I lost a house, 90% of everything inside, two cars, a fish etc. Thank the good lord I had a shelter and was able to survive with my wife, son and family dog. Our neighbors were able to dig us out 47 minutes after impact. We did not let the storm discourage us, in fact we built right back on the same spot. After the tornado we found bowling balls in our yard from the Moore Bowling Alley which was 1/2 mile away and a dumpster from the Warren theater almost 6/10th of a mile away. People from NOAA told us the winds were 220-225 when they impacted our home. I count my lucky stars everyday that so many of us survived this devastation.
I'm 30 years old and have lived in Moore for most of my life. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) lost her home during this. It was right behind the Warren theater. Luckily, she was at work several miles north. I was picking her up right as the tornado was entering moore. I'll never forget arriving in that neighborhood a few minutes after and helping look for survivors. It rocked me to my core. The way people came together and helped each other was amazing.
24 people have died on that day. That's a lot, but when you see the amount of destruction this tornado have caused, it really is impressive how the rest of the people managed to survive it.
@@hearmenow909 they would have sold the land and it would have been very cheap land. The reason why it is still probably empty is because they don’t know what to do with the land, if it wasn’t in a will or whatever. Not sure how some of that works.
Crazy it's been 8 years since the tornado. I've lived in Moore since 2007 and vividly remember leaving school right before the May 20th tornado. We drove down to Norman and I have a vivid memory of sitting on Tecumseh and watching just a huge dark blue/black cloud go across Moore. What's crazy is that about an hour or so before the tornado cops had stopped vehicles on the highway right next to the 4th street overpass (the overpass seen at 14:12), and thankfully, my stepdad had the wherewithal to say "screw that" and drove up the on-ramp to take us south. Crazy day but thankfully my house was spared. Also, the school you see at 15:38 was Highland East Jr. High where I attended middle school later in 2013. The school itself had minor damage but the gymnasium wasn't rebuilt until a few years later. The OKC Thunder actually came to Plaza Towers, Briarwood, and Highland East and built us all brand new basketball courts, pretty cool.
I'm from the northeast but i remember watching this on national news the day it happened. I'll never forget seeing the images of the damage on TV. I had always been fascinated by tornadoes, but then seeing this in 2013 made me understand the reality of how horrible they can be. Ever since that day I have been even more fascinated with storms and with how many tornadoes this area gets. The plains are amazing and I was lucky enough to visit Oklahoma and Texas a few weeks ago for the first time. Oklahomans, you are so strong and resilient to deal with this kind of weather. and to everyone that lives in this area, God bless you and I wish you the best.
Oklahomans are some of the nicest, strongest people you'll meet. I appreciate your kind words! I, myself, am fascinated with storms although since I've had children, I've gotten a little more... Careful when it comes to them. Living in Oklahoma we just have become accustomed to the storms we get. They're beautiful but as you can see in this video, can be VERY deadly and destructive. But for the most part they're beautiful
Also, there's a youtube channel called Pecos Hank that I HIGHLY recommend if you like watch severe weather videos! Also, I hope you're doing ok. I noticed your comment was made almost a year ago so hopefully everything's ok in your end of the world!
@@levilively8643 hello, yes! I am subscribed to his channel already, he’s got some amazing and educational videos on weather. I am currently living in Massachusetts and it’s been great here lately. I’m happy to say I am visiting Texas and Oklahoma again in the coming weeks visiting friends!
Lived down the street from plaza towers, my little brother was going to school there and was picked up just in time and taken down the street. He was lucky compared to some of his classmates that day. It missed our house just barley. Walking around after was a crazy experience. It was saddening seeing everyone that was affected.
My 8 year-old daughter did a Google earth analysis of this tornado for a school project in October 2020, too bad this video wasn’t here, it would have helped her so much! Thanks for the analysis and extensive detail.
1999 Bridge Creek- Moore Tornado has the world's highest winds record of 318 mph recorded by DOW trucks. I have a friend who lives in Moore that they are still finding debris from the 2013 tornado.
@@itsazoohere2613 If you go to wikipedia for tornado records the highest possible winds goes to el reno. The lowest max wind speed is also higher. But the most likely max is the same. And the other el reno ef5 comes right behind the more famous el reno giant.
I live in Tulsa and that evening when the same storm system came through we had papers and other small debris falling from the sky, its something I will never forget.
@@soonerstone80 an oil drum was found a mile away from its original place and another one was never found... I mean, yeah, i believe papers from Moore could certainly fall from the sky in Tulsa. More so if it was the same storm system... Anyway, why would he/she lie 🙄🤦🏼♀️
@@soonerstone80 It’s true that storms can do that. Take the recent example of the Mayfield, Kansas EF4 tornado. People found photographs over 100 miles away.
I missed these videos!! It's crazy how it went from ef1 straight up to ef4 strength like the next street over pretty much! It's crazy how fast it happened
Check out the jonesboro tornado and how quick it went from nothing to a rope to looking similar to the tuscaloosa storm. That thing was quick too. And right on the border between ef3 and ef4. These things can get real bad real quick.
I'm from Indiahoma, Oklahoma, I remember going up shortly after this to help with cleanup in my early teens. Don't get me wrong it looked devastating then but this sheds a whole new light on it for me. Thank you!
So destructive. I can't imagine what these people went through. I'm so sorry😞 It's so different actually seeing the damage, as opposed to it being " just a news story" from somewhere far away from me.
This is the first time I've ever seen a video like this, and you did a great job. Your knowledge of the individual structures is impressive. The impact of weather events like this are hard for me to comprehend just seeing the aftermath photos, but I can understand the full scale when you break it down like you did here.
@@peachxtaehyung it was an EF-5 tornado, and has since been called such by multiple valid weather sources They recorded winds of 302 MPH in the storm, but the storm only caused EF-3 level damage by the time it hit structures. It was definitely an EF-5 and it's currently under discussion to be officially named as such by all media :)
@@peachxtaehyung it's super interesting! because of that storm, they're considering overhauling the EF rating scale based on wind speeds as well, not just damage like they currently do. You should read up on it it's really cool!
I can't imagine the horror of the responders at Plaza Towers Elementary School. One picture that summed up the devastation in Moore, Oklahoma after the tornado on May 20th, 2013 is a picture of firefighters pulling Jennifer Doan- a third grade teacher at Plaza Towers Elementary School- out from under the rubble of the school. What is particularly shocking to learn is that Jennifer was pregnant with her third child at the time of the tornado. Despite having sustained severe injuries to her neck, back and sternum due to a cinder block wall collapsing on top of her and her students; Jennifer did not lose her baby. In December of 2013; Jennifer and her husband welcomed a baby boy, whom they named Jack Nicholas Rodgers. Jack's middle name is a tribute to Nicholas McCabe, a student in Jennifer's class who was one of the seven children who lost their lives at Plaza Towers Elementary School.
Thank you. My husband and I got involved with the Central Oklahoma Humane Society to help rescue the injured and displaced animals in order to find their owners. If an animal wasn't reclaimed it was transported to other states who wanted to adopt them. It really was horrific.
