DAMAGE ANALYSIS: 2014 Vilonia, AR EF4 Tornado
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- In this first installment of the Damage Analysis series, we explore the devastating Mayflower-Vilonia, AR tornado from April 27th, 2014 Tornado Outbreak. This tornado earned a controversial rating of EF4 when many argue it was of EF5 caliber. We'll take a closer look at some of the Damage Indicators from the survey to gain a better understanding of the power of this tornado.
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#Tornado #Vilonia #Weather #Damage #EF5 #Engineering
The fact that there was a fatality in a storm shelter is so horrifying
Agreed this also happened in the el Reno 2011 tornado.
If I'm not mistaken, I think you mentioned in your Phil Campbell video that a concrete roof was lifted off a storm shelter during that event too! The forces displayed by violent EF4 and EF5 tornadoes are pretty mind-blowing.
I am not an expert or an engineer. I am a retired civil engineering technician that spent 21 years of my working career responding to natural disasters (floods, tornadoes and hurricanes). I don’t recall how many storms I’ve responded to, the damage has a way of running together in my mind.
I do clearly remember the only F-5 (I like the original Fujita scale) I worked in Smithville, MS. I got freaked out by the damage I saw. Over the years I’ve seen what works and doesn’t…, even though recommended by experts. I recognize that need for balanced approach in alignment with constraints placed by budgets.
Typically the things that work are earth sheltered, round, thick reinforced concrete or domed.
In Smithville there was an area that everything above ground was wiped from the earth. There were people that survived, because they sheltered in 1’ thick, reinforced, monolithically constructed, domed, mostly buried storm shelters. I don’t recall that the steel doors were that substantial. I can’t say that they were ICC-500 standard compliant or in alignment with FEMA P-361 guidance? They were installed at an angle from the top of those domes leading down. They made an impression on me as the way to do it!
I’m planning a retirement home for myself. I’m planning on using a bermed Monolthic Dome with FEMA P-361 rated doors, thin narrow 1.25” polycarbonate windows and thicker reinforced shotcrete.
Mother Nature can be a real beeotch, but she’s always to be respected. I appreciate your analysis work. It’s top tier! 🫡👍🏽🏆
It's my understanding that the failure in this tornado was due to the door not being FEMA recommended standards, according to Texas Tech. The rest of the shelter held. They sold him a door you would use for something like home security. It was steel, but hollow. And the locking mechanism clearly not at standards. I also think it was a DIY project. Most of the shelter was built okay, but the door is always the most vulnerable..it has to be correct.
@@tornadostories believe that was the Parkersburg one
I really hope that the EF scale is corrected to identify the true strength of a tornado. While the damage indicators makes sense, not properly identifying the storms strength outside of these parameters impacts historical tornado data. Funding for tornado damage from government and insurance companies could increase of the number if significant tornadoes were properly identified to assist those in need following these storms. The issue, in my eyes, is greater than just the typical argument over EF4 vs. EF5 as statistical data impacts the money available for assistance: Thanks for you videos, I really enjoy them.
A very valid argument! We’ll see what the next iteration of the scale will bring.
Glad you enjoyed the video! More to come!
@@junefirst I look forward to them! I am a storm spotter and a safety, security, and emergency management professional. I have a MS in SSEM and really enjoy learning about all the different professions that impact disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. Your point of view is fresh and unique. Thanks again for sharing.
Follow the money.
If the damage surveyors also used physics do determine the rating on the EF scale like this channel, the rating would no doubt be much more accurate. It's also refreshing to see Ethan with actual credentials and skills dive into specific events who can say "this tornado should have been EF5" with nothing to back it up. Nice job, June First!
Agree, live here & it was def F5. They seem to be scared to rate something F5 these days.
Was in vilonia when this happened. Got ripped from my house and boy was it terrifying. I'm thankful to be alive.
That being said, you did a wonderful job at explaining how massive the damage was! Alot of people focus more on the tornados size than the damage it cause I've come to notice.
The tornado "ripped", picked you up and threw you outside?
This niggas pants are on fire.
