EF5 Tornado levels Greensburg Kansas.

[HurricaneBill]

That is the case with a lot of tornadoes.

I've not had a chance to look at many photos but the damage here does seem extreme. Sorry I'm not familiar with either the F or EF scales so I won't bother giving the rating on here that I would give it.

Well, just use the TORRO scale. I don't know how it converts to the EF scale, but for the Fujita Scale, it's kinda like this:

T0-T1 = F0
T2-T3 = F1
T4-T5 = F2
T6-T7 = F3
T8-T9 = F4
T10-T11 = F5

[Windy]

Are there any pictures of the 2 mile wide tornado in Nebraska a few years back?

As far as I know, that tornado and this one (The one that hit Greensburg) are two of the widest on record (if not THE two widest)

A few pages I could find:

http://members.cox.net/jondavies2/05220 ... 204sne.htm

http://www.stormgasm.com/5-22-04/5-22-04.htm

(that one actually has a video of a satellite tornado hitting the building the chaser was hunkering down in)

[HurricaneBill]

My mama asked me this question and I don't have an answer. What happens to banks in a tornado? Can the vault withstand an F5? Does the money just get shredded everywhere? Come to think of it, what happened during Andrew or Katrina? Were any banks destroyed or did the vaults survive the impact?

I think bank vaults do survive F5s. I read a story about a bank teller in the Tri-State Tornado who grabbed all the money he could and then ran into the vault. He saved nearly all the money in the bank.

[TampaSteve]

My mama asked me this question and I don't have an answer. What happens to banks in a tornado? Can the vault withstand an F5? Does the money just get shredded everywhere? Come to think of it, what happened during Andrew or Katrina? Were any banks destroyed or did the vaults survive the impact?

Yes, bank vaults can and do survive direct hits by strong tornadoes, and should be able to withstand even an F5. A bank vault is a VERY heavy steel casing, anchored to the foundation, and surrounded by thick reinforced concrete walls. I remember seeing a picture once many years ago of a bank that had been completely blown away by a tornado, and the only thing left was the vault, still sitting in the middle of the slab.

Here's a picture of a bank vault that survived the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina...



Notice how the rest of the building is completely GONE...remember, water is 800 TIMES denser than air...if a bank vault can survive that, 300 mph winds are no problem.

[Windy]

Well, generally, it's not just the winds in a tornado that are a problem, it's the cars and trucks and I-beams and bricks and concrete slamming into things at 200+ miles per hour. Still, a vault would probably hold up pretty well to most of that.

[TampaSteve]

Well, generally, it's not just the winds in a tornado that are a problem, it's the cars and trucks and I-beams and bricks and concrete slamming into things at 200+ miles per hour. Still, a vault would probably hold up pretty well to most of that.

Yup...but if you're Bill Paxton or Helen Hunt, you can survive it totally unscathed...lol...that scene always makes me laugh...

[Windy]

Well, generally, it's not just the winds in a tornado that are a problem, it's the cars and trucks and I-beams and bricks and concrete slamming into things at 200+ miles per hour. Still, a vault would probably hold up pretty well to most of that.

Yup...but if you're Bill Paxton or Helen Hunt, you can survive it totally unscathed...lol...that scene always makes me laugh...

I always thought it'd be funny if, after the tornado passed, Helen Hunt shouted "WE MADE IT!", and then Bill Paxton turned his head to reveal that his entire face, nose, and ears had been ripped off before gurgling "Yeaaaahhh!"

[Jagno]

My mama asked me this question and I don't have an answer. What happens to banks in a tornado? Can the vault withstand an F5? Does the money just get shredded everywhere? Come to think of it, what happened during Andrew or Katrina? Were any banks destroyed or did the vaults survive the impact?