I remember watching live coverage of this event on the Weather Channel I think...Regardless of where I watched it, it was a truly historic tornado and absolutely terrifying. I live in Florida so we get a lot of time to prepare before hurricanes come our way. I can't imagine having only minutes to make a decision to hide or run.
It’s definitely short notice but you learn what to look for on the radar if you can watch the weather at all when storms are coming. That usually gives a good enough idea to leave the area early or not or to hide.
This is an excellent video. I remember this day I live about 40 minutes away and one thing that really stood out to me was the before and after comparisons around the 7 minute mark. That gated home, it doesn’t even look like the same area after. Like can’t even tell that was once a beautiful well maintained residence. It’s just truly sad.
I was living in Oklahoma City at the time. My mother and I just drove through that area the night before coming from TX. We were going to wait and leave in the morning instead of late in the evening, but we didn’t. We also had to back to TX a couple weeks after the tornado. It was scary driving through and passing the Warren Theater area.
Can't wait for your video on the bridge creek-moore tornado. I hope you mention the "mud baby", so many videos on that tornado don't, and its such an fascinating aspect of it. Love your work
I went by the damage path on 35 in January and its just creepy because you can tell by the houses and the buildings to the west where it went because of how new they are compared to the ones just to the south if you continue south. you can see the literal line switch of new houses to old and its so unbelievably creepy.
I lost a buddy in this tornado. Apparently the guy that was with him said that they was thrown a quarter mile in their work truck. Once they landed, they both got out and my buddy looked to be in shock then collapsed right after he brushed himself off. Dead on the spot. Apparently they said it was adrenaline or something that kept him alive for another 20 seconds. Weird story but true.
That toterhome and stacker was worth about $300,000 and the race car inside was worth upwards of about $250,000. Roughly about enough to build that house that was destroyed 2 times over. Crazy
Was a scary day. My house is about 1/2 a mile north of that celestial acres training center pin. I was home alone with my dog and I saw it out the upstairs window when it was on its way from Newcastle, threw all my motorcycle gear on, grabbed my dog, and jumped in the tub but if it went just a tiny bit more north I would have been a goner regardless.
I grew up in Moore in the 70's and 80's, and I only remember having to head to the storm shelter once, and maybe a couple more we rode out in the house. It wasn't until the 1st EF5 in last 90's, it seems Moore began being hit a lot afterwards.
Probably how the dry lines seem to be pushing SE more, or at least east. They haven’t really had any lately but Norman and east of the metro get it more now. Just this year Seminole got hit by 2 decent sized tornadoes one right after the other basically and another the next day I think.
@@SwegleStudios yeah tbh it is... I have a bad feeling for this spring. I hope that I am wrong but idk. I pray nothing will happen for another long time!
Love these videos! I often go and check out the damage paths myself and its really nice to see somwone else doing the same! People dont always realize how devastating these monsters can be. Thanks for the video!❤
The El Reno tornado of 2013 happened just off your screen at 1:10 to the left or to the west. Literally just a few miles west from Yukon, that suburb in northwestern Oklahoma City. If that sucker had just waited a little longer, it would've landed smack-dab in the middle of Oklahoma City. That tornado grew to 2.3 miles in width, with 300+ mph winds, the strongest and largest tornado ever recorded. It would've been like a nuclear bomb had gone off in Oklahoma City. Thankfully the storm that spawned that monster decided to drop its gift to humanity just a bit further west. Still, we might not get so lucky the next time. Oklahoma City and environs are not exactly the best places to live if all of this horrifying weather happened since 1995 or so...
The El Reno, Okla., tornado of May 31, 2013, killed eight people, all of whom died in vehicles. Three of the chasers who died, Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras, and chase partner Carl Young, made up the highly respected TWISTEX team, which launched probes into tornadoes to collect study data.
@@soonerstone80 I've lived here since 2012 and have taken shelter three times in two different homes. One in Midwest City near Tinker and twice just N. of El Reno in NW OKC.
@@BuckeyeShawn007 Well I was born here and I live with my parents so I don't really have a choice. But the past few years the tornadoes haven't been that bad in OK actually. But I agree, I don't understand why we build so much stuff in tornado alley just for it to be knocked down
15:31 Some minor corrections, that I'm not sure anyone else has commented on. That was not a regular high school, but a junior high school. Highland East Junior High. This tornado actually came at the end of my 7th grade year there. The tornado did destroy the gym as you said, along with a bunch of portable buildings and some relatively minor damage to the main building, but the gym was actually rebuilt well before this video. The new gym afaik is actually a certified tornado shelter. Some fun facts just while I'm talking about it: The new gym is built with a similar floorplan to the old one, at least towards the front. I can't speak to the back of the gym, where all the locker rooms are, because I never went back there in the new gym. The new gym is built significantly further back than the old one. I'm not sure why this was done, if they were going to use the same floorplan anyways. Repairs to the main building were still being made at the start of the next school year. Nothing too significant, just leaks here and there and some electrical systems. One of the results of this was having three "impromptu fire drills" in one month, because the system kept going off while they were working on it. I believe once it actually shorted and started smoking. At the end of my 8th grade year, they had an activity day for us. Normally, this would've occurred in the gym area, but since that was under construction at this point, they had it closer to the field on the left. Two things I noticed were that there was still quite a bit of debris (some that I could recognize as being from the old gym) and that you could look right down the path of destruction and see the Warren Theater from that school. Clear across town. As far as I remember, you couldn't have done that before. In the old gym, the procedure for tornadoes was that everyone in the building was to go to the girl's locker room, which opened right out to the main area of the gym. I'm guessing the thinking was that it was the center-most room in the building. On that day, however, the gym teacher made the executive decision to move the students further back, towards the boy's locker room. Not sure if they sheltered there or in the showers or the wrestling area, but regardless wherever the teacher moved them, it more than likely ended up saving their lives, as the whole area around the girl's locker room collapsed. So, that's my info dump on that. Highland East tends to be forgotten because it wasn't leveled and nobody died there. Glad to see it get mentioned in this video.
The third tornado was 2003. It happened a few days after Franklin, KS was hit by a tornado on May 3rd. I think it was after the 2013 tornado that several people actually left Moore after being hit 3 times.
I remember this day, i lived close to 23rd street by the asian district on the same road you take to get to the capital building. There was the pride festival that day i had gone with my family to, before we even got there we were already under the anvil formation, and it looked beyond wild in the distance. Living in Oklahoma you know when a storm looked bad, and it was really really ugly. About two hours before the festival was set to end, the tornado sirens had started to blare. Being oklahoman nobody was in a rush to leave, and even took about thirty minutes for them to announce a shutdown. At that point we were under mammatus clouds probably the size of lake hefner each. As we went back the news was on all news supported channels and i watched the helicopter footage of the dozens of dead horses laying everywhere.. it took them a minute to notice before they cut back and apologized for showing it. Wild wild shit man.
Now THIS is how you do a presentation!! Exactly how I would have done it, so I absolutely appreciate it, and wonder why more vids don't. I find I dont have a whole lot of questions after watching these.
