3/1/07 DISC: GA/AL/MS/FL

Here's some preliminary damage summaries from WFO Peachtree City GA (with updates to come), WFO Columbia SC, and WFO Jacksonville FL. Note the Americus GA tornado:


WFO PEACHTREE CITY GA

TORNADO 1 - STEWART COUNTY
LOCATION: NEAR RICHLAND
RATED: EF1
LENGTH: APPROXIMATELY 1.5 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 200 YARDS

TORNADO 2 - TAYLOR COUNTY
LOCATION: 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF POTTERVILLE TO 6 MILES WEST OF FORT VALLEY
RATED: EF2
LENGTH: APPROXIMATELY 12 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 1/4 MILE
FATALITIES: 1

TORNADO 3 - CRAWFORD COUNTY
LOCATION: APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES EAST OF KNOXVILLE
RATED: EF3
LENGTH: APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 1/4 MILE
INJURIES: 9

TORNADO 4 - MUSCOGEE COUNTY
LOCATION: NORTH SIDE OF COLUMBUS
RATED: EF2
LENGTH: 7 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 300 YARDS

TORNADO 5 - WEBSTER/SUMTER/MACON COUNTIES
LOCATION: FROM CHAMBLISS TO ABOUT 17 MILES NORTHEAST OF AMERICUS
RATED: EF3
LENGTH: APPROXIMATELY 38 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 1 MILE
FATALITIES: 2
INJURIES: AT LEAST 3

TORNADO 6 - JONES COUNTY
LOCATION: FROM 5 MILES SOUTH OF GRAY TO ONE MILE SOUTH OF JAMES
RATED: EF1
LENGTH: 3 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 150 YARDS

TORNADO 7 - WARREN COUNTY
LOCATION: FROM 5 MILES EAST OF WARRENTON TO 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF THOMSON
RATED: EF2
LENGTH: 15 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 1/4 MILE
INJURIES: 3

TORNADO 8 - BIBB COUNTY
LOCATION: NEAR ZEBULON ROAD AND INTERSTATE 475
RATED: EF0
LENGTH: 500 YARDS
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 100 YARDS


WFO COLUMBIA SC

TORNADO 1 - MCDUFFIE COUNTY
LOCATION: ENTERED MCDUFFIE COUNTY NEAR US HWY 278 AND TRAVELLED NE THROUGH THOMSON AND DISSIPATED IN EXTREME NE MCDUFFIE COUNTY
RATED: EF2
LENGTH: 10 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 1/4 MILE


WFO JACKSONVILLE FL

TORNADO 1 - NASSAU COUNTY
LOCATION: 3 SSE OF CALLAHAN FL
RATED: EF0
LENGTH: 1/4 MILE
MAXIMUM WIDTH: 100 YARDS
 
Most schools DID let the students out early. I was in the Tuscaloosa, AL area around 1PM, and schools were already closed. I'm not taking either side, but what happens to the kids AFTER school is closed? Some parents can't leave work, and kids have a tendancy to run loose when school os closed. The reason for the gym, is to keep all the students in one place so they can be easily accounted for. (NOT a good choice) Also, a LARGE number of students around enterprise live in mobile homes, which could be even worse than the gym. All in all, IMO, schools should have stayed open, BUT only if they have a GOOD place for the students to seek shelter. A gym is horrible. If they close the schools, then they need to call the NWS to see where the closest storms are, and then they need to notify every students parent/guardian before they let them go.
 
Overall, it was a mass confusion with tornado warning after warning. My cousin attends Enterprise H.S. Most of those in the gym, were just getting ready to head to their cars, NOONE IS ALLOWED TO BE IN THE GYM with a tornado warning, but with a large student population, it is hard for the administrators and teachers to heard up the students, it's like a giant cow herding. We may never know the full story of wtf went on in E.H.S., but with this tornado being personal, I know a little more, the media will constantly conflict the reports, we saw it with the death toll roller coaster, they shouldn't be allowed to say any numbered figure, just a number of fatalities. My cousins truck was found 2 blocks NE of the school, and his truck is a Dodge 2500 Diesel, that's alot of weight to go flying or rolling. E.H.S. is a very loarge campus, it's more spread out than your avg. high school, so it was basically organized chaos just before it hit.

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Coffe County was under almost continuous tornado warnings for 2 hours, prior to the tornado strike. A school, is one giant span roof, just with walls, and that roof can only take such a wind load, even with walls to support and divide. Some of the school, is actually relatively new I think if I remember right, is not even 10 years old, but overall is 50 years old.Regardless of design, 150+mph is a lot of wind load for any building of any design. They were going to release students at 100pm, but then came a different storm, one just north of the cell that would eventually ravage Enterprise. Then, the southern storm developed one intense circulation, one of the most intense in NWS TLH CWA history. Overall tragedy, but like it has been said, thank the good Lord that they were delaying the release until 130, because I can't imagine the death tole had they released at 100.

--------------

Video of the tornado slamming into Enterprise High School. Awesome multiple votex tornado, transitioning into a wedge. Best video I think you'll be able to find. Also, look at the RFD punching in, picks up and tosses a trampoline as well. Now we get to put a good face with this a hole.

Fox Affiliate Birmingham, Alabama
http://www.myfoxal.com/myfox/pages/...n=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1
 
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That's an awesome video find, with a great shot of the RFD to boot.