I’m from Vilonia and was present for both tornados. I’m now and EMT and Little Rock, the city I work in, had a tornado yesterday here in AR. I’m looking back on the 2014 tornado and comparing. Thank you so much for covering this!!
yes the 2014 one was devastating i remember it because i lived in conway! the one we had last week was as well…i live in west little rock now and it missed us by like half a mile. i think walnut valley neighborhood may have been hit the worst. basically all the houses are destroyed within like a square mile radius
I am from Vilonia Also. I lost my son in this storm. The resent tornado in LR/NLR/Sherwood/Jax brought back alot of emotions.
Please keep making videos! No one covers tornados or storm damage from this angle. Extremely fascinating and takes alot of knowledge to convey. Thanks for your efforts!
We’ll keep making them! Glad you enjoyed and learned from them.
I had just moved to Arkansas from Korea right before this tornado, I remember all the houses being grounded, truly terrifying.
The scale is too strict nowadays…they could literally make excuses to have the bloody smithville ef5 to be rated an ef4 if it happened today. And as we all know that tornado produced some of the most violent damage ever recorded.
I'm not sure about that. The sheer devastation left behind by Smithville was right up there with Jarrell and Bridge Creek-Moore. I don't see how that could possibly be ignored, and if it was that would be 100% clear and deliberate corruption...incompetence wouldn't even explain such a discrepancy
It's worth noting they're not getting anything out of downplaying storms. In fact, it'd be in their self-interest to make storms sound scarier than they are - I find there's a real lack of motive in a lot of these claims of deliberate downrating.
I think getting hung up on 'score' is kinda the biggest failing of the rating system - I think it's antiquated to base things on windspeed, just as many find it antiquated to use damage to figure the windspeed.
I think how dynamic or unstable it is, and the size of the overall weather system, are more important. These storms are fluid but people are mistaking the rating as a flat, across the board appraisal, which is a failure of this community to educate itself and educate the public.
I think once you start seeing multiple vortices and an expansive, rain-shrouded structure you might as well consider it an entirely different kind of weather system than the kind that becomes a skinny, single vortex affair - both can be deadly, of course.
EF5’s get government help. Unfortunately any USA state, city, county, etc. isn’t Ukraine
@@user-hl5ik6cl9bThe Greenfield tornado had all of the markers of an EF-5 tornado AND it had scans from a Doppler on Wheels measuring wind speeds of 250-290 MPH. Houses were swept completely away, and in some cases, the entire house and basement were sucked out leaving the basement's foundation exposed. It also obliterated a windmill like it was a toothpick.
At first the survey team said it was EF-4+, but it has since been downgraded to a regular EF-4. The system isn't consistent at all. Bassfield, MS, Mayfield and Rolling Fork (to a lesser extent), and DEFINITELY Greenfield all should have been rated EF-5.
@@Tcrror its still prelim rating not final its 185mph that rara for prelim
I’m a paramedic now but was a basic emt at the time when this storm happened. My partner and I were first on scene to this neighborhood and worked the failed storm shelter door location. It’s been 10 years and I think about that day pretty often. I’ve often wondered how their shelter failed and this video helped me understand that so much. Thank you for this.
I'm so glad you covered this storm. I live about 10 miles SE of Vilonia and this tornado is the reason I get so anxious when we have storms brewing in the area. I worked in Little Rock at Arkansas Children's Hospital at the time and had a coworker who took a direct hit. She told me they hid in a hallway under a mattress and the roof went and walls were starting to go. She could feel the wind trying to pull her up, then a board skewered the mattress to the wall it was against and kept them pinned down. Others in her neighborhood didn't survive.
I remember this. I lived exactly 100 miles away northeast and we had some random debris from Vilonia. We found personal photos and papers that had Vilonia either written on them or in the pictures.
Him: and if April 27th sounds familiar-
Me: oh that’s my sisters birthday..
Him: that was the day the world exploded
Me: o h
Sounds like her party was a blast.
Superb work Ethan. The force calculations are something that no one else tends to have in their videos. Great unique insights 🙂👍
Much appreciated! Putting my engineering background to good use ;)
I started my freshman year at the University of Central Arkansas the fall after this tornado came through. Driving through mayflower was always jaw dropping. It looked like someone had flattened a half mile wide section of woods leading up to the town. 100 year old oak trees pulled up front their roots was a humbling sight.
