would take to scour a home to such rubble or throw heavy objects like toys!
Anyway, just wanted to say how much I enjoy your videos, your methodical and informative approach and ESPECIALLY your calm recitation. No dramatics or overly excuberant speech patterns, just a well organised, informed presentation. Thank you.
I really like the content of your longer videos. They’re researched very well and provide a lot of in-depth information on you subject which I really enjoy.
Thank you Carly for another well put together and informative video :) Love learning about tornadoes like this that ive genuinely never heard about before! Love how beautiful this tornado looked
I just stumbled upon your videos whilst searching for tornado documentaries that I haven't already seen. I have to say, it's the most addictive channel I've ever watched! The attention to detail and compassion you have for the victims trauma is inspiring.
While some tornadoes can show the worse of companies, it can also show the greatness of some companies and how they actually care about their employees. Great Video Carly!
What a wonderful story and lesson learned. You do such an amazing and detailed job telling these stories. Thank you!
Another Illinois Tornado system- I missed this one as I was in Basic training for the Army a few weeks after I graduated high school in 2004. Thanks for the great work as always Carly
@@Gnomes22 Ty!
Carly you’re not long winded. Shorter videos are fine, but long winded is rambling. Your presentations are structured, and appreciated.
I grew up in southern MN and we had our fair share of tornado storms - so much so, that in school, I remember doing tornado drills far more often than fire or intruder drills. I've always been grateful for this, as the muscle memory gained from these exercises will always be useful to me.
I moved to Washington state after college for a job, and realized something: schools prepare differently, for different threats. Which, I mean, obviously. People that had grown up in Washington knew all about how to react to an earthquake, while I had no idea. We had a national drill day where we were supposed to practice our earthquake plan, but our workplace did not. We were a hospital, after all - we simply didn't have time. We couldn't just stop what we were doing. But I wasn't even briefed on the plan, I had no idea what I would do in the event of an earthquake. I'd be a casualty, probably.
Similarly, many of my coworkers had no idea what to do in the event of a tornado. After all, Washington getting a tornado is about as common as Minnesota getting an earthquake. Highly improbable. But, had it been the other way around - if one of my coworkers had moved east, into tornado territory - would they have found themselves in the same situation? I often wonder, how many newcomers to the midwest or the south have never even been taught tornado safety basics? How many people want to ask, but simply don't know how? How many workplaces want to do drills, but simply cannot find a way to do so?
I've often encountered conversations regarding how we teach our kids to react to natural disasters. And again, I am grateful for what and how I was taught. And preparing our children for the future is always an important topic. But preparedness isn't just a one-and-done thing. It needs to be constant throughout life, as people move and safety practices change, and people need to have access to the information. Whether that's through a workplace, or through community action, or something similar, I don't know. But this is certainly an issue that needs to be addressed.
tl;dr man why can't all places be like that plant smh :/
This tornado was one of the tornadoes that got me into meteorology :) It warms my heart to see you cover such an overlooked tornado!!!
Please don't feel the need to shorten your videos! The fact that you're so comprehensive and detailed is one of my favorite things about this channel, take whatever time you need to
Bob Parson sounds like a really thoughtful guy. I’m sure he genuinely cares for his employees, anyone can see from other factory related tornado disasters the difference here. Not to mention he was able to provide 18 months of continued pay/benefits. When I was in the Scouts, it was forced into our minds “always be prepared”. Well, I have dedicated myself to that. My home has so much equipment for tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, extended power outages, flooding, etc. including various prevention measures as well. For fires alone, I have 5 smoke detectors, 3 fire extinguishers (including a dry/chemical one for the kitchen), a fire blanket, and readied hoses for each side of my home to battle a small outdoor blaze. I have written MANY different personal SOPs to follow for various home situations. Despite being a home, OSHA would still be impressed. I will clarify that I do not consider myself one of those doomsday prepper types because I’m much more generalized/less intense with it.
It seems like they really did everything right. They had NWS trained weather spotters, three shelters, twice a year drills, NOAA radios, and various other forms of preparedness I’m sure. Parson truly inspires me to continue to think of other people in the way he did and to remember that preparing for something unlikely is still necessary. Excellent video!!! ❤
Those wedge tornadoes are awesome sights to behold.
I do work at the Ford dealership in Roanoke. I can't wait to get out there next time and stand where that picture was taken and hold my phone up to just get an idea how terrifying it would have been. I was 3 at the time of this storm and didn't ever hear about it hitting Roanoke.