Checking on the mansion with the fancy gate and tennis court, looks like as of Feb 2021 streetview the property was purchased w/ fenced construction area and looks like the most recent Google Maps data in April 2023 it is mostly complete but in need of landscaping--still just bare foundations for the other buildings beyond the tennis court though. Wild how quickly some stuff recovers with the changes from the day after to October 2013, how some recovery is still happening a decade later, and how some things will just be never fixed.
I could not imagine having such a nice estate, with a pool, tennis court, guest house, and then it being all destroyed and all of that money that I saved to have a property like that is trashed. It’s sad that they abandoned it.
I just watched your Tuscaloosa vid and you had 172 subscribers! Lol. Great job. I used to wonder why residents didn’t have basement shelters, but I was perhaps ignorant as to the sheer scale of the damage. It’s also great to marry up a lot of the legacy video and news coverage commentary with this analysis. Wasn’t there warnings initially of it heading towards a casino? I always wondered if it was hit? Onto the next one!
My grandma lives in Moore, luckily she wasn’t in the path of destruction but I recently went there and that 7/11 is now a Casey’s but if you look at the trees behind it you can see where the tornado went through it’s crazy how 10 years later you can still see the destruction.
A few addendums for curious : That little unnamed neighborhood around the intersection at May and 149th St. (@5:30) is the only place on Earth where two known F-5 tornadoes have crossed paths. Those 4 brick homes (and the 7-11 to the north) that you pointed out (@13:08) across the road from the hospital is where the storm stalled out and sat still for a short time. According to the Damage Assessment Toolkit the core actually did a small loop-de-loop before continuing east. That last totally slabbed home that indicated EF-5 damage (@16:10) was a home that was still under construction at the time, and was easily rated as EF-5 damage because of how new it was. There wasn't any furniture or anything inside the home, and all the fittings, anchors, and everything were brand new so it was easier to assess.
I've seen many of these tornado destruction path videos but something im interested in knowing is if there has ever been a tornado that has been caught on one of these satelite images during its lifespan. I think it would be very cool to see one in action if one does exist.
Yep. Even those of us who’s houses weren’t destroyed, and us who lived a few miles away and came down to help immediately after, still get nervous every spring severe storms. Every person that I know who lived there or lived close and went down right after it passed still struggles, myself included. It’s a horrific thing to go through, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced (and hope to never again), and something that sticks with you forever.
11:03 I remember I drove down that road (Santa Fe) in 2013 or 2014 after the F5 to try and get somewhere safe away from another outbreak. It was super eerie because it was broad daylight in front of me, dark as night behind me, and just empty lots on both sides. Ended up huddling in a McDonald's in Norman and found out I dodged 3 tornadoes that day. Had to stay at a friends house because of flooding. Oklahoma is no joke, yo.
11:04 is where our home is centered on the screen. We were trapped in our shelter under what was left of the garage for 2 hours after it passed. Definitely a day that lives on with our family.
@MY CATS COOL Most of the older schools didn't / don't. After that tornado though a lot of them added at least some better protection if not shelters outright.
i was living in an apartment in north okc at this point. the headwinds off the moore ef5 tornado were strong enough to rip siding and shingles off the buildings and take down a power line right in front of the complex. it was over 20 miles south of us.
Great video with the images from Google Earth Pro. Can you blame the people who did not rebuild? Not me. I drive thru Oklahoma twice a year, and I am really apprehensive about the weather. Needless to say, I plan alternate routes when necessary.
At 9:21 my house was shown it was across the street for that big lake looking thing! We luckily missed it barely. But ya it was rough and after you heard all the horses being put down it was to sad🥺
I went to school at the time of this tornado north of the path, and my mom's house was south of the path. I went and measured the distance from my school to my mom's house in google earth where the tornado threaded between them. 5,000 feet. Less than a mile. I am in complete shock of the perspective I have been given that I survived this storm, and that somehow my school, nor my house was flattened with me or anyone I knew in it. Unreal
I'm from moore I still live on 12th street. Mostly everything has been rebuilt or new buildings/homes have been built. Overall really scary day for me. I was 12 years old at the time.
There is spot in a field outside Moore where a company grows lawn turf where the last three F-5 storms intersected. In all, five F-5 storms have been documented to have hit Moore since 1900 and scientists have no idea why that has happened.
@@patriciamccormick9321 That's interesting. It would be nice if someone put an obelisk-type memorial for the combined sixty victims of these disasters. Thirty-six people were killed in the May 3rd, 1999 tornado and twenty-four people lost their lives in the May 20th, 2013 tornado. Even though I would not want to live there myself because of its association with violent and destructive tornadoes; Moore, Oklahoma seems like a really nice place to live and raise a family. I think that the reason why people live in Moore is because it is just a short drive from the professional opportunities in Oklahoma City and Moore is also a short drive from Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, OK; so a lot of the residents of Moore are personnel stationed at Tinker Air Force Base and their families.
Great video, commentary and use of google earth. Thanks!! Very hard to comprehend 14 miles of EF3-5 destruction from still photos! This video made it real.
Great videos u need to do some about historic tornados like the tri state tornado and some about large famous hurricanes. Looking a hurricane damage is crazy.
I grew up in Moore, OK. Lived 19 years in SE North Carolina and I’ll take hurricanes over tornadoes anytime. Hurricane = 6-7 days notice. Tornado = Minutes/Seconds notice.
the first homes it did damage to were in Bermuda drive in Newcastle shortly before going through a farm off highway 76, but the first tree it knocked down was to the right of timberlake Reservoir, i always thought it was that shed you showed too but kept hunting
My oldest son worked in Moore when the tornado hit. He was across 35 from the theater, a few blocks south on Broadway. They just got some roof damage, but he said when he went to go home to Norman after it was over, his car was completely covered in insulation and debris from homes that had been hit.
Born and raised in OKC, i think these poor people just called it quits in the moore area. Two EF5’s and one EF4 thru this area and countless smaller tornadoes. My dad and i use to go searching for tornado damage thru Moore back in the mid 1980’s up to 1999. We use to see F1-F2 damage and be shocked, and then in 1999 the game changed with the first EF5. Moore is tornado alley for sure.
What is the time of day of this incident ? What is so difficult about posting the day and the time of touch down of a tornado ? Try researching a specific tornado and see the difficulty that I am finding.....just saying.
Seeing the scores and scores of homes that became mere smudges of debris with driveways, it's incredibly hard to fathom how only two dozen people were lost in this thing! How on Earth did so many people just walk away from these piles of rubble? I'm curious what it is about the Oklahoma soil that makes basements such an expensive proposition in home building. Hard packed clay maybe? Anyway, it's incredible how many people beat the odds by surviving this monster tornado!
You are correct, Oklahoma born and bred here. Its the red clay all over our state that makes basements a lot more difficult and expensive to construct. Almost every home I've lived or been in has not had a basement, though storm shelters are extremely common still. They make some amazing stand up shelters that can fit above ground in your garage that most people use as its way cheaper than digging.