The main branch of my bank was in New Orleans during Katrina, although I live across the state. The vault is the least of the problems. They did announce that vaults are NOT water proof. When the electricity goes down you DO NOT have access to your money because there is no way to verify funds availability. You do not have access to credit or debit functions. No one will accept checks drawn on a downed bank either. Thirty days later when Rita hit I evacuated with DH's bank cards which were all from another bank. YOU GOT IT, it was a local bank and useless once Rita hit. Please, everyone, have cash in hand for emergencies.

[TampaSteve]

My mama asked me this question and I don't have an answer. What happens to banks in a tornado? Can the vault withstand an F5? Does the money just get shredded everywhere? Come to think of it, what happened during Andrew or Katrina? Were any banks destroyed or did the vaults survive the impact?

The main branch of my bank was in New Orleans during Katrina, although I live across the state. The vault is the least of the problems. They did announce that vaults are NOT water proof. When the electricity goes down you DO NOT have access to your money because there is no way to verify funds availability. You do not have access to credit or debit functions. No one will accept checks drawn on a downed bank either. Thirty days later when Rita hit I evacuated with DH's bank cards which were all from another bank. YOU GOT IT, it was a local bank and useless once Rita hit. Please, everyone, have cash in hand for emergencies.

Oh hell yeah...CA$H IS KING in times like that...when Frances came through in 2004, the power was out for two days, and if you didn't have CASH, you got no ice...when there is a hurricane coming, the FIRST thing you should do is hit the ATM and get couple hundred $$$ just in case...then fill up your tank!

[Category 5]

More pics

[Category 5]

[Category 5]

These are two tornadoes after the Greensburg tornado spawned by the same storm.

[Stephanie]

Awesome pics Cat 5!

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

OMG That First Tornado looks Mile+ wide!!!! Very Scary!!!

[Category 5]

OMG That First Tornado looks Mile+ wide!!!! Very Scary!!!

1.7

[HurricaneBill]

Here's a YouTube link with footage of a couple of stormchasers driving into Greensburg shortly after the tornado passed.

Please note that this does contain some cuss words. I'm not sure if this would violate the TOS, so I'm posting the link instead of the video just to be on the safe side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoGQzSxkieY

[Category 5]

An album of radar loops I took that night.
http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w237 ... 20tornado/


It was truely a night to remember. Up until 4am constantly monitoring the Radar, Warnings, and this thread. I'll never forget that night.

I don't know about you guys, but my preception of tornadoes changed that night.

[snoopj]

I don't know about you guys, but my preception of tornadoes changed that night.

How so, if you don't mind me asking.....

I guess it's a hard knocked education having lived on the Plains all my life. It also helps when your mother is a F5 survivor (May 15, 1968, Oelwein, IA). Stories of that day stick with you a very very long time.

--snoopj

[snoopj]

FYI. I sent an e-mail to KSN about their coverage of the severe weather last Friday and Saturday.

I, like many of my fellow weather enthusiasts at Storm2k
(http://www.storm2k.org), were watching KSN.com's streaming coverage Friday and
Saturday night as the weather did it's worst in your viewing area. I
would like to commend your on-air staff in the weather lab for their
on-going effort to provide the public with as much information about the
storms and where they were headed. I really appreciated how the
coverage was level headed and did not migrate to a sensationalist tone,
like many other new stations have a tendency to do these days.
Combining the on-air coverage with an adequate lead time on the
warnings, both worked together to save lives that day. Keep up the
excellent on-air storm coverage.

The response from the Weather team at KSN:

WOW! Thank you for your kind words. They always mean more when they come
from a source like you that knows what you are talking about...after the
week we have had, your words mean more than you will ever know!

Mark Bogner
Assistant Chief Meteorologist

I do believe that better lead time on severe weather warnings and level-headed, non-sensationalist coverage that is decreasing deaths from tornadoes. This was an example on how well it worked.

--snoopj

[HurricaneBill]

I do believe that better lead time on severe weather warnings and level-headed, non-sensationalist coverage that is decreasing deaths from tornadoes. This was an example on how well it worked.

--snoopj

I agree. Greensburg 2007 could have easily been Udall 1955.