A story well-told with a lovely plot twist! But, speaking seriously, you are a gem for pointing out the horrifying truth that we as a society don't require best safety practices.
An amazing video as always. Thank you for always emphasizing the human impact and lessons from these events. It's so nice to see an event where there is a positive outcome due to preparation and execution of a safety plan, instead of ending in tragedy like happens so often. Also, the outtakes at the end are great! I completely sympathize with getting tongue-tied trying to read a script :D
Parsons saved his employee's lives. Awesome man great respect for him.
You know, I am planning on building and owning a mid sized business someday, right here where I grew up in the northern tornado alley. I've had to deal with several tornadoes, several blizzards, straight line winds, and a derecho. Where I live is known to have severe storms go around it but it occasionally gets hit. My mom works in safety at a manufacturing plant. Safety and lowering employee risk has always been her priority and something that she has passed onto me. I am a very prepared for everything type of person. Tornadoes is one of the main things I have listed down as a thing to be well prepared for, frankly just watching Carly's videos has given me inspiration of protocols and what should and shouldn't be done in an emergency situation such as El Reno, Moore, and Roanoke. It's very warming and refreshing to know its not just me who cares about present or future employees. No one should ever go to work and worry about making it back home due to a direct hit. I really hope that this takes off and more people like Parson start taking employee safety seriously especially in high risk zones like tornado alley. I'm very grateful that people like him who learned from their past experiences, made a vow to be better in the future and succeeded.
It’s so lovely to hear about a business that takes responsibility for it’s workforce and their safety. This should be a mandatory lesson for everyone with a business to get their license.
You and Hank are my two favorite weather creators. Love what you do!
I love Bob. His safety models and measures need to be noted and implemented by all companies. Way to go above and beyond for your employees.
Preparation always ensures the best possible outcome.
I worked in a place that didn't have tornado drills or a safety plan until i mentioned it to management. They didn't do anything until we had a real tornado warning and saw all the chaos that ensued. Now they do routine drills. If your employer doesn't have a plan, ask about it. You deserve to feel safe in your workplace.
I actually got chills watching this seeing how careful planning saves lives.
So many Tornadoes now happening in Canada Carly. Lots to cover up in the land of The Great Beaver !
One other thing, Hearing the preparation that went into the shelters at the Parsons plant reminds me of the office drills we have at least four times a year for emergency situations, including Tornado drills. Our office is in a seven-story building with six different emergency stair wells rated to withstand an EF-4 as a shelter in place, should we have to. The entire building can be evacuated into the basement level, which is totally enclosed, as the building is designed to lose its glass and remain standing, even in the strongest of storms.
Gotta applaud the owners of this work house as opposed to the behaviour of the Amazon & the other factory you mention in a previous video! The powers that be seem to not take these catastrophic storms seriously until they have been found liable in the aftermath! Thank you Carly for your work! ☮️
Tornado shelters can really be the difference between life and death. Sometimes you can do everything right but if there’s no where to go, that’s it. I wish more places had them. Great video as always. ❤️
Hi Carly.. New subscriber here ❤ I found your channel while scrolling TH-cam. So glad I did. Im home recovering from RSV and watching your tornado videos back to back.
Your voice is Perfect, very clear and compassion is shown for the heartbreak these monsters cause.. thank you for the videos ❤
Ive never seen anyone do a video on the tornadoes that made a path through Eastern North Carolina in March of 84. 9 people lost their lives that night in Pitt County ( my hometown) I was 19 years old, got married New Years Eve December 31, 1983.
I thought I was pregnant but it wasnt confirmed yet. My husband was in The Navy in Norfork, VA. I was staying with my sister that night. We had to get in her hallway 4 different times. I placed a pillow over my abdomen just in case. The tornadoes kept going over the same areas. My mom was a nurse and she left and drove to the high school
Where injured patients were being triaged. Mom helped save lives that night. We were so proud of her...
Btw.. our beautiful daughter was born on 12/12/84 ❤
I enjoyed both this and the Mayfield video; a Roanoke tornado video is the natural follow-up to Mayfield because it contrasts how the Parsons plant did things vs. how the candle factory did things. I remember seeing the Roanoke tornado on Storm Stories on TWC back in the day, but I feel it's largely been forgotten. To contrast with the Mayfield tornado and the Edwardsville tornado at an Amazon facility that same night, this tornado and the Parsons plant deserves to be remembered. Unfortunately, disasters stay in our consciousness, whereas close calls often do not.