When we moved here from Illinois in 2012, we were stunned that almost no one had basements AND the plumbing is buried in the concrete slab so if there's a leak, much of the time, the slab has to be cracked open or new pex tubing pipes are put above head in the attic. Anyways what Caleb Russell said, it's the soil. It's so loose. Many homes have to be stabilized with steel rods pounded down to bedrock in order to keep it from cracking/settling. Only one area I'm aware of that has a lot of basements is in the historic homes section just N. of Downtown. It's named Mesta Park. (anyone correct me if I'm wrong. Not a native of Ok.)
Why would *anyone* rebuild their house in an area that is prone to having tornados? Even in the video you can hear him talk about the paths other tornados have taken which was essentially the same path as this one
The last EF5 Tornado. We likely won’t see many more EF5’s with the NWS being very very strict now on what is, and what is not EF5 damage. Sounds like for a tornado to be an EF5 now, they need multiple damage indicators to show it. Awesome video by the way.
Nice video! Could you do a trace of the Brunswick NC tornado because it happened back in February of this year. It’s ok if you can’t but it’s just an idea! Oh btw I’m not sure if there’s google earth satellite data yet but I think you should just wait a bit and it might come soon
I was in jr. high at Moore West near 89th and Penn. when the sirens went off. I don't remember much because of the shock we were all going through, but I remember the horrified look on my teachers face when our principal made the announcement about what was coming. I remember my classmates screaming and crying, the phone lines going down, the power going in and out. I remember my teacher panicking telling us to get under the desks and whatnot and her telling us that we couldn't leave unless our parents were here. I remember thinking about my sister's, my youngest who was two years younger than me and at Kingsgate at the time and thinking that my mom who's work was at the corner of 104th an Penn. would be closer to her than me and that she'd get picked up first, my older sister who was four years older than me at Westmoore taking shelter in the school. I remember thinking I don't want to get stuck her with all these kids and that my neighbor had a storm shelter that was painted on the outside to look like a ladybug and that if I could get there I'd be safe. I remember walking home by myself down Penn. into the center of Kingspark behind the clubhouse and walking in from the back door and finding my dad at home confused where I came from. I remember a couple days later, my mom and dad and me and my sister all in the car, driving past the highschool where the auditorium that had a garage access door from the outside to the backstage was completely blown off and the entire theatre full of water, the Orr family farm where I used to spend summer camps as a little kid with Dr. Orr toe fishing with me and riding the little train around completely flattened along with the gruesomely injured horses scattered across the property, turning down 19th street past briarwood and into the neighborhood that plaza towers was in and my mom too stunned to say anything the entire time. I remember going home and my dad praying with us. #MooreStrong
In 2011 I was maybe 1 or 2. I lived west of Moore. Although I can't remember almost anything, I just remember looking out the window after it and seeing angel faces over some of the homes. I thank Jesus Christ me and my family weren't affected. ♥️
Its actually cool to look at current Google maps of Moore, (or Joplin or Tuscaloosa) and still see the paths of these storms, the most telltale signatures being the difference in building construction and lack of large trees compared to adjacent land.
Man, if I lived in Oklahoma, I'd build a tornado shelter before I built a house. Even if I had to dig it out by hand. Which I'm currently about halfway to digging out a hole for a root cellar. 10'x13' and 4-4.5' deep. I'm aiming for about 9-10' deep. Not easy and it hurts, but doable. Especially considering I'm doing it by myself.
Wow. There was a BIG fire that burnt through MWC, CHOCTAW in April of 2009. Caused ALOT damage. Uf you could. Do a video on that one if you have time. Jve always wondered what it looked like on satalite
Thanks for this tour. I just watched a video on the tornado last week. So I hopped on Google and traced the route and didn't see any evidence to my eye of a tornado. Following along with you (as of current imagery) it looks like 99% of the suburban neighborhoods have been rebuilt, just a lot here and a lot there not rebuilt. In the more sparsely developed areas there are still some ghost foundations and driveways. Of note, it looks like the Orr Family went on a expansion rebuilding and the large estate looks as if abandoned. There's still more evidence of the 2011 North Minneapolis (EF1 to EF2) tornado with current imagery. I think it's easier to hone in on, because Minneapolis has a lot of tree cover and there's a band with fewer trees. When you zoom in there are far more vacant lots than in Moore.
I lost a house, 90% of everything inside, two cars, a fish etc. Thank the good lord I had a shelter and was able to survive with my wife, son and family dog. Our neighbors were able to dig us out 47 minutes after impact. We did not let the storm discourage us, in fact we built right back on the same spot. After the tornado we found bowling balls in our yard from the Moore Bowling Alley which was 1/2 mile away and a dumpster from the Warren theater almost 6/10th of a mile away. People from NOAA told us the winds were 220-225 when they impacted our home. I count my lucky stars everyday that so many of us survived this devastation.
rip to your fish
@@cannon1725 ty so much. His name was “Fish Man” RIP
You know that Mother Nature has a warped sense of humor when you lose most of your stuff but you get free bowling balls.
@@kdawson020279 wonder how many 300 games she’s thrown…?
@@steveo7064 🤣 Well, it's safe to say she probably got all the pins in every frame that day...
I'm 30 years old and have lived in Moore for most of my life. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) lost her home during this. It was right behind the Warren theater. Luckily, she was at work several miles north. I was picking her up right as the tornado was entering moore.
I'll never forget arriving in that neighborhood a few minutes after and helping look for survivors. It rocked me to my core. The way people came together and helped each other was amazing.
24 people have died on that day. That's a lot, but when you see the amount of destruction this tornado have caused, it really is impressive how the rest of the people managed to survive it.
+1
The houses that didn’t rebuild may have not been rebuilt because the owners didn’t survive the tornado.
shit man, that's true
RIP
That's what I was going to say
Or they just didn't want to live there anymore.
@@hearmenow909 they would have sold the land and it would have been very cheap land. The reason why it is still probably empty is because they don’t know what to do with the land, if it wasn’t in a will or whatever. Not sure how some of that works.
Crazy it's been 8 years since the tornado. I've lived in Moore since 2007 and vividly remember leaving school right before the May 20th tornado. We drove down to Norman and I have a vivid memory of sitting on Tecumseh and watching just a huge dark blue/black cloud go across Moore. What's crazy is that about an hour or so before the tornado cops had stopped vehicles on the highway right next to the 4th street overpass (the overpass seen at 14:12), and thankfully, my stepdad had the wherewithal to say "screw that" and drove up the on-ramp to take us south. Crazy day but thankfully my house was spared.
Also, the school you see at 15:38 was Highland East Jr. High where I attended middle school later in 2013. The school itself had minor damage but the gymnasium wasn't rebuilt until a few years later. The OKC Thunder actually came to Plaza Towers, Briarwood, and Highland East and built us all brand new basketball courts, pretty cool.
I'm from the northeast but i remember watching this on national news the day it happened. I'll never forget seeing the images of the damage on TV. I had always been fascinated by tornadoes, but then seeing this in 2013 made me understand the reality of how horrible they can be. Ever since that day I have been even more fascinated with storms and with how many tornadoes this area gets. The plains are amazing and I was lucky enough to visit Oklahoma and Texas a few weeks ago for the first time. Oklahomans, you are so strong and resilient to deal with this kind of weather. and to everyone that lives in this area, God bless you and I wish you the best.
