Rescue teams combed through pulverized buildings and splintered homes early Tuesday after one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history blasted through the suburbs of Oklahoma City, killing at least 51 people — including 20 children.
Officials warned that the death toll from Monday’s mid-afternoon twister was almost certain to rise significantly when dawn broke in the devastated city of Moore, and as more bodies were taken to the Office of the Medical Examiner. Elementary school children were among the many missing. (more…)
By ecthompsonmd|2013-05-22T21:15:02-04:00May 21st, 2013|Environment|Comments Off on Huge Tornado in Oklahoma (Update)
You know, there are some days when you sit in front of the computer keyboard and all you want to do is play computer games. Today has been one of those days.
The death toll in the deadly tornado in Joplin, Missouri has risen to 122.
Is there a link between the terrible tornadoes that has destroyed most of Joplin, Missouri and climate change? Of course not (click the link before you comment on my sarcasm).
A new poll suggests that Americans are more worried about the deficit than they are worried about defaulting. Again, another poll that shows that Americans do not put things together as well as I would like. Exactly what would happen if we defaulted on our national debt is described in this article in Slate. It is not a pretty picture. The probability of us defaulting on our debt has actually been calculated. You can find those calculations here.
Alberto Gonzales, former Attorney General, seems to be trying to rehabilitate his image. After disgracing himself and his family he’s got a lot of work to do.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantorhas sunk to a new low. He has now stated that aid to help the victims of the Missouri tornado needs to have offsets. He can go find all of those offsets by asking the Chamber of Commerce to fork over some of that money that they seem to be sitting on. Even the Hammer, Tom Delaydidn’t go this far.
If you are a Republican and you’re going to hold a town hall meeting, you can expect some angry seniors to show up and ask you about your vote to end Medicare. So, as a young congressman, how do you face this mob? You don’t. You call security and have them and the reporters escorted out of the room. Very Classy Representative Justin Amash.
Representative Patrick McHenry (of my state of NC) acts like a jerk to Elizabeth Warren for no particular reason. Whether it was a misunderstanding or a mix up doesn’t matter. We can still treat each other with dignity and respect. In the south that is how we are raised. I have no idea how Rep McHenry was raised.
The Patriot Act, which I thought was a done deal, isn’t. Rand Paulwants to vote on several provisions and, because of this, Senate majority leader Harry Reid has tabled a motion to extend the Patriot Act. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
The Dallas Mavericks showed a lot of heart and tenacity by pulling out a victory in Oklahoma City last night to take a 3-1 led in the best of 7 series. On the other hand, the Oklahoma City Thunder caved under pressure. The Dallas Mavericks are down by 15 points with just over 5 min. to play in regulation. Dirk Nowitski played amazingly down the stretch with excellent leadership from Jason Kidd. Oklahoma City Thunder got no leadership from Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook. If you’re a Dallas fan it was on the watch, if you’re in Oklahoma City fan it would break your heart.
A massive tornado that tore through the southwest Missouri city of Joplin killed at least 89 people, but authorities warned that the death toll could climb Monday as search and rescuers continued their work at sunrise.
City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday’s storm. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town, adding that tornado sirens gave residents about a 20-minute warning before the tornado touched down on the city’s west side.
Much of the city’s south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.
Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 percent to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City. (more…)
The tornado, estimated to be an EF4 by the National Weather Service, tore a six-mile-long path from one-half to three-quarters of a mile wide through the middle of Joplin on Sunday. Much of the city’s south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins by winds estimated as high as 190 to 198 mph. Officials have estimated 2,000 buildings were damaged.
Rescuers have made three sweeps, block by block, in their search for survivors. Authorities have not released names or other details of the victims.
“There are going to be some things out there that are hard to see and hard to stomach,” Nixon said.
“We’re going to cover every foot of this town to make sure every person here, who was here, is accounted for,” Gov. Jay Nixon said. “…There are still lives out there that need to be saved.”
The death toll from Sunday’s tornado is now 116, city officials said this afternoon, with an estimated 400 injured. (more…)
By ecthompsonmd|2011-05-23T17:19:00-04:00May 23rd, 2011|Environment|Comments Off on Joplin hit with huge tornado; death toll over 100 (updated)