Turns out, these videos were a bit prescient. Yesterday, July, 19, 2023, a large Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina was hit by a "surprise" EF3 tornado. This is only about a half-hour from my house, and my wife worked there for over ten years. She called up her former coworkers afterwards and they were all okay; there were no injuries at the plant, but it took a hit. I take it they had a good plan. I posted a rather long post on the Mayfield video about a poorly-handled tornado warning at a previous employer of mine. I can say that my next employer had a much better plan and we would go to shelter whenever there was a tornado warning; it happened a couple of times and worked well. I hope more employers learn the story of the Parsons plant and make improvements, and I'm glad you've reminded us of it!
I work in a old shop in downtown okc built in 1908 all wood construction, any time we have a tornado warning for either Canadian county where I live or Oklahoma county where I work I check radar and see how far out the storms are and make sure to give myself time to get most of my really expensive tools I like to not have destroyed and I go home.
It’s crazy to hear the whole story of this tornado, mostly due to growing up hearing about it every once in a while at family reunions. My grandmother’s family, the Brakers, lived through it and have some film of it. Thank you for the work you do to bring this info to the public!
This is chilling to me, im having goosebumps all over my body. I live 10 minutes south east from roanke, I never knew this happened. I was born 4 years later so thats probually why, but ive been so interested in metorolgy for a good 4 years and never thought to look around my area for previous tornadoes. I live on a farm with my grandparents and we saw the 5/28/2014 F0 tornado that came between secor and El Paso, less than a mile away from our property. It was one of the more scariest times of my life. Thankfully as a small farm in the midwest we knew what to do even though it didnt hit us. We hid at my grandparents house in a all concrete room with their deep freezer in the middle of the house. I was 6 years old at the time, that tornado and the look of fear on my moms face was the only thing I remeber from being so young. Thankfully the tornado went north and south and missed our property by not alot, but we are all okay. Then on Oct 11, 2021 we had the EFU that i can vividly remeber as it was 2 years ago. It went right by the feild we live on and missed us barely. Even during that tornado we knew what to do and hid in the middle room of concrete at my grandparents house. I cant stress enough how important having a good plan to emergency situations is. Its still the same plan even now in 2023 everyone that lives on the property knows what to do when and if a tornado gets close to our home. Please everyone make a plan of safety for different natural disasters.
I live in Delaware and people scoff at having tornado shelters. However, after watching your videos for two weeks, I have now turned our clothes closet into a makeshift storm closet because it is actually the safest part of our house.
I remember this storm. I was coming back from st louis and saw the news and devastation. The company was praised for fortifying it's storm shelter that saved everyone. I suggest covering the 2004 South Pekin Tornado, and 2013 Tazewell County Tornadoes.
The parsons plant was extremely close to being hit again on November 17 2013 by the Washington, Illinois tornado. It came within 2/3 of a mile of the plant.
As always! An amazing video! Thank you for all your research and care you put in your work! It definitely does not go unnoticed! Would love to see mention at some point the F4 Spencer South Dakota storm! Literally destroyed the town.
By taking “right action”, all the lives that were saved at the Parsons Plant is so uplifting.
By doing the right thing, think of the loyal employees. Keeping them working on clean up and rebuilding, simply good solid business. You can bet whatever they manufacture will be first class quality.
Imagine if these people were penniless for a year during the rebuild, with no medical benefits? When you have a family to support and little kids to feed, what a nightmare it could have been. Mr. Parsons is a smart businessman, but more importantly, decent honorable and empathetic human being!
Great presentation Carly! As a survivor of May 3, 1999 Bridgecreek, Ok and Shawnee, Ok May 18, 2013 I assert tornadoes of EF-3 and above are evil. I’ve been involved in building of FEMA rated tornado safe rooms, yes the cost is high, but these rooms can be multipurpose, so there’s no excuse for employers not to build them in new construction. Thanks for all you do, raising awareness especially about these vicious storms. Cheers🍸
I appreciate this one so much! We get so few good examples of positive outcomes. Showing that it’s attainable helps my heart when tornadoes are part of my DNA. Thank you for your great work, and love the Buckee’s cup!
I have worked at two places in my lifetime where there were confirmed, tornadoes on the ground warnings in the area and management didnt care at all about the safety of Employees, like they didnt even make an announcement to take shelter.
As always, another fantastic video! ❤
You know the video is going to be good when Mr. Blaze makes an appearance.
Fantastic video, I appreciate how in depth these videos go into the buildup and background of these storms. I actually hadn't heard of this one. The longer format videos are fine too, definitely worth the wait.
What a great story, after so many when people have been let down during a tornado.
Thank you Carly, you do amazing presentations!
Excellent job carly