Oklahomans are some of the nicest, strongest people you'll meet. I appreciate your kind words! I, myself, am fascinated with storms although since I've had children, I've gotten a little more... Careful when it comes to them. Living in Oklahoma we just have become accustomed to the storms we get. They're beautiful but as you can see in this video, can be VERY deadly and destructive. But for the most part they're beautiful
Also, there's a youtube channel called Pecos Hank that I HIGHLY recommend if you like watch severe weather videos!
Also, I hope you're doing ok. I noticed your comment was made almost a year ago so hopefully everything's ok in your end of the world!
@@levilively8643 hello, yes! I am subscribed to his channel already, he’s got some amazing and educational videos on weather. I am currently living in Massachusetts and it’s been great here lately. I’m happy to say I am visiting Texas and Oklahoma again in the coming weeks visiting friends!
So weird seeing an aerial view of what was left of our house and neighborhood. Great video
I hope you and your family are doing well.
Lived down the street from plaza towers, my little brother was going to school there and was picked up just in time and taken down the street. He was lucky compared to some of his classmates that day. It missed our house just barley. Walking around after was a crazy experience. It was saddening seeing everyone that was affected.
My 8 year-old daughter did a Google earth analysis of this tornado for a school project in October 2020, too bad this video wasn’t here, it would have helped her so much! Thanks for the analysis and extensive detail.
That's pretty intense for an 8 year old's school project lol
1999 Bridge Creek- Moore Tornado has the world's highest winds record of 318 mph recorded by DOW trucks. I have a friend who lives in Moore that they are still finding debris from the 2013 tornado.
I believe that the record now stands with the El Reno tornado from May 31st, 2013, as having the fastest but I could be wrong .
@@itsazoohere2613 If you go to wikipedia for tornado records the highest possible winds goes to el reno. The lowest max wind speed is also higher. But the most likely max is the same. And the other el reno ef5 comes right behind the more famous el reno giant.
It's crazy I was literally looking at the damage path a few hours before you uploaded this
I live in Tulsa and that evening when the same storm system came through we had papers and other small debris falling from the sky, its something I will never forget.
I don’t believe it
@@soonerstone80 an oil drum was found a mile away from its original place and another one was never found... I mean, yeah, i believe papers from Moore could certainly fall from the sky in Tulsa. More so if it was the same storm system...
Anyway, why would he/she lie 🙄🤦🏼♀️
Just wow!
Wow. I live by tulsa so I can defiantly believe that paper could fly over to tulsa! Crazy!
@@soonerstone80 It’s true that storms can do that. Take the recent example of the Mayfield, Kansas EF4 tornado. People found photographs over 100 miles away.
I hope the fellow who had waved at the Google Maps car was okay. Thanks for these videos, very informative.
Same! He seemed like such a nice guy
Timestamp?
@@Michael-gi5th 8:12
I missed these videos!! It's crazy how it went from ef1 straight up to ef4 strength like the next street over pretty much! It's crazy how fast it happened
Check out the jonesboro tornado and how quick it went from nothing to a rope to looking similar to the tuscaloosa storm. That thing was quick too. And right on the border between ef3 and ef4. These things can get real bad real quick.
I'm from Indiahoma, Oklahoma, I remember going up shortly after this to help with cleanup in my early teens. Don't get me wrong it looked devastating then but this sheds a whole new light on it for me. Thank you!
So destructive. I can't imagine what these people went through. I'm so sorry😞
It's so different actually seeing the damage, as opposed to it being " just a news story" from somewhere far away from me.
This is the first time I've ever seen a video like this, and you did a great job. Your knowledge of the individual structures is impressive. The impact of weather events like this are hard for me to comprehend just seeing the aftermath photos, but I can understand the full scale when you break it down like you did here.
Good analysis. Would be interested in the El Reno OK EF5 tornado that happened 11 days later--the largest tornado in history. Thanks!
It was ef3 but yes I would like to see it as well
It was ef3 but yes I would like to see it as well
It was a ef3 but it had EF5 winds speed
@@peachxtaehyung it was an EF-5 tornado, and has since been called such by multiple valid weather sources They recorded winds of 302 MPH in the storm, but the storm only caused EF-3 level damage by the time it hit structures. It was definitely an EF-5 and it's currently under discussion to be officially named as such by all media :)
@@peachxtaehyung it's super interesting! because of that storm, they're considering overhauling the EF rating scale based on wind speeds as well, not just damage like they currently do. You should read up on it it's really cool!
Chased this tornado and then responded to Plaza Towers with the NG. It was an absolutely horrific day.
I can't imagine the horror of the responders at Plaza Towers Elementary School. One picture that summed up the devastation in Moore, Oklahoma after the tornado on May 20th, 2013 is a picture of firefighters pulling Jennifer Doan- a third grade teacher at Plaza Towers Elementary School- out from under the rubble of the school. What is particularly shocking to learn is that Jennifer was pregnant with her third child at the time of the tornado. Despite having sustained severe injuries to her neck, back and sternum due to a cinder block wall collapsing on top of her and her students; Jennifer did not lose her baby. In December of 2013; Jennifer and her husband welcomed a baby boy, whom they named Jack Nicholas Rodgers. Jack's middle name is a tribute to Nicholas McCabe, a student in Jennifer's class who was one of the seven children who lost their lives at Plaza Towers Elementary School.
Thank you. My husband and I got involved with the Central Oklahoma Humane Society to help rescue the injured and displaced animals in order to find their owners. If an animal wasn't reclaimed it was transported to other states who wanted to adopt them. It really was horrific.
I remember watching live coverage of this event on the Weather Channel I think...Regardless of where I watched it, it was a truly historic tornado and absolutely terrifying. I live in Florida so we get a lot of time to prepare before hurricanes come our way. I can't imagine having only minutes to make a decision to hide or run.
It’s definitely short notice but you learn what to look for on the radar if you can watch the weather at all when storms are coming. That usually gives a good enough idea to leave the area early or not or to hide.
This is an excellent video. I remember this day I live about 40 minutes away and one thing that really stood out to me was the before and after comparisons around the 7 minute mark. That gated home, it doesn’t even look like the same area after. Like can’t even tell that was once a beautiful well maintained residence. It’s just truly sad.
First time ever seeing a video like this and your work and research was pretty incredible. Subbed 👊🏼
I was living in Oklahoma City at the time. My mother and I just drove through that area the night before coming from TX. We were going to wait and leave in the morning instead of late in the evening, but we didn’t. We also had to back to TX a couple weeks after the tornado. It was scary driving through and passing the Warren Theater area.
Can't wait for your video on the bridge creek-moore tornado. I hope you mention the "mud baby", so many videos on that tornado don't, and its such an fascinating aspect of it. Love your work
I went by the damage path on 35 in January and its just creepy because you can tell by the houses and the buildings to the west where it went because of how new they are compared to the ones just to the south if you continue south. you can see the literal line switch of new houses to old and its so unbelievably creepy.
