Exploring probable reasons for record fatalities: the case of 2011 Joplin, Missouri, Tornado

Paul, Bimal Kanti; Stimers, Mitchel

doi:10.1007/s11069-012-0313-3

Cited by 34 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Socioeconomic characteristics of residents are also important determinants of tornado mortality (Cutter et al 2003). These characteristics dictate who receives hazard warnings and who does not comply with such warnings, and who owns a sturdy house and who does not (Paul and Stimers 2014). Because of their relevance to this study, tornado fatalities by EF scale rating and by place/location of death were of interest to this study.…”

Section: April 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of their relevance to this study, tornado fatalities by EF scale rating and by place/location of death were of interest to this study. In general, the greater the intensity or magnitude of a tornado is, the higher the fatality potential (Paul 2011), although in absolute terms, more people have died as a result of F0 through F4 tornadoes because EF5 tornadoes occur much less often.…”

Section: April 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The number of deaths and the extent of destruction caused by tornadoes are directly associated with their track length or path and their magnitude (Paul 2011;Sutter 2011, 2012). In the United States, tornado paths typically range from less than a mile up to 100 mi (150 km).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On 1 February 2007, the EF scale replaced the F scale. The EF scale has the same basic design as the original scale, with six categories from 0 to 5 representing increasing degrees of damage (Paul 2011). It should be noted that EF and F scales are damage scales, not, strictly speaking, intensity measures, even though we use them to control for magnitude (Wurman et al 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, the tornado destroyed Full Gospel Church, Harmony Heights Baptist Church, and Greenbriar Nursing Home. It caused an estimated $3 billion in insured losses, not including uninsured damage to structures (Paul and Stimers 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Spatial Analyses of the 2011 Joplin Tornado Mortality: Deaths by Interpolated Damage Zones and Location of Victims

Paul

Stimers

2014

Weather, Climate, and Society

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

On 22 May 2011, a massive tornado tore through a densely populated section of Joplin, Missouri, killing 162 people. The EF5 tornado was the deadliest single tornado to occur in the United States since modern record keeping began in 1950, surpassing the tornado of 8 June 1953, which claimed 116 lives in Flint, Michigan. The Joplin tornado death toll was also far higher than the average annual number of deaths caused by tornadoes in the United States between 2000 and 2011. This study analyzed Joplin deaths by damage zone and place of death. Tabular data collected primarily from secondary sources revealed the number of deaths and death rates differ significantly by zone of destruction. The central zone (labeled as ''catastrophic'') had the most deaths, with the number decreasing systematically in both directions from the center of that zone. The results of this study further show that more people died in nonresidential buildings in Joplin than is usual in a U.S. tornado event, calling into question how well such structures protect occupants. Finally, the lack of basements in residential and other structures most likely contributed greatly to the high death toll, although the degree remains uncertain. Several recommendations are offered to reduce future U.S. tornado fatalities.

show abstract

Section: April 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: April 2014mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Spatial Analyses of the 2011 Joplin Tornado Mortality: Deaths by Interpolated Damage Zones and Location of Victims

Paul

Stimers

2014

Weather, Climate, and Society

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Simultaneous and collocated tornado and flash flood warnings associated with tropical cyclones in the contiguous United States

Burow

Ellis

Tran

2021

Intl Journal of Climatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Simultaneous and collocated tornado and flash flood (TORFF) warnings are a dangerous hazard because the recommended protective action for the two threats are opposite, leaving residents unsure if they should shelter below or seek higher ground. Tropical cyclones (TCs) cause both tornadoes and flash flooding and are thus favourable environments for TORFF warnings. In this study, we provide a unique examination of TORFF warnings in 32 TCs that made landfall in the contiguous United States between 2008 and 2018. We identify TC TORFF warning characteristics including duration, area, distance from coastline, geographic location, and location relative to TC centre, and we compare these results to established findings on TC tornadoes. We found that TORFF warnings were geographically most common in the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and within 200 km of the coastline. TORFF warnings occurred almost exclusively east of TC centre. When compared to TC tornadoes, TORFF warnings were relatively more frequent nearer to the coastline and in the right‐back quadrant of the TC. Over half (59%) of the 32 TCs we studied produced at least one TORFF warning. Using logistic regression, we determined that TC intensity effectively determines how likely a TC is to produce at least one TORFF warning, while TC translational velocity determines how likely a TC is to produce many TORFF warnings. Thus, intense TCs were likely to produce at least a few TORFF warnings, while intense and slow‐moving TCs were likely to produce many TORFF warnings. These findings establish a knowledge base on the climatological characteristics of this unique and dangerous hazard.

show abstract

A tornado daily impacts simulator for the central and southern United States

Hatzis

Koch

Brooks

2020

Meteorological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In an average year (1979–2016), the United States experiences nearly 1,100 tornadoes, which cause a total of 68 fatalities. Annual fatality rates have decreased since the peak in the 1920s, but there is a concern that they could start to rise again with increases in vulnerable populations and the impacts of climate change. It is possible to assess the risk of tornado fatalities using the historical record. However, the rarity of tornadoes and the short period of record may not capture the true risk. One way around this problem is to simulate thousands of years’ worth of tornadoes to obtain a broader picture of risk. Previous tornado risk models have distributed tornadoes randomly or used climatology to generate realistic tornado patterns on an annual (or longer) time scale. From an operational standpoint, it would be useful to have a model that distributes tornadoes on a daily time step to enable the forecasting of potential tornado impacts on a given day. The present study introduces one such model that distributes tornadoes using information about the favourability of the atmospheric environment for tornado development: The Tornado Daily Impacts Simulator (TorDIS). The paper demonstrates model utility through 1,000 year simulations over several metropolitan areas and with a comparison between modelled and observed impacts for several high‐impact tornado days. Forecasting potential tornado impacts on a daily time step could allow emergency managers to plan ahead for high‐risk days to prioritize their resources and save lives.

show abstract

Exploring probable reasons for record fatalities: the case of 2011 Joplin, Missouri, Tornado

Cited by 34 publications

References 21 publications

Spatial Analyses of the 2011 Joplin Tornado Mortality: Deaths by Interpolated Damage Zones and Location of Victims

Spatial Analyses of the 2011 Joplin Tornado Mortality: Deaths by Interpolated Damage Zones and Location of Victims

Simultaneous and collocated tornado and flash flood warnings associated with tropical cyclones in the contiguous United States

A tornado daily impacts simulator for the central and southern United States

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About