Hands down one of the most informative videos I have seen here on RUclips. This is especially important to me personally as I chased that storm from genesis near Paron to impact in Mayflower. Unforgettable.
I have lived in vilonia for a long time since kindergarten,even though I was little in 2014 I will never forget that night. My family was in our storm shelter and listening to the radio. After it passed we got in our car and the damage was just devastating it was awful but our community is strong and we honor the people who lost there lives that night. It will be 10 years since the tornado happened and we are still going strong.
I like the analysis on lesser known tornadoes like this. It keeps the amount of information about destructive tornadoes on RUclips varied and not repetitive. I think an analysis of the Rainsville AL tornado would be interesting as it’s one of the lesser known incredibly violent tornadoes to touch down in recent times.
I wish there was more footage of this one, especially when it was in Vilonia. Really appreciate this analysis because it's so mysterious and kinda overlooked, and as a former math major and someone who works daily with mech engineers, I REALLY appreciate the math and mechanical explanations. Also never thought to look for it on the damage assessment toolkit but I'm on it now lol
This one was hard to get footage of for a couple of reasons. For one, it hit Vilonia at dusk so it would have been very difficult to see in the low light. Also, even when it was on the ground in daylight, as it crossed I-40 at Mayflower, it was partially rain-wrapped and heavily shrouded by debris and the parent wall cloud, and the hills and trees in the area further obscured it. So it was very difficult to see, and difficult to even recognize as a tornado even when it was visible.
ruclips.net/video/WasuqCFZ2To/видео.htmlsi=AisMdhRSLnk2HDkG
This was taken near Mayflower on a hill, just before the twister crossed the AR River.
I was living in Cabot, AR and still in gradeschool at the time but I vividly remember watching the news with my parents at the time of this storm. Great analysis and informative video.
We moved to Vilonia in October 2011,but we were present during the 2014 and it was devastating. It missed our home about a half of mile. It was Very scary. Wind was howling and sounded like a train .I remember my mom was on the phone w my brother and he said it was headed rite towards us in was on our road then the phone hung up .We all just kept praying .At the time our storm shelter needed work it didn't have a proper door on it so we were in our house. My wife's mother still lives in Vilonia ..love your channel
I am 11 years old and I have a grandma who lives in Vilonia, i recounted her telling me once that when the tornado hit her and my grandpa immediately went to the nearest storm shelter that was in a church, sadly she did have to see the tornado, but thankfully her AMAZING house was somewhat on a hill and the tornado was kinda far away but my grandma did snap a few photos of the occasion though sadly I do not have them
I’m really excited about this one because I actually am not familiar with this event
I wish you would do a video on this one I'm from Arkansas and it shocked the hole state
I lived in Conway and vividly remember the aftermath of this tornado @@timhousley6845
I am so glad I came across this channel! You explain the most complex things in terms I can understand! Can’t wait to watch your other videos! Amazing job explaining this! Not sure if you’re a teacher (I’m a 7th grade English teacher) but we could definitely use more people like you in the field!
This makes me really happy to hear! We’re huge proponents of STEM advocacy and love to break stuff down and inspire!
Glad you enjoyed and learned from the video!
It’s crazy to think how much worse it could have been if it hit a city or a main town
It did though, it wiped out the majority of our small town. It passed half a mile from my house in Vilonia
Being an apprentice tool maker and a volunteer firefighter. With having a little understanding of tensile strength and the stress loading involved. Your analysis is incredibly easy to understand on the hardware failure.
That’s great hear! I’m glad it came across easily digestible.
sometimes I feel the NWS are scared to use the EF5 rating. Also i’m loving these in depth videos. I really would like to see a full explanation on the Iowa Winterset EF4 tornado of last year.
El Reno is the PERFECT example of the flawed EF scale.
@@wadewilson8011nah, no ef5 damage, ef is damage.
EF needs to be used for damage, F scale for wind and the other factors. as a what if it hit a town scale@@ia1n673
@@wadewilson8011well no the 2013 El Reno tornado didn't hit anything to cause EF5 tornado just EF3 was caused and not a lot of it
Perhaps, that might be a possibility...
...but assuming that all EF4-rated tornados in the last 13 years are rated accurately, I still find it amazing that we haven't had an EF5 'nado for that long! 😮 It's a legitimate miracle of God/science/both/whatever!
