5 ms·

Man Sticks His Camera Out Storm Shelter Hole, Captures View of Tornado [video]

98 points by merah 13y ago

jrockway 13y ago
Based on his neighbor's houses, I'm pretty sure the tornado was not EF5 at the time it was being recorded. Here's what Wikipedia shows for an EF1 tornado: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EF1_tornado_damage_example.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EF1_tornado_damage_example... The houses in the video don't even look that badly damaged.
- brazzy 13y ago
  He was not directly on the path of it. According to the article, areas some streets away were "completely wiped out ".
  - astrodust 13y ago
    That tornado was awfully damned close, but they weren't in the funnel.
  - Ecio78 13y ago
    Check this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dCbhnPfEvF8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d... Incredible..
    - dredmorbius 13y ago
      And if you're wondering why the car they're in doesn't go flying or get penetrated by windblown debris, well, it's not your typical car, but a highly customized 7 ton vehicle with armor and hydraulic ground spikes. http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/watch-storm-chasers-capture-fo/13452801 http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/watch-storm-chase... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/05/28/incredible-video-what-its-like-inside-a-violent-tornado/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Intercept_Vehicle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Intercept_Vehicle
  - xerula 13y ago
    Here is recent (and much more impressive, to me) footage of a direct hit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LobCDYO78Us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LobCDYO78Us
- Retric 13y ago
  Or he was not that close to the funnel. If it was really 1+ miles wide he could have easily been 2+ miles from it's path based on how wide it looked.
marcosscriven 13y ago
I'm not sure if that's brave or stupid, but as this is HN, I'll go for brave.
- androidb 13y ago
  Well it was neither, as shown in the video he just pushed up the phone through the small hole, in the worst case scenario the phone would've been pulled out. To me it seems that type of shelter to be more dangerous as if the roof was destroyed it could've trapped them in there. I don't live in a country with tornadoes so I'm no expert on shelters, but shouldn't it have been few meters away from houses?
  - ghshephard 13y ago
    99%+ of the safety comes from just having a quality Tornado shelter. It can be beside the house, in the garage, or even an aboveground "Safe Room" - and you're fine. The odds of (A) you being in a Tornado, and (B) you being in a Tornado Shelter, and (C) The house landing on your shelter and (D) nobody coming to dig you out - is close enough to 0 to not matter.
    - xradionut 13y ago
      Plus the more expensive models come with jacks to force the hatch open in case of entrapment.
    - jordan0day 13y ago
      Are basements not common in Oklahoma? This is the first time I can recall there being a lot of discussion around these sorts of purpose-built shelters. I was surprised when the video showed the photographer inside a purpose-built shelter, with a nice-looking house across the street -- I would presume a home like that (and others in that neighborhood) would have a basement?
      - ghshephard 13y ago
        From: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/28/tornado-storm-shelters/ http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/28/tornado-storm-shel... == SNIP == Fewer than one percent of newly-constructed homes in Moore and surrounding towns extend underground, largely due to the high water table and the red clay that most of the area's homes stand on, which absorbs moisture easily. In the heat, the clay tends to dry out, causing a cycle of contraction and expansion that adds pressure to concrete-reinforced basement walls, causing leaks. But NPR noted that even after improvements in building technology mostly solved this problem, people avoid basements largely because of a "psychological hangover for people that are used to seeing houses from the '40s and '50s, when the technology wasn't quite as good for waterproofing." == SNIP ==
nitrogen 13y ago
As this video and the dashcam videos of the meteorite over Russia show, while ubiquitous video recording can erode our privacy, at least we'll be able to watch cool videos of natural disasters. Props to the two for risking their phone(s?) to film this.
tripzilch 13y ago
I'm loving the comments under the article arguing about "NO VERTICAL VIDEO!!", hahaha :)
da_n 13y ago
"Please turn your device sideways to begin recording (press record again to override)"

98 points by merah 13y ago

Based on his neighbor's houses, I'm pretty sure the tornado was not EF5 at the time it was being recorded. Here's what Wikipedia shows for an EF1 tornado: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EF1_tornado_damage_example.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EF1_tornado_damage_example... The houses in the video don't even look that badly damaged.

brazzy 13y ago
He was not directly on the path of it. According to the article, areas some streets away were "completely wiped out ".
- astrodust 13y ago
  That tornado was awfully damned close, but they weren't in the funnel.
- Ecio78 13y ago
  Check this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dCbhnPfEvF8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d... Incredible..
  - dredmorbius 13y ago
    And if you're wondering why the car they're in doesn't go flying or get penetrated by windblown debris, well, it's not your typical car, but a highly customized 7 ton vehicle with armor and hydraulic ground spikes. http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/watch-storm-chasers-capture-fo/13452801 http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/watch-storm-chase... http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/05/28/incredible-video-what-its-like-inside-a-violent-tornado/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Intercept_Vehicle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Intercept_Vehicle
- xerula 13y ago
  Here is recent (and much more impressive, to me) footage of a direct hit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LobCDYO78Us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LobCDYO78Us
Retric 13y ago
Or he was not that close to the funnel. If it was really 1+ miles wide he could have easily been 2+ miles from it's path based on how wide it looked.

marcosscriven 13y ago

I'm not sure if that's brave or stupid, but as this is HN, I'll go for brave.

androidb 13y ago
Well it was neither, as shown in the video he just pushed up the phone through the small hole, in the worst case scenario the phone would've been pulled out. To me it seems that type of shelter to be more dangerous as if the roof was destroyed it could've trapped them in there. I don't live in a country with tornadoes so I'm no expert on shelters, but shouldn't it have been few meters away from houses?
- ghshephard 13y ago
  99%+ of the safety comes from just having a quality Tornado shelter. It can be beside the house, in the garage, or even an aboveground "Safe Room" - and you're fine. The odds of (A) you being in a Tornado, and (B) you being in a Tornado Shelter, and (C) The house landing on your shelter and (D) nobody coming to dig you out - is close enough to 0 to not matter.
  - xradionut 13y ago
    Plus the more expensive models come with jacks to force the hatch open in case of entrapment.
  - jordan0day 13y ago
    Are basements not common in Oklahoma? This is the first time I can recall there being a lot of discussion around these sorts of purpose-built shelters. I was surprised when the video showed the photographer inside a purpose-built shelter, with a nice-looking house across the street -- I would presume a home like that (and others in that neighborhood) would have a basement?
    - ghshephard 13y ago
      From: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/28/tornado-storm-shelters/ http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/28/tornado-storm-shel... == SNIP == Fewer than one percent of newly-constructed homes in Moore and surrounding towns extend underground, largely due to the high water table and the red clay that most of the area's homes stand on, which absorbs moisture easily. In the heat, the clay tends to dry out, causing a cycle of contraction and expansion that adds pressure to concrete-reinforced basement walls, causing leaks. But NPR noted that even after improvements in building technology mostly solved this problem, people avoid basements largely because of a "psychological hangover for people that are used to seeing houses from the '40s and '50s, when the technology wasn't quite as good for waterproofing." == SNIP ==

nitrogen 13y ago

As this video and the dashcam videos of the meteorite over Russia show, while ubiquitous video recording can erode our privacy, at least we'll be able to watch cool videos of natural disasters. Props to the two for risking their phone(s?) to film this.

tripzilch 13y ago

I'm loving the comments under the article arguing about "NO VERTICAL VIDEO!!", hahaha :)

da_n 13y ago

"Please turn your device sideways to begin recording (press record again to override)"