I lost a buddy in this tornado. Apparently the guy that was with him said that they was thrown a quarter mile in their work truck. Once they landed, they both got out and my buddy looked to be in shock then collapsed right after he brushed himself off. Dead on the spot. Apparently they said it was adrenaline or something that kept him alive for another 20 seconds. Weird story but true.
That's so sad. I hope you & his family & the coworker who witnessed that are doing well in life❤
I could watch this daily on a T.V. network. It's so entertaining .
Thanks!
It is interesting, anything but entertainment to me.
That toterhome and stacker was worth about $300,000 and the race car inside was worth upwards of about $250,000. Roughly about enough to build that house that was destroyed 2 times over. Crazy
What car was it?
Was a scary day. My house is about 1/2 a mile north of that celestial acres training center pin. I was home alone with my dog and I saw it out the upstairs window when it was on its way from Newcastle, threw all my motorcycle gear on, grabbed my dog, and jumped in the tub but if it went just a tiny bit more north I would have been a goner regardless.
I grew up in Moore in the 70's and 80's, and I only remember having to head to the storm shelter once, and maybe a couple more we rode out in the house. It wasn't until the 1st EF5 in last 90's, it seems Moore began being hit a lot afterwards.
Yup. From 1998 to 2016 Moore was hit by 9 tornados, 2 f/ef5
Probably how the dry lines seem to be pushing SE more, or at least east. They haven’t really had any lately but Norman and east of the metro get it more now. Just this year Seminole got hit by 2 decent sized tornadoes one right after the other basically and another the next day I think.
I think it’s simply because as areas grow in population, the target gets bigger.
Not surprising that alot of people decided not to rebuild... I wouldn't either with how much that area is hit
Yeah, the entire OKC metro area is just another disaster waiting to happen
@@SwegleStudios yeah tbh it is... I have a bad feeling for this spring. I hope that I am wrong but idk. I pray nothing will happen for another long time!
To be fair some of those people probably weren’t alive to have the chance to rebuild.
I'd want to get the fuck out of oklahoma myself
The houses that weren’t rebuild by the people were the people who died in the tornado
I'm so glad you're back!!!
I really like this video! Have you considered creating one on Joplin or one of the April 27 tornadoes?
he's done those already, you can check his videos for them! :)
Oh I didn't know! New to this channel. Thanks for telling me :)
Check out the video of the Northern Alabama EF5 ground scar track. Really good job on that one as well.
Unbelievable. Truly gives you a new perspective on the power of these things
Love these videos! I often go and check out the damage paths myself and its really nice to see somwone else doing the same! People dont always realize how devastating these monsters can be. Thanks for the video!❤
Greetings from New Zealand. Fascinating.
Hello back from NJ and I hope to one day visit your country.
The El Reno tornado of 2013 happened just off your screen at 1:10 to the left or to the west. Literally just a few miles west from Yukon, that suburb in northwestern Oklahoma City. If that sucker had just waited a little longer, it would've landed smack-dab in the middle of Oklahoma City. That tornado grew to 2.3 miles in width, with 300+ mph winds, the strongest and largest tornado ever recorded. It would've been like a nuclear bomb had gone off in Oklahoma City. Thankfully the storm that spawned that monster decided to drop its gift to humanity just a bit further west. Still, we might not get so lucky the next time. Oklahoma City and environs are not exactly the best places to live if all of this horrifying weather happened since 1995 or so...
The El Reno, Okla., tornado of May 31, 2013, killed eight people, all of whom died in vehicles. Three of the chasers who died, Tim Samaras, his son Paul Samaras, and chase partner Carl Young, made up the highly respected TWISTEX team, which launched probes into tornadoes to collect study data.
Lives in okc for 40 years. Never once have I ever needed to even take cover. It’s overblown
It grew to 2.6miles
@@bwilie7173 18 people died that day.
@@soonerstone80 I've lived here since 2012 and have taken shelter three times in two different homes. One in Midwest City near Tinker and twice just N. of El Reno in NW OKC.
I actually live in one of the empty plots you show in this video lmao! It was rebuilt and I guess google maps hasn't updated yet.
@@BuckeyeShawn007 Well I was born here and I live with my parents so I don't really have a choice. But the past few years the tornadoes haven't been that bad in OK actually. But I agree, I don't understand why we build so much stuff in tornado alley just for it to be knocked down
What empty lot is it
@@CoachSRYA LOL you seriously asking for the kid's personal home address?
I'VE ALWAYS BEEN MAD O TO TORNADOES, JUST FOUND YOUR CHANNEL. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC STUFF, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK PAL
You're mad at tornadoes? Is that why you're yelling?
great video man, never relised how destructive this tornado really was
15:31
Some minor corrections, that I'm not sure anyone else has commented on. That was not a regular high school, but a junior high school. Highland East Junior High. This tornado actually came at the end of my 7th grade year there.
The tornado did destroy the gym as you said, along with a bunch of portable buildings and some relatively minor damage to the main building, but the gym was actually rebuilt well before this video. The new gym afaik is actually a certified tornado shelter.
Some fun facts just while I'm talking about it:
The new gym is built with a similar floorplan to the old one, at least towards the front. I can't speak to the back of the gym, where all the locker rooms are, because I never went back there in the new gym.
The new gym is built significantly further back than the old one. I'm not sure why this was done, if they were going to use the same floorplan anyways.
Repairs to the main building were still being made at the start of the next school year. Nothing too significant, just leaks here and there and some electrical systems. One of the results of this was having three "impromptu fire drills" in one month, because the system kept going off while they were working on it. I believe once it actually shorted and started smoking.
At the end of my 8th grade year, they had an activity day for us. Normally, this would've occurred in the gym area, but since that was under construction at this point, they had it closer to the field on the left. Two things I noticed were that there was still quite a bit of debris (some that I could recognize as being from the old gym) and that you could look right down the path of destruction and see the Warren Theater from that school. Clear across town. As far as I remember, you couldn't have done that before.
In the old gym, the procedure for tornadoes was that everyone in the building was to go to the girl's locker room, which opened right out to the main area of the gym. I'm guessing the thinking was that it was the center-most room in the building. On that day, however, the gym teacher made the executive decision to move the students further back, towards the boy's locker room. Not sure if they sheltered there or in the showers or the wrestling area, but regardless wherever the teacher moved them, it more than likely ended up saving their lives, as the whole area around the girl's locker room collapsed.
So, that's my info dump on that. Highland East tends to be forgotten because it wasn't leveled and nobody died there. Glad to see it get mentioned in this video.
The third tornado was 2003. It happened a few days after Franklin, KS was hit by a tornado on May 3rd.
I think it was after the 2013 tornado that several people actually left Moore after being hit 3 times.
I remember this day, i lived close to 23rd street by the asian district on the same road you take to get to the capital building. There was the pride festival that day i had gone with my family to, before we even got there we were already under the anvil formation, and it looked beyond wild in the distance. Living in Oklahoma you know when a storm looked bad, and it was really really ugly. About two hours before the festival was set to end, the tornado sirens had started to blare. Being oklahoman nobody was in a rush to leave, and even took about thirty minutes for them to announce a shutdown. At that point we were under mammatus clouds probably the size of lake hefner each. As we went back the news was on all news supported channels and i watched the helicopter footage of the dozens of dead horses laying everywhere.. it took them a minute to notice before they cut back and apologized for showing it. Wild wild shit man.