I believe there was a TON of controversy surrounding the rating of this tornado. Many did and still do believe this was an EF5.
Yep and same with the roaring fork Mississippi tornado.. the roaring fork tornado was an absolute beast and leveled multi story anchor bolted homes to their foundations.. the fact they didn’t rate it Ef5 was crazy
@@Shinuchiha_99the nws did a really good job rating that tornado so I don’t think it should be considered an EF-5
@@Shinuchiha_99I think you meant "Rolling Fork"
@@tttornadoesIt was close. Definitely a high end ef4
Def was an F5, i was there. I think they are scared to deliver an F5. Hasn't been one since 2013
A CPA accountant friend of mine shared an office building with an engineering firm years ago. Being a CPA he was, of course, concerned mostly with financial balance sheets and monetary bottom lines. He shared with me how he learned from the engineers in the office building that they first consider best structure and materials. Then the accountants get hold of the blueprints or designs and suggest places to cut costs. A final product will always end up being a compromise.
This is content I didn't know I needed. Thank you for this! The engineering aspect is something I think is a very welcome addition when discussing topics like this. It really puts into perspective the power of these forces of nature and just how destructive they truly are.
Glad you liked it! More to come!
We were in the Mayflower end of this tornado. It was horrendous. But--my two hs age kids were on their cell phones and had set up a support network for their school within two hours. I was impressed at their networking ability. But it was very very bad.
I was a kid when it hit and I remember the aftermath I'm glad I'm not the only one
thanks for that man I'm from Arkansas and you are like the first channel I've seen talk about it on the caliber you said yeah it's a deer round used in this state you should do 1997 arkadelphia that one was f4 also
Glad you enjoyed! I’ll have to check that one out and add it to the list
@@junefirst😎 thanks 👍
I ran cross country in high school in a town next to Vilonia. Our coach would take us in a bus to different areas for our after school run, and one time, he took us to a rod that ran right under where this tonado initally touched down. Only the very tips of the trees were touched where we ran, but 20 yards away from the road was utter destruction.
Thanks for the video. Interestingly enough, if you look at the Joplin Emergency Manager's EXCELLENT video on that EF-5 (long but worth every minute), he mentions that there were few indicators present for an EF-5 rating at all in Joplin, as the impacted areas were poorly constructed homes. Many of these homes were built long ago in the chat mining days, a similar story to a previous inflation-adjusted record holder (nonetheless F4) in Wichita Falls '79. IIRC, damage at the car repair garage at the high school finally lifted it to EF-5.
Vilonia '14 reminds me so much of Pilger 1. It, too, produced "EF-5ey" damage, including easily blowing through maxi EF-4 norms and even one indicator evaluated at EF-5 by one team near the church on the northeast side of Pilger. This rating indicator was not accepted as EF-5 by Omaha, however, due to the lack of confidence in the well-constructedness of the home (it seems there may have been internal disagreements at play, which can be seen on this house's specific damage assessment located close to the church on the NE side of Pilger).
I disagree only with your critique of live impact wind assessments due to their obviously inconsistent presence at all tornadoes. This is, of course, the exact same as any other ratings marker - those indicators are not always there too, as was the case in SPS '79 (though the scale was likely top-notch back then given what little we could do compared to now!). A well-bolted home may be totally absent from the peak of the damage path ... just like a mobile Doppler!
I don't like to complain about something and not offer a solution when I at all am equipped to at least BS my way through one, so here it goes. I think that the rating score should be given more of a fine tuning than a replacement. The tech is here - and we need to use it, because I strongly suspect I've chased down more than just two "contested ratings" or "wind-measured" tornado at EF-5 intensity, and I also suspect that violent EF4+ tornadoes may happen more often than we know.
Andover 2022, Pilger, the brief 200+mph multivortex wind speed measured near KDDC in 2016, Quad State, this tornado in this video and of course El Reno are just a few stellar examples of probably underrated tornadoes. After seeing damage first-hand and viewing hundreds of photos of damage on the NWS reports website archive, I personally think moving the bottom line of an EF-5 from 200 to 190 would still include the destructive criteria and impact on well-constructed homes that EF5's are defined after. 180-190 mph just seems like that "magic line" where even the best homes can be swept away.