By the way, in the first few opening frames, there appears to be a second tornado on the left side of the screen.
 
If you close enough, you can see debris at cloud base, and debris rising vertically, and at a very high rate of speed. This is w/o a doubt a violent EF3, possibly an EF4. The Americus tornado is probably this widest one of the outbreak, but possibly not the strongest. Also, people need to stop ridiculing E.H.S. it could have been much worse. 3 constant hours under a tornado warning, this part of SE Alabama is so used to warnings, this just happened to be the one that REALLY DID happen.
 
Per a new LSR, the Enterprise tornado has been rated EF3:

TAE NWSFO said:
[FONT=lucida sans typewriter, lucida console, courier]0210 PM TORNADO ENTERPRISE 31.31N 85.85W
03/01/2007 F3 COFFEE AL NWS STORM SURVEY

*** 9 FATAL *** 8 KILLED IN SCHOOL WHEN CONCRETE WALL
COLLAPSED IN HALLWAY. TORNADO PATH APPROX. 200 YARDS WIDE
AND 10 MILES LONG. INFO BASED ON STORM SURVEY BY WCM ON
3/2/07.
[/FONT]
Click to expand...
--> http://kamala.cod.edu/offs/KTAE/0703030227.nwus52.html
 
I know the Enterprise tornadoes have been getting all the pub...but the Echo and Americus tornadoes were pretty nasty too. Has anybody seen any specific details on the rating of the Echo AL tornado? I saw the Americus one got EF3 rating over the weekend.
 
From seeing the damage photos of the Americus tornado, it deserves a higher rating. In Wevster Co. in shredded tree bark, left only the foundation of a well constructed home, and THE BIGGIE, stripped 2 yr old pavement of the road. I've never heard of a tornado in GA doing that. This tornado is easily and EF4 in Webster Co. , thank the good Lord it weakened before it hit Americus. Someone needs to send out some people from NWS OKC/ Norman to view this and give it a REAL rating.
 
Justin E. Reed said:
From seeing the damage photos of the Americus tornado, it deserves a higher rating. In Wevster Co. in shredded tree bark, left only the foundation of a well constructed home, and THE BIGGIE, stripped 2 yr old pavement of the road. I've never heard of a tornado in GA doing that. This tornado is easily and EF4 in Webster Co. , thank the good Lord it weakened before it hit Americus. Someone needs to send out some people from NWS OKC/ Norman to view this and give it a REAL rating.
Click to expand...

I assume you actually went to the house to examine how well it was built, right? I'm not saying the assessment was correct, but, before you lambast it, I certainly hope you visited the significant damage location to examine the damage first-hand. Wiping a poorly-built and poorly-anchored house to the foundation doesn't necessarily require EF4 or EF5 winds. "Foundation-wiping" damage has been observed with F1-F2 tornadoes (see La Plata, MD, tornado damage, some of which was originally rated F5, only to be downgraded to F1-F2 -- the houses were "sliders").
 
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Jeff Snyder said:
I assume you actually went to the house to examine how well it was built, right? I'm not saying the assessment was correct, but, before you lambast it, I certainly hope you visited the significant damage location to examine the damage first-hand. Wiping a poorly-built and poorly-anchored house to the foundation doesn't necessarily require EF4 or EF5 winds. "Foundation-wiping" damage has been observed with F1-F2 tornadoes (see La Plata, MD, tornado damage, some of which was originally rated F5, only to be downgraded to F1-F2 -- the houses were "sliders").
Click to expand...
Perry Williams posted pics of the site in W/C. From the best I could tell, it appeared as though there was little or no anchoring of the house to the slab. In addition, the road scouring really isn't that impressive. It's been observed in F2 damage (Jarrell), and F3 damage (Dimmitt). IMO, its being in GA doesn't make it anymore impressive than if it were in TX or OK. I believe that the EF3 rating was completely appropriate.
 
Justin E. Reed said:
From seeing the damage photos of the Americus tornado, it deserves a higher rating. In Wevster Co. in shredded tree bark, left only the foundation of a well constructed home, and THE BIGGIE, stripped 2 yr old pavement of the road. I've never heard of a tornado in GA doing that. This tornado is easily and EF4 in Webster Co. , thank the good Lord it weakened before it hit Americus. Someone needs to send out some people from NWS OKC/ Norman to view this and give it a REAL rating.
Click to expand...

As a point of clarification Justin, there actually are experts from Norman (and other locations) on site as part of the assessment -- comprised of meteorologists, wind engineers, and other fields. Having just surveyed an EF4 here, based on the photo evidence I saw, I would have a hard time arguing with the rating that was assigned down there.

With respect to road scouring, I think the greater consensus is that this is not caused directly by tornado winds (remember that the wind speed must approach 0 at the immediate ground), but rather by debris being scraped along the road surface at high velocity. Knowing the pot holes I drive through here in KC every day, asphalt is pretty easy to break apart as compared to say concrete surfaces which have a more uniform and harder consistency. As Tony stated, it's been observed in strong tornadoes and equally not observed in violent tornadoes. With respect to the home, the big part of the new EF scale is to take into account the quality of construction, and I echo Tony comments there as well.

As a point of training for EMs and other interested parties, I think you'll begin to see more and more documentation from these big events that reflect the reasoning and analysis behind the ratings.

Just my 2 cents,
Evan

Defacto Disclaimer: These are my opinions and may not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
 
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