Great video!! Do the May 3rd, 1999 tornado if you can.
OH MY GOD! Thank you for this video! I recently moved to Moore and I’ve always wondered!
May the way you take us through is super unique and educational. Damn good job!
I've looked on your channel maybe I just haven't found it yet but have you did one on El Reno? I love your videos!!
It's so crazy how a tornado will demolish one house, but the next house will still be standing.
Very comprehensive coverage. Thanks.
Thanx for these they are really well done good work!
Thanks so much!
Now THIS is how you do a presentation!! Exactly how I would have done it, so I absolutely appreciate it, and wonder why more vids don't. I find I dont have a whole lot of questions after watching these.
Checking on the mansion with the fancy gate and tennis court, looks like as of Feb 2021 streetview the property was purchased w/ fenced construction area and looks like the most recent Google Maps data in April 2023 it is mostly complete but in need of landscaping--still just bare foundations for the other buildings beyond the tennis court though.
Wild how quickly some stuff recovers with the changes from the day after to October 2013, how some recovery is still happening a decade later, and how some things will just be never fixed.
I could not imagine having such a nice estate, with a pool, tennis court, guest house, and then it being all destroyed and all of that money that I saved to have a property like that is trashed. It’s sad that they abandoned it.
Well, if youre rich enough, you might just want to move to somewhere else.
@@orionbroadcast9226 👍💯
Great video. Maybe you can do one on the March 2020 Nashville/middle TN tornado
I just watched your Tuscaloosa vid and you had 172 subscribers! Lol. Great job. I used to wonder why residents didn’t have basement shelters, but I was perhaps ignorant as to the sheer scale of the damage. It’s also great to marry up a lot of the legacy video and news coverage commentary with this analysis. Wasn’t there warnings initially of it heading towards a casino? I always wondered if it was hit? Onto the next one!
My grandma lives in Moore, luckily she wasn’t in the path of destruction but I recently went there and that 7/11 is now a Casey’s but if you look at the trees behind it you can see where the tornado went through it’s crazy how 10 years later you can still see the destruction.
2013 and 2011 were nightmare years for tornadoes
How can you go back in time? Please tell me how he did this.
A few addendums for curious :
That little unnamed neighborhood around the intersection at May and 149th St. (@5:30) is the only place on Earth where two known F-5 tornadoes have crossed paths.
Those 4 brick homes (and the 7-11 to the north) that you pointed out (@13:08) across the road from the hospital is where the storm stalled out and sat still for a short time. According to the Damage Assessment Toolkit the core actually did a small loop-de-loop before continuing east.
That last totally slabbed home that indicated EF-5 damage (@16:10) was a home that was still under construction at the time, and was easily rated as EF-5 damage because of how new it was. There wasn't any furniture or anything inside the home, and all the fittings, anchors, and everything were brand new so it was easier to assess.
I've seen many of these tornado destruction path videos but something im interested in knowing is if there has ever been a tornado that has been caught on one of these satelite images during its lifespan. I think it would be very cool to see one in action if one does exist.
It would be hidden by the supercell above, I believe. You'd only see clouds from above
Excellent video. I would have a hard time rebuilding if I went through that. I would worry every Spring if it's going to happen again.
Yep. Even those of us who’s houses weren’t destroyed, and us who lived a few miles away and came down to help immediately after, still get nervous every spring severe storms. Every person that I know who lived there or lived close and went down right after it passed still struggles, myself included. It’s a horrific thing to go through, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced (and hope to never again), and something that sticks with you forever.
I love these deep dives u do on these infamous twisters!
Have you done a video about the spot in Moore that was hit by BOTH of the F-5s?
Great video covering one of the most awful events in our country's history.
11:03 I remember I drove down that road (Santa Fe) in 2013 or 2014 after the F5 to try and get somewhere safe away from another outbreak. It was super eerie because it was broad daylight in front of me, dark as night behind me, and just empty lots on both sides.
Ended up huddling in a McDonald's in Norman and found out I dodged 3 tornadoes that day. Had to stay at a friends house because of flooding. Oklahoma is no joke, yo.
11:04 is where our home is centered on the screen. We were trapped in our shelter under what was left of the garage for 2 hours after it passed.
Definitely a day that lives on with our family.
👎🏻
@MY CATS COOL Most of the older schools didn't / don't. After that tornado though a lot of them added at least some better protection if not shelters outright.
Would love to see you analyze the Jarrell, TX tornado.
they didnt have google maps in 1997 you toilet
i was living in an apartment in north okc at this point.
the headwinds off the moore ef5 tornado were strong enough to rip siding and shingles off the buildings and take down a power line right in front of the complex.
it was over 20 miles south of us.
This was a great video dude. Really enjoy exploring and sussing out what happened
Great video with the images from Google Earth Pro. Can you blame the people who did not rebuild? Not me. I drive thru Oklahoma twice a year, and I am really apprehensive about the weather. Needless to say, I plan alternate routes when necessary.
Can you do one of the kentucky tornado please? Great job, I'm going to subscribe, I know it'll take a long time but would be amazing to see
At 9:21 my house was shown it was across the street for that big lake looking thing! We luckily missed it barely. But ya it was rough and after you heard all the horses being put down it was to sad🥺
Heartbreaking. Glad you and the house were safe though.
I went to school at the time of this tornado north of the path, and my mom's house was south of the path. I went and measured the distance from my school to my mom's house in google earth where the tornado threaded between them.
5,000 feet. Less than a mile.
I am in complete shock of the perspective I have been given that I survived this storm, and that somehow my school, nor my house was flattened with me or anyone I knew in it. Unreal
It's horrible to think that the reason they didn't rebuild is because they were plots with fatalities :(
Your certain?
@@markmnorcal I didn't say I was certain, I said it's horrible to think that might be the reason.
@@sarah4531 yes I spoke to soon
Damn that's really sad
I'm from moore I still live on 12th street. Mostly everything has been rebuilt or new buildings/homes have been built. Overall really scary day for me. I was 12 years old at the time.
I have to wonder if there’s any way to figure out the Moore ‘99 and Moore ‘13 differentials in paths.
ABC has a video about that posted 7 years ago.
There is spot in a field outside Moore where a company grows lawn turf where the last three F-5 storms intersected. In all, five F-5 storms have been documented to have hit Moore since 1900 and scientists have no idea why that has happened.
I would love to see that too.
@@patriciamccormick9321 scientists do have an idea. Climate change is causing severe weather around the globe.
@@patriciamccormick9321 That's interesting. It would be nice if someone put an obelisk-type memorial for the combined sixty victims of these disasters. Thirty-six people were killed in the May 3rd, 1999 tornado and twenty-four people lost their lives in the May 20th, 2013 tornado. Even though I would not want to live there myself because of its association with violent and destructive tornadoes; Moore, Oklahoma seems like a really nice place to live and raise a family. I think that the reason why people live in Moore is because it is just a short drive from the professional opportunities in Oklahoma City and Moore is also a short drive from Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, OK; so a lot of the residents of Moore are personnel stationed at Tinker Air Force Base and their families.
