Motorist Killed in by Tornado in Iowa (May 21, 2024)

[Dan Robinson]

Emily Pike, a TV met, posted on Facebook that it has confirmed that the victim was not a chaser nor was she chasing. I cannot find the original post, but a screenshot is floating around Twitter. This is the gofundme set up for her:

Donate to Support Monica's Family in Their Time of Loss, organized by Fatima Bolanos

As many of you know, our family suffered the unthinkable on May 21st, 202… Fatima Bolanos needs your support for Support Monica's Family in Their Time of Loss

www.gofundme.com

 

[Jamie H]

Anyone being killed by a tornado or severe storm is tragic as they are mostly avoidable, especially on the road. There was traffic cam footage of a truck driving right into a big tornado in the past few days which beggars belief (thankfully they were ok).

To add to one chaser being impacted, I did see live stream of one chaser having to back up quite a bit as one tornado closed in quickly. Again they managed to get away but the speed of it closing in was a bit scary to see at times. I also saw what was a bit of a silly thing where one chaser was doing a turn (we call it a three-point turn, not sure if that's a US thing!) and another chaser going past just tried to force through and I think they had contact. Why one didn't just wait for the other I do not know, but that kind of needless aggression doesn't end well usually.

 

[Warren Faidley]

The Des Moines Register was incorrect? Could be. It would be interesting to find out why authorities thought she was storm chasing. I do know of at least one event years ago, when the driver called home and told his family he was chasing a tornado after work as a spontaneous event. He was injured, but his family changed the story because of insurance reasons. I know this from first responders who attended him. Not saying this happened here.

 

[Ryan Schwartz]

Anyone being killed by a tornado or severe storm is tragic as they are mostly avoidable, especially on the road. There was traffic cam footage of a truck driving right into a big tornado in the past few days which beggars belief (thankfully they were ok).

To add to one chaser being impacted, I did see live stream of one chaser having to back up quite a bit as one tornado closed in quickly. Again they managed to get away but the speed of it closing in was a bit scary to see at times. I also saw what was a bit of a silly thing where one chaser was doing a turn (we call it a three-point turn, not sure if that's a US thing!) and another chaser going past just tried to force through and I think they had contact. Why one didn't just wait for the other I do not know, but that kind of needless aggression doesn't end well usually.

That was the problem with storm motions being so fast, it makes for a very dangerous situation. Very little time to react and make a decision on where to go. Not a fun situation. I remember something similar with the 5/30/22 storms in western MN. I was deer in the headlights with the speed of the storms and asking myself, "Everything is moving so [expletive] fast, why am I even out here?" Didn't like being out there and I won't go out for screamers anymore, regardless on how great the setup might be.

 

[Jeff Wright]

I think most motorists are just yakking on their phones and get caught in these things due to a "lack" of interest in all things tornadic.

This driver had less of an excuse:

Dash cams do have a place

Enthusiasts do cause problems---like an engineer who loved his job too much

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