Great content, keep going. Looking forward to more.
Um reading Timothy Marshall’s report there were the most ef 5 damage indicators in Joplin, More than the 1999 Bridge creek tornado where there were 17, the 2007 Greensburg there were 7, The 2013 Moore tornado’s 9, (10 if you include the medical centre). And 22 in Joplin. Plus the damage to St John’s medical regional centre was rated ef 5. Every window blasted out in 3 sides. Significant damage to interior walls and floors. Cladding striped off of the walls and severe damage to the building envelope, the total destruction of the roof. The destruction of concrete and metal out buildings including the generator building. The removal of the underpinning. And the whole main building was shifted 6 inches off of its foundation. Permanent structural deformation with winds exceeding 268 mph. The 9 story structure received such extreme and extensive structural damage that it was deemed structurally compromised and torn down as a result.
Fascinating and thorough engineering analysis. So did the door fail at the deadbolt and then swing inward striking an occupant resulting in the fatality, or did the opened door result in the ejection of an occupant, greatly increasing their vulnerability? Also, please consider doing a video analyzing two actual tornado damage phenomena: 1: the peeling up of asphalt pavement from a road...2: the plowing of earthen ground several feet deep such as occurred on 4/27/2011 near Smithville, Mississippi. Both have amazed me ever since I heard of those facts. Thank you again for such wonderful, technical content!
Recently found your channel, and I say the NWS and civil engineering community should A-give u a Medal; B- hire you immediately as a surveyor with benefits and maximum wage/salary alloted. Your knowledge and observation abilities eould prove invaluable on the ground. Thank you for what you do!!!
I believe the way tornadoes are rated throughout different NWS offices are inconsistent. Some offices may take into account contextuals like in cases with RF, but some others may not like with Matador. Some offices may hold back ratings of EF5 due to lack of surrounding vegetation damages like with Rochelle, but may not take that into account in cases like Moore 2013 (some trees around EF5 DIs still held up). There needs to be a more strict system on the EF scale that can ensure tornadoes are being properly documented for the use of construction standards in tornado safety. Additionally, some say NWS Little Rock skipped over numerous slabbed homes towards the beginning of the tornado's path, which is reminiscent of similar cases like New Wren back in 2011. Another thing to note, this tornado was held back from an EF5 rating due to possible "debris impact" on a home rated 190 in an area without many homes, but NWS Norman didn't hold back on an EF5 rating in Moore where there were multiple homes that could've been involved with debris interference. I think I can go on and on, but there's that. However, I digress that EF ratings matter more than the lives lost, lives are more valuable than documented statistics.
Another good video, I realize a lot of the equations are above my head but the more I watch the more I'm starting to understand. I used to watch tornado videos just for the chase part but im definitely interested in the damage indicators and the engineering factors involved.
*plankton voice* FINALLY
I was 9 at this time and I remember the news about it very well and actually increased my interest in tornadoes
i am super lucky to have my grandparents to be alive, I live in vilonia arkansas and my grandparents were in the direct path of this tornado
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I'm curious if the contractor that built the faulty storm shelter faced any legal repercussions.
That’s a good question I also thought of. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was since it seems extremely negligent if you ask me.
Great video. I wonder if the survivor in the shelter ever thought about suing, absolutely doesn’t ever make up for the loss of life but whoever built/planned that shelter should be held responsible
So that first EF-3 DI at the 4:20 mark, that must've been an older wooden house to be have been swept clean away like that. I think it's important when doing this analysis to note what type of structure was damaged or completely destroyed.
I'm loving this series. I'm definitely excited to see the future videos in this series too. Thank you for your work on this.
bassfield,viliona, possibly rolling fork, el reno, Pembroke-black creek, new wren all need to be revised imo
Nice! Our home was destroyed in the Vilonia tornado! We live on South Coker Road on the North side of the by-pass.
I'm sorry to hear that your home was impacted, I couldn't imagine being in that position. I'm glad you are alright, and I hope you've made a full recovery since!
Best,
Ethan of June First
@@junefirst yes, we got out of the house 15 minutes before it roared through. My oldest son, who was ten at the time, is now a freshman at Mississippi State studying meteorology!
