One Deadly Hour On May 20 2013 a tornado touched down south of Oklahoma City Oklahoma In just over an hour it traveled east about 17 miles 27 km with winds blowing more than 200 miles 322 km an hour It tore up houses schools and hospitals in its path By the time the tornado was done more than 1,000 buildings were destroyed and nearly 1,200 were damaged One survivor recalled hearing the roar of the tornado as she waited in a shelter for it to pass After it was gone she walked out to see the damage but there was nothing there Her neighborhood had been wiped out The Human Cost Twenty-four people died because of the Oklahoma tornado on May 20 2013 including 10 children More than 375 were injured Sadly the same area experienced a similar tragedy in May 1999 In a little over an hour that tornado killed 46 injured 800 and caused about 1 5 billion in damage 4
The Oklahoma Insurance Department estimated the cost of rebuilding after the 2013 tornado would likely top 2 billion 5
Moving in the Wrong Direction While most people travel away from destructive weather events a few move toward them These people are called storm chasers They chase for many reasons Some are scientists Others are news reporters Photographers and filmmakers also follow storms Some people are just very interested in weather Some only hunt tornadoes making them tornado chasers Tornado chasing may be the hardest chasing of all That’s because unlike many hurricanes blizzards or other storms tornadoes usually only last a few minutes So it takes a lot of work and a good amount of luck to be in the right place to spot a tornado More Threats Blinding rains huge pieces of hail and frequent lightning strikes can all be parts of the storms that produce tornadoes These make traveling to and observing tornadoes even more dangerous No matter what their reason for pursuing tornadoes chasers must realize that they’re putting themselves in dangerous situations 6
Besides the extreme danger of high-speed tornado winds storm chasers face many other risks 7