Great video, commentary and use of google earth. Thanks!! Very hard to comprehend 14 miles of EF3-5 destruction from still photos! This video made it real.
What app are you using ? Does it cost ? How do I get this application?
I was glued! Good job!
Great videos u need to do some about historic tornados like the tri state tornado and some about large famous hurricanes. Looking a hurricane damage is crazy.
I grew up in Moore, OK. Lived 19 years in SE North Carolina and I’ll take hurricanes over tornadoes anytime. Hurricane = 6-7 days notice. Tornado = Minutes/Seconds notice.
8:18 that transition gave me chills
the first homes it did damage to were in Bermuda drive in Newcastle shortly before going through a farm off highway 76, but the first tree it knocked down was to the right of timberlake Reservoir, i always thought it was that shed you showed too but kept hunting
My oldest son worked in Moore when the tornado hit. He was across 35 from the theater, a few blocks south on Broadway. They just got some roof damage, but he said when he went to go home to Norman after it was over, his car was completely covered in insulation and debris from homes that had been hit.
Excellent job making this very informative video. Much appreciated.
Born and raised in OKC, i think these poor people just called it quits in the moore area. Two EF5’s and one EF4 thru this area and countless smaller tornadoes. My dad and i use to go searching for tornado damage thru Moore back in the mid 1980’s up to 1999. We use to see F1-F2 damage and be shocked, and then in 1999 the game changed with the first EF5. Moore is tornado alley for sure.
What is the time of day of this incident ? What is so difficult about posting the day and the time of touch down of a tornado ? Try researching a specific tornado and see the difficulty that I am finding.....just saying.
i remember standing on my roof in norman watching this thing. crazy how its already been 8 years
Did you make a vid on the bridge creek one yet?
Seeing the scores and scores of homes that became mere smudges of debris with driveways, it's incredibly hard to fathom how only two dozen people were lost in this thing! How on Earth did so many people just walk away from these piles of rubble? I'm curious what it is about the Oklahoma soil that makes basements such an expensive proposition in home building. Hard packed clay maybe? Anyway, it's incredible how many people beat the odds by surviving this monster tornado!
You are correct, Oklahoma born and bred here. Its the red clay all over our state that makes basements a lot more difficult and expensive to construct. Almost every home I've lived or been in has not had a basement, though storm shelters are extremely common still. They make some amazing stand up shelters that can fit above ground in your garage that most people use as its way cheaper than digging.
When we moved here from Illinois in 2012, we were stunned that almost no one had basements AND the plumbing is buried in the concrete slab so if there's a leak, much of the time, the slab has to be cracked open or new pex tubing pipes are put above head in the attic. Anyways what Caleb Russell said, it's the soil. It's so loose. Many homes have to be stabilized with steel rods pounded down to bedrock in order to keep it from cracking/settling. Only one area I'm aware of that has a lot of basements is in the historic homes section just N. of Downtown. It's named Mesta Park. (anyone correct me if I'm wrong. Not a native of Ok.)
Look at the greensburg ks storm. Even larger and stronger tornado with less deaths than this.
this is super detailed and has amazing potential if you keep trying to make these the best they can be :)
Why would *anyone* rebuild their house in an area that is prone to having tornados? Even in the video you can hear him talk about the paths other tornados have taken which was essentially the same path as this one
The last EF5 Tornado. We likely won’t see many more EF5’s with the NWS being very very strict now on what is, and what is not EF5 damage. Sounds like for a tornado to be an EF5 now, they need multiple damage indicators to show it. Awesome video by the way.
I appreciate your work.
Nice video! Could you do a trace of the Brunswick NC tornado because it happened back in February of this year. It’s ok if you can’t but it’s just an idea! Oh btw I’m not sure if there’s google earth satellite data yet but I think you should just wait a bit and it might come soon
Need to do this for the 1999 storms in OK.
I was in jr. high at Moore West near 89th and Penn. when the sirens went off. I don't remember much because of the shock we were all going through, but I remember the horrified look on my teachers face when our principal made the announcement about what was coming. I remember my classmates screaming and crying, the phone lines going down, the power going in and out. I remember my teacher panicking telling us to get under the desks and whatnot and her telling us that we couldn't leave unless our parents were here. I remember thinking about my sister's, my youngest who was two years younger than me and at Kingsgate at the time and thinking that my mom who's work was at the corner of 104th an Penn. would be closer to her than me and that she'd get picked up first, my older sister who was four years older than me at Westmoore taking shelter in the school. I remember thinking I don't want to get stuck her with all these kids and that my neighbor had a storm shelter that was painted on the outside to look like a ladybug and that if I could get there I'd be safe. I remember walking home by myself down Penn. into the center of Kingspark behind the clubhouse and walking in from the back door and finding my dad at home confused where I came from. I remember a couple days later, my mom and dad and me and my sister all in the car, driving past the highschool where the auditorium that had a garage access door from the outside to the backstage was completely blown off and the entire theatre full of water, the Orr family farm where I used to spend summer camps as a little kid with Dr. Orr toe fishing with me and riding the little train around completely flattened along with the gruesomely injured horses scattered across the property, turning down 19th street past briarwood and into the neighborhood that plaza towers was in and my mom too stunned to say anything the entire time. I remember going home and my dad praying with us.
#MooreStrong
In 2011 I was maybe 1 or 2. I lived west of Moore. Although I can't remember almost anything, I just remember looking out the window after it and seeing angel faces over some of the homes. I thank Jesus Christ me and my family weren't affected. ♥️
Its actually cool to look at current Google maps of Moore, (or Joplin or Tuscaloosa) and still see the paths of these storms, the most telltale signatures being the difference in building construction and lack of large trees compared to adjacent land.
Man, if I lived in Oklahoma, I'd build a tornado shelter before I built a house. Even if I had to dig it out by hand. Which I'm currently about halfway to digging out a hole for a root cellar. 10'x13' and 4-4.5' deep. I'm aiming for about 9-10' deep. Not easy and it hurts, but doable. Especially considering I'm doing it by myself.
Wow. There was a BIG fire that burnt through MWC, CHOCTAW in April of 2009. Caused ALOT damage. Uf you could. Do a video on that one if you have time. Jve always wondered what it looked like on satalite
Thanks for this tour. I just watched a video on the tornado last week. So I hopped on Google and traced the route and didn't see any evidence to my eye of a tornado. Following along with you (as of current imagery) it looks like 99% of the suburban neighborhoods have been rebuilt, just a lot here and a lot there not rebuilt. In the more sparsely developed areas there are still some ghost foundations and driveways. Of note, it looks like the Orr Family went on a expansion rebuilding and the large estate looks as if abandoned. There's still more evidence of the 2011 North Minneapolis (EF1 to EF2) tornado with current imagery. I think it's easier to hone in on, because Minneapolis has a lot of tree cover and there's a band with fewer trees. When you zoom in there are far more vacant lots than in Moore.