@@wadelentz-basssingingpreac9846 It's incredible how formative these events can be. I witnessed my hometown get hit by an EF3 in 2011 and it shaped my career in studying weather impacts via engineering.
Cheers, Wade!
- Ethan
@@wadelentz-basssingingpreac9846was that tornado the start of your son’s weather obsession?
@@13_cmi it certainly was.
I've been curious about the rating on this tornado for quite some time. Truly appreciate your insights!
Good stuff dude, you deserve more subs.
Can you do a damage analysis on Tuscaloosa AL EF4 from the April 27 2011 Super Outbreak
I’ll add it to the list!
Thanks
What is that google earth tornado viewer you used at the start?
It’s a data export from the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit: apps.dat.noaa.gov/stormdamage/damageviewer/
Fantastic video. Looking forward to more videos like this
More to come! Thanks!
I lived in Greenbrier when this happened .. it was so horrifying.
I’m wondering where the safest location is in my particular basement. We have a walkout that faces SW. The parts of the house that are ‘deepest’ into the earth are at the corners opposite the atrium door for the walkout (separate rooms). One in next to the garage wall and fully underground (95%) and the other corner has one wall 95% under and the perpendicular wall 50% under (progressive slope on that side. OR the bathroom thats in the center of the basement near the stairs. Our exterior is full brick facade- does brick cave down into basements on well built homes typically? This is a high end house built in 85.
I knew someone who lost basically her whole family. I hope she's still around, doing good and hope she has managed to come to terms with her PTSD from it.
How long did it take this tornado to past over the houses it completely destroyed??? I think a 1/2 mile wedge with 165 mph moving at 50 mph would take over a minute to move over any given sq ft. Imagine sitting in 165 mph winds for a minute!!!!!!
I chased this storm from Mayflower into El Paso. It wasn't very visible because of all the trees but man it was wicked. Mayflower was so destroyed the city shut the roads down and half the interstate was blocked for multiple hours from all of the what seemed like 50 campers just smashed across the interstate for hundreds of yards. The radar signature when it entered Mayflower was one of the most impressive signatures I've ever seen.
Crazy, i did the same thing. Came from Conway down Hyw 365 cuz i knew I40 would be gridlocked. Chased up to Vilonia but all the debris stopped me. Probably passed by you.
This is excellent. Love your videos 👊🏻
Glad you like them! Cheers!
How did the fatality occur? The rest of the shelter didn't appear to have significant damage so what happened that resulted in the fatality?
"According to the lone survivor, the deadbolt at the bottom of the door remained intact while the top and middle bolts pulled out of the frame. The door never opened completely. Bending deflection of the door was sufficient to throw an occupant against the back wall in the shelter and she died of a head injury. The male occupant received broken bones and head lacerations, apparently from wind-borne debris. Both occupants were in contact with the door when the door failed." That was taken from the report that he uses in the video.
I feel like there should be two rating scales for tornadoes. The first scale is for actual damage caused by the tornado, and the second scale is for max radar estimated wind speeds of the tornado. I believe that there have been multiple EF5 equivalent tornadoes since 2013. They just did not hit any towns/buildings, or only hit structures that were poorly constructed/anchored. Therefore, the tornadoes could not be rated EF5 due to a lack of equivalent damage.
Great Job young Man!!! Very nicely put together, Much continued sucess to you!
I responded after that storm. I had never seen anything like it before. I remember having to climb over the roof of a house that was blown into the street and the steel frame of a mobile home wrapped around a tree.
I am in Cabot an live at one of the highest points on Hwy 5. That night, I had law enforcement and trained spotters lined up and down my street. I could see power flashes looking towards Vilonia. I have the same type of shelter that was put into my foundation. It was a Texas Tech model. I do want to get someone to come check out my door. I don’t know who to contact. Any recommendations?
You are a very intelligent and well-spoken young man and I enjoy your videos immensely!
Thank you, Tony! Glad you enjoyed them!
I have lived in Vilonia my whole life this tornado gave me PTSD it was absolutely terrifying
Fantastic work, absolutely brillant
Thank you! Cheers!
