“Scenario 5” Tornadoes Strike Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex
Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:01 pm
News from the Texas Severe Storms Association
for Immediate Release
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Tornadoes Strike Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Hundreds Feared Dead
ARLINGTON, Texas – Hundreds are feared dead after a series of tornadoes blasted across the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex and other parts of North Texas on Wednesday. Preliminary estimates indicate that more than twenty tornadoes were spawned from several storms, some producing winds of nearly 300 mph and causing catastrophic damage. According to reports, the first tornadoes touched down in far western Johnson County around 4:00 PM. The same storm eventually produced long-track strong tornadoes (F2-F3 on the Fujita Intensity Scale, 113-206 mph winds), farther northeast near Godley, Crowley and southwest Arlington. Moments later, the storm produced a large tornado near Pantego that raked through the Arlington entertainment district, south Irving, north Dallas and Richardson. The most intense damage of the day, possibly as high as F-5 (261-318 mph winds), and greatest loss of life, occurred along this corridor. Emergency management officials say the majority of the fatalities were concentrated along roadways that were at capacity while the tornadoes tracked through southern and eastern Tarrant County and western Dallas County. At daybreak this morning, aerial flights reveal a horrific scene including crushed automobiles and bodies strewn along several area freeways. One woman reported seeing as many as three dozen cars whirling about the tornado that crossed I-30 in North Arlington. “I was heading to the ballgame when all of a sudden the sky got dark and a twisting, black cloud engulfed the stadium,” she said. “I looked up and saw dozens of cars with people in them, and trees, and pieces of houses a hundred feet in the air.”
Officials will begin the gruesome task of gathering the bodies later today but will continue to emphasize search and rescue efforts. All North Texas area hospitals are at capacity and are treating only the most serious injuries. Dozens of temporary triage units have been established to treat others including victims injured too seriously to be moved. Fatalities, injuries and significant damage were also reported in Rockwall, Hunt, Collin and Denton Counties. The city of Denton was especially hard hit when a tornado estimated to be an F3 tracked through the center of town.
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This event, based on the Tornado Damage Risk Assessment “Scenario 5” created by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, will be discussed this Saturday, March 11, at the TESSA 2006 Texas Storm Conference in Colleyville. The annual conference, hosted by the Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA), will bring together experts on what TESSA calls the “DFW Tornado Scenario.” The series of scenarios uses the actual tornado tracks and intensities from the deadly May 3, 1999 central Oklahoma tornado outbreak and lays them atop
the Metroplex in an attempt to better understand the area’s risk from an equivalent tornado event. TESSA first presented the DFW Tornado Scenario at its conference in 2000. “Due to the rapid growth of the Metroplex in the past 6 years, we think that it is time to update and present this concept to the public,” said TESSA Chairman Martin Lisius. “We think DFW is the tornado equivalent of New Orleans,” he said. “Experts there warned of the consequences a major hurricane would produce. We are warning the public, again, about the consequences that would come from a long-track, violent tornado in the Metroplex. Our goal is to initiate a serious mitigation effort now.”
The DFW Tornado Scenario presentation will be delivered by Mr. Lisius, Scott Rae of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and Alan Moller of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Ft. Worth.
The TESSA 2006 Texas Storm Conference will take place this Saturday, March 11, at the Colleyville Center, 5301 Riverwalk Drive, in Colleyville. The conference begins at 8:00 AM and ends at 5:00 PM, and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited to 500. Detailed information about the event is available on-line at http://www.tessa.org.
The Texas Severe Storms Association is a 501(c) 3 national non-profit organization dedicated to severe weather education. The group, founded in 1993, is based in Arlington, Texas. It is the largest organization of its kind in the nation.
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Contact:
Martin Lisius, TESSA, (817) 276-9500, info@tessa.org
for Immediate Release
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Tornadoes Strike Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Hundreds Feared Dead
ARLINGTON, Texas – Hundreds are feared dead after a series of tornadoes blasted across the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex and other parts of North Texas on Wednesday. Preliminary estimates indicate that more than twenty tornadoes were spawned from several storms, some producing winds of nearly 300 mph and causing catastrophic damage. According to reports, the first tornadoes touched down in far western Johnson County around 4:00 PM. The same storm eventually produced long-track strong tornadoes (F2-F3 on the Fujita Intensity Scale, 113-206 mph winds), farther northeast near Godley, Crowley and southwest Arlington. Moments later, the storm produced a large tornado near Pantego that raked through the Arlington entertainment district, south Irving, north Dallas and Richardson. The most intense damage of the day, possibly as high as F-5 (261-318 mph winds), and greatest loss of life, occurred along this corridor. Emergency management officials say the majority of the fatalities were concentrated along roadways that were at capacity while the tornadoes tracked through southern and eastern Tarrant County and western Dallas County. At daybreak this morning, aerial flights reveal a horrific scene including crushed automobiles and bodies strewn along several area freeways. One woman reported seeing as many as three dozen cars whirling about the tornado that crossed I-30 in North Arlington. “I was heading to the ballgame when all of a sudden the sky got dark and a twisting, black cloud engulfed the stadium,” she said. “I looked up and saw dozens of cars with people in them, and trees, and pieces of houses a hundred feet in the air.”
Officials will begin the gruesome task of gathering the bodies later today but will continue to emphasize search and rescue efforts. All North Texas area hospitals are at capacity and are treating only the most serious injuries. Dozens of temporary triage units have been established to treat others including victims injured too seriously to be moved. Fatalities, injuries and significant damage were also reported in Rockwall, Hunt, Collin and Denton Counties. The city of Denton was especially hard hit when a tornado estimated to be an F3 tracked through the center of town.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This event, based on the Tornado Damage Risk Assessment “Scenario 5” created by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, will be discussed this Saturday, March 11, at the TESSA 2006 Texas Storm Conference in Colleyville. The annual conference, hosted by the Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA), will bring together experts on what TESSA calls the “DFW Tornado Scenario.” The series of scenarios uses the actual tornado tracks and intensities from the deadly May 3, 1999 central Oklahoma tornado outbreak and lays them atop
the Metroplex in an attempt to better understand the area’s risk from an equivalent tornado event. TESSA first presented the DFW Tornado Scenario at its conference in 2000. “Due to the rapid growth of the Metroplex in the past 6 years, we think that it is time to update and present this concept to the public,” said TESSA Chairman Martin Lisius. “We think DFW is the tornado equivalent of New Orleans,” he said. “Experts there warned of the consequences a major hurricane would produce. We are warning the public, again, about the consequences that would come from a long-track, violent tornado in the Metroplex. Our goal is to initiate a serious mitigation effort now.”
The DFW Tornado Scenario presentation will be delivered by Mr. Lisius, Scott Rae of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and Alan Moller of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Ft. Worth.
The TESSA 2006 Texas Storm Conference will take place this Saturday, March 11, at the Colleyville Center, 5301 Riverwalk Drive, in Colleyville. The conference begins at 8:00 AM and ends at 5:00 PM, and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited to 500. Detailed information about the event is available on-line at http://www.tessa.org.
The Texas Severe Storms Association is a 501(c) 3 national non-profit organization dedicated to severe weather education. The group, founded in 1993, is based in Arlington, Texas. It is the largest organization of its kind in the nation.
###
Contact:
Martin Lisius, TESSA, (817) 276-9500, info@tessa.org