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Please feel free to use the Article -
"REMEMBERING THE TORNADO OUTBREAK OF MAY 3RD 1999"
in your publication. The article must
be used in its entirety with the
resource box included at the bottom.
Article was written in April 2000.
Copyright © 2000 by Bill Platt
WORD COUNT: 882
This article may be obtained already formatted
for email,
via autoresponder at:
May3rd-Tornadoes@WindstormComputing.com
I do ask that as a courtesy, you send a copy of
your publication with the article inside to:
EDITOR @
WINDSTORM COMPUTING.COM
or printed articles to: Bill Platt, P.O. Box 612,
Ponca City, Oklahoma 74602.
By matching the publication of an article with
the jump in traffic, it gives me a better idea
of where I might like to do ad swaps or
advertising, in the future. Thank you.
================ BEGIN ARTICLE =================
Remembering The Tornado Outbreak
of May 3rd, 1999
In the fair State of Oklahoma, there are two dates on the
calendar that will stir raw emotion in the hearts and minds of
the people you meet here. One of those dates is April 19th and
the other is May 3rd.
As you may recall, April 19th, 1995 was the date that Oklahoma
City was struck by terrorists with the bombing of the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City at 9:02 a.m.
Then on May 3rd, 1999, Oklahoma was struck again, this time by
the raw fury and awesome power of Mother Nature.
On this single day, over 70 tornadoes touched down in North
Texas, Central Oklahoma and Southern Kansas. 59 of those
tornadoes alone wrecked their havoc in the State of Oklahoma,
making the May 3rd outbreak the largest outbreak in Oklahoma
history. The largest tornado of the day, "The Big One" rumbled
through Central Oklahoma leaving a trail of devastation nearly
40 miles long.
Before finally dying out, this dangerous storm drove its' attack
down the western edge of Tinker Air Force Base, finally dying
just north of Tinker AFB and 6 miles due east of the former
location of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Though the storm has consistently been referred to as an "F5
tornado", it spent less than 10% of its' life span in the F5
range of the Fujita Scale. A F5 tornado is a tornado that
produces wind speeds estimated between 261 and 318 mph. This
particular storm actually touched every point from F1 to F5 on
the Fujita Scale, but it spent just over 50% of its' life span
as a "F4" tornado, which by definition is a tornado that
produces estimated wind speeds of between 207 and 260 mph.
There was some discussion as to whether the tornado entered into
the realm of the so far unrealized territory of a "F6" tornado,
but the F6 status has since been written off. For the analysis
of the "F5 or F6 Controversy", go to:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/storms/19990503/may3faqs.html
Nearly 80% of all storm related damage in Oklahoma on May 3rd
was a direct result of "The Big One", during its track through
Cleveland and Oklahoma counties in Central Oklahoma. The damage
from the May 3rd outbreak is staggering, $1.2 billion dollars
worth of staggering to be exact.
In Cleveland and Oklahoma counties alone, "The Big One" went
down in the history books as the most costly tornado in history
in terms of the overall dollars and cents of recorded damage.
The following figures on damages resulting from the May 3rd
outbreak are taken from The Daily Oklahoman on May 14, 1999.
http://www.oklahoman.com/
Cleveland and Oklahoma Counties:
Homes destroyed: 1,780. Homes damaged: 6,550.
Apartments destroyed: 473. Apartments damaged: 568.
Businesses destroyed: 85. Businesses damaged: 42.
Churches destroyed: 3. Schools destroyed: 2.
The following figures represent the damage recorded in other
counties around the State of Oklahoma on May 3rd, 1999:
Homes destroyed: 534. Homes damaged: 878.
* Businesses destroyed: 79.
(Includes 53 stores at the Tanger Outlet Center in Stroud.)
Businesses damaged: 54. Churches destroyed: 2.
Public buildings destroyed: 4. Public buildings damaged: 7.
With this level of property damage occurring in Oklahoma on May
3rd, 1999, one has to tip their hats to the Storm Prediction
Center and the Oklahoma Media
Outlets, for preparing Oklahomans for the worst and working to
keep the death toll down. Amidst this astonishing level of
destruction, only 44 people lost their lives. The names, ages
and locations of the 44 people who died on May 3rd can be seen
also at The Daily Oklahoman website at:
http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/shart?ID=313997&TP=getarticle
Compared to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building, the death toll from the May 3rd tornado outbreak was
really light. 168 people died in the bombing. For the names and
stories of those who died in the Alfred P. Murrah bombing, point
your browsers to:
http://www.oklahoman.com/bombing/bvic/ and to
learn more about the bombing, turn to:
http://www.oklahoman.com/bombing/index.html
For pictures of the storms and pictures of the aftermath, as
well as more information regarding the May 3rd outbreak and
information on tornadoes in general, please visit:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/storms/19990503/
I could spend hours learning more about tornadoes by visiting
this one site alone, in fact, I already know how I am going to
spend my next free weekend.
On May 3rd, please take a moment to pay your respects to those
souls who lost their lives in Oklahoma on that dreadful day. And
please, for your own sake, visit the website listed above, or
visit the main site for the National Weather Service Forcast
Office in Norman, Oklahoma at:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/ to
learn about what to do and what not to do in the event of a
tornado in your area. Through proper education, the life that
you save may be your own.
RESOURCE BOX:
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Bill Platt owns The Phantom Writers, a company committed to
helping people to establish an Internet presence & promote their
businesses through the use of Free-Reprint Articles, just like
the one you have just finished reading. His article distribution
service can help you deliver your reprint articles to a much larger
audience: http://www.thePhantomWriters.com
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