I certainly mean no ill will to anyone by saying this BUT what does it matter? EF4 -- EF5? The wind is the wind and the math is the math. If it takes the house and causes injuries and death - my goodness - why squabble over the actual size/power of the damn thing. These poor people who endured this horrific storm are always in the forefront of my mind. I live in a mid-western state - we all have basements - I can't imagine being left out there to your own devices. THANKS for these videos - I just subscribed and looking forward to many more.
I’m sorry. But the scale is outdated. Radar measurements from a given distance deemed accurate should be part of the scale. I loved hearing the engineering side of this. We’ll done. The garage/porch being south facing set that house up for failure. And it heartbreaking that a cheap door cost someone their life. Thanks Carly for linking us here!
Fantastic video! Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
So, the fact that the construction of this first house you cover has not been built without the hardware required for Anchor bolts, like a lock washer and tension nut to fasten down the seal plate.
No sure if it would have prevented the loss of life,but its subject for judgment on the structural integrity of the house.
Great video, very informative and interesting 🌪️🌪️
Glad you learned from it! Thanks!
Does the building drag coefficient (Cd) consist only of the downwind force on the side from which the wind blows, or does it also include the suction force on the opposite side, where the pressure falls? I have long wondered about the verification of an old scientific paper in which a researcher tried to assess the wind force in a tornado by calculating the wind-induced thrust force based on a case of a train overturning and a case of a brick building being demolished. The result was a thrust force corresponding to winds of improbable speeds, at the upper limit of the former F5 category. I researched this case in a different way, found many press reports and photos and know that in most places the destruction corresponds to a wind force in the F3+ category in some places weaker F4 (or T5-T8 on the Torro scale). The researcher has therefore over-calculated. However, I do not know what exactly the error is. I suspect that he has either assumed too high a strength, or that the assumption that the wind acts on the object only by pressure on the windward side is an oversimplification.
I moved to Arkansas only a few months after this and only a few miles south.
Okay that house looks like the garage was a later addition. Look closely to the side of the "street view 'before' picture".. there is a definite gap area to the side of the house where the garage is added. You can see a definite shadow line When I grew up in the 1950s, several homes had an UN 31:20 31:20 attached garage that was LATER attached by the addition of a closed in area between the house and the garage called a "breezeway". To me this would change some dynamic parameters than if the garage was attached to the home at the time of construction.
I live in Arkansas. I left vilonia minutes before the tornado struck
Great video!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
There is a part in that report saying they were in contact with the door when it failed. So whatever hit the door basically hit them😓
Wow, glad you popped up on my feed.
5:39 so they had anchor bolts but the builder didn’t tighten them with the included nuts and washers?? How in the world does that pass building inspection? Shouldn’t this put some liability on the builder, too?
I know the family the lived in that first house, I even helped them do clean up in the days following. They lost 3/8 family members in thats storm. Very sad story
This was a strong tornado that impacted these areas of Arkansas on that day and no doubt it was a EF4 and even possibly higher at points of its existence but if I were someone looking to build a above ground storm shelter, I would not care what the cost is of a door would be because human life only gets one chance and it’s better to always take as much precaution as possible to protect your life and anyone else’s that you can in situations like this... One other thing I wanted to mention is the Mayfield tornado and I’ve seen a lot of tornado damage over many years and I Have heard they are going to re-analyze that tornado and honestly I think that should have been an EF5 with some of the stuff Seen in its aftermath like the basically a heavy stone and mortar courthouse that it destroyed for the most part and then capable of lifting A train locomotive that weighs roughly 170 tons if not more then taking it up a hillside for roughly 300 maybe 400 feet if not maybe further and slamming it to the ground, pretty much bending it, showed the almost unimaginable strength that tornado had
I can’t see 6 16 penny nails having the pull strength of just on 7/16 bolt. ?
Excellent excellent job my friend learned alot thank you for your time
The NWS didn't even survey a whole neighborhood (which happened to contain some of the worst damage)
what i get from the video is to never look to see another ef5 while this rating system exists in this form because over 90% of all structures will not meet the criteria needed for ef5 damage. Only way we will even get the chance is if a strong tornado hits a massively populated area ....which you hope never happens anyway regardless of what it gets rated.
I wonder what it would take to design and build a house to survive a Tornado of this kind of power? I expect a lot of money. Here in the UK (where we don't get anything extreme) most if not all housing is built from brick. Depending on the age some are single thickness but most are a double thickness but tied together with a cavity between them filled with foam Insolation. Some even have breeze block filling as well as a some sort of insolation. I guess its cheaper to rebuild a wooden house though after its been swept clean off the slab.
