Oklahoma City is now...

[JimC]

I wonder if schools in the area have storm shelters?

Or, if they did have them, perhaps there was not enough time to get the kids to them...

[Collector1337]

Thread title incorrect.

It's actually Moore, Oklahoma.

[Collector1337]

I wonder if schools in the area have storm shelters?

Or, if they did have them, perhaps there was not enough time to get the kids to them...

No, they do not.

[macdoc]

THey are expecting 91 dead now.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/ ... TK20130521

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I wonder if schools in the area have storm shelters?

Or, if they did have them, perhaps there was not enough time to get the kids to them...

No, they do not.

They have storm shelters, but it isn't "cost effective" to build a shelter against the EF-5s.

[klr]

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Thread title incorrect.

It's actually Moore, Oklahoma.

Yep, and if I had put "Moore is now..."

[mistermack]

Seems odd that in earthquake zones, the buildings are designed around surviving earthquakes, but that doesn't seem to apply to building in tornado alley.

But this school disaster is a first, isn't it? I don't remember people being killed in school buildings before.
Not that you get a lot of detail here in the UK.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Note the change in overall numbers after the EF scale was introduced in 1973.

[klr]

Seems odd that in earthquake zones, the buildings are designed around surviving earthquakes, but that doesn't seem to apply to building in tornado alley.

But this school disaster is a first, isn't it? I don't remember people being killed in school buildings before.
Not that you get a lot of detail here in the UK.

Maybe because you usually get enough advance warning of a tornado, but you don't with an earthquake. It also might have something to do with a strong tornado being capable of wrecking almost any normal building.

[Bella Fortuna]

Was this same area hit by the last mega tornado? Tragic news.
I wonder if now there will be plans to build more adequate protection from such powerful winds.

My friend in Tulsa says that it was hit by a previous huge one in 1999 (I think it was) and that that whole area is Tornado Alley, so tragic if unsurprising.

[FBM]

Can you imagine what it would take to make a tornado-proof building? For tornados that size?

[mistermack]

Can you imagine what it would take to make a tornado-proof building? For tornados that size?

Bearing in mind that you get more warning of a tornado than an earthquake, I wouldn't think you would have to make the whole building tornado-proof. Just a section of it, big enough to keep all the people safe.
That wouldn't necessarily cost much more. Just have one part, positioned so that nothing can crush it, with a bit of stiffening for the walls etc. Tornadoes pass in a few minutes, so it wouldn't have to be much bigger than standing room for all the people.

[Faithfree]

Fuck, that doesn't look good - stay safe any Tornado Alley Ratz!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Fuck, that doesn't look good - stay safe any Tornado Alley Ratz!

"safe" is relative.