Will you do damage analysis to some of the Indonesia's significant tornadoes ?
If there’s quality documentation of the damage for an event, than it’s definitely on the table!
@@junefirst i've always use facebook to find the damage photos for the Indonesian tornadoes and that includes the Sidrap tornado of 2012, i think from the damage photos that i've found, i could say that it's likely at F2 intensity
Gosh, 18 gauge is our design standard for commercial interior doors. No way that's withstanding a tornado.
Great scientific content on this channel. You learn the why and the how of these storms, not just video of a bunch of debris flying around.
John Robinson lied about the rating for this tornado as it should have been rated EF5. At least a dozen or so homes that were completely swept away were not surveyed. No EF5 this time is more like no EF5 ever.
How would a cement with rebar dome do in a strong tornado?
Interestingly, a concrete dome home was hit by the Chickasha EF4 in 2011. The structure survived with only cosmetic damage!
@@junefirst
Thanks for the reply. Could you maybe do an in depth video about this?
Assuming the shelters were above ground, wouldn't they have a better chance to fail compared to those built underground? Watching much the media footage during the F5 Moore and Joplin Tornadoes for example the local meteorologists that provided the constant warnings and updates would mention that these were tornadoes that would only be survivable "underground". Now if there were victims (being those that survived but suffered complete loss of property) that survived in above ground shelters then I can see that having either doesn't really matter, but if those communities have primarily below ground shelters and none of the fatalities happened in them, maybe it's a question of shelters built below ground having higher survival rates when in a F4 or F5 situation. And having seen videos of people hunkering down in below ground shelters as an F5 or strong F4 passes over head it looks as if the tornado was just a little stronger even they would have been in serious danger. Those doors, though bolted shut, have still had to have 3 or 4 men hold them down to prevent them being ripped off and all sucked out of the shelter. For me however the only fear I have of below ground shelters is having a couple cars or an entire house on top of the shelter and not being found in time. Either way when in these situations the chances of survival from a direct hit of even an F1 aren't guaranteed. I don't live in a tornado prone area and in my 50 years have been near them but never actually saw one was enough. As a kid I had nightmares about tornadoes the same as I did about Godzilla, being chased by a large destructive whatever, and having no control over surviving is a common theme in them.
what if the tornado rips all the hardware off the anchor bolts ?????
That literally just looks like a cheapo metal door for a pole barn from the 80’s. This doesn’t look like the types of doors on most shelters. Was this a homemade shelter to save money? I mist have missed it if you said that already.
amazing look into something i continuously preach to everyone about rating standards. sucks to see that little bit of shortcutting with a shelter killed someone, shouldve been sued imo. looking forward to more!
the reason that the EF4 DI was not upgraded was because it would have been the only EF5 DI and the surveyors said that its very uncommon to rate a high end tornado with only one damage DI
Well in that case they are talking garbage. Firstly they missed a number of EF5 damage indicators and made excuses to exclude others.
This should have been rated EF5, even most outside experts agree it should have
@@biscuitcase83 You are absolutely correct. The Vilonia, AR tornado was an EF5. IT was one big cover up. Also the guy who said no EF5 this time was being a smart a** liar.
Ef4 tornadoes always get that rating off of one di. Hell even the ef3 that hit my area only did ef3 damage to one small building. They do it for every other category. Why not 5?
Why don't you use metric? Will you do an analysis of Joplin?
Most of the audience (per my YT stats page) is from the United States. I’d actually prefer to use metric since the unit conversions are way cleaner (esp. with everything being bases of 10), but I try to appeal to the majority.
Maybe I’ll add metric conversions moving forward :)
@@junefirst I am an American.
Vilonia got hit in 2008 as well if I remember right
Honeycomb cardboard?!? I hope whoever built that shelter got sued.
Your math is wrong on the first one. The house was actually subjected to 1.23million pounds of force.
Live in Conway, sis lives down in Mayflower. Saw this thing pass I 40. This was definitely an F5. I could hear it from 15 miles away & when i got there, its hard to explain. Total destruction
make the background music louder :D