Silver Lining Tours vans rolled in Kansas

[Jade Vajna]

Here's an article by one of the tour members that just came out: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weat...t-gonna-be-no-rematch/?utm_term=.22ee0d324626

It's interesting, and I guess not surprising, that he doesn't want to chase again. I was in the van on Cloud 9 when we got hit 5 years ago. It was my first year chasing. I had never seen a tornado until that day. I totally thought we were going to roll and I remember ducking down to cover my face but holding my camera over my head while it was still recording. Instead of deterring me, that experience solidified my love of severe weather and changed me forever. Not because I wanted to keep getting hit by tornadoes but because, kind of like how skydiving cured my tendency to worry too much, that experience left me feeling less afraid of leaving my comfort zone and trying new things. I followed my passion and it took me to a scary place, but I survived.. and it helped me grow as a person. Anyway, I’ve had 2 glasses of prosecco and it’s past 1am so I’m getting side-tracked and overly introspective.

My point is, if I had been on this tour, I would be one of the passengers defending the tour owners -and it wouldn’t stop me from chasing. I love it too much. Sh*t can and does happen, whether on a tour or not. It’s storm chasing, not a book club or collecting hockey cards. I’m not saying lessons shouldn’t be learned and that recklessness should be excused, but I think when regular society already judges us all for being “crazy” and “having a death wish” and all that, I think we should try and not cast so many stones at each other. We’re all in this glass house together.

Anyway, I just joined ST a couple weeks ago and this is my first post. Hello everyone!

 

[Ben Holcomb]

A tour guest has posted video and it's pretty crazy. They had NO IDEA it was coming...

 

[James Wilson]

You just beat me to it @Ben Holcomb lol...

 

[Quincy Vagell]

No idea, huh? Sounds like a real experienced tour group.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I think with all of the info starting to come in, it's clearly obvious they lost situational awareness. I would think this starts to fall under the gross negligence category at this point. I'm no attorney, but nobody signs up for tornado tours to take a risk like that. I take risks like that all the time in my personal vehicle. It'd be different if I had a van full of paying customers.....

 

[William Spencer]

With this video confirming what several of us suspected, I have absolutely no idea why they released that FB statement. As stated above, this is a blatant loss of situational awareness and completely irresponsible from SLT. It only takes one time to royally fuck up even if you act perfect almost every other time.

 

[James Wilson]

I'm no attorney, but nobody signs up for tornado tours to take a risk like that. I take risks like that all the time in my personal vehicle. It'd be different if I had a van full of paying customers.....

I would think they would be smart enough to have them sign a waiver I sign an actual death waiver to do obstacle course racing and obviously this is more dangerous. There's a lot of people that do nothing in their entire life and did not understand they would sign that waiver quickly not knowing the hands they are in.

 

[NickL]

I would think they would be smart enough to have them sign a waiver I sign an actual death waiver to do obstacle course racing and obviously this is more dangerous. There's a lot of people that do nothing in their entire life and did not understand they would sign that waiver quickly not knowing the hands they are in.

I guarantee they have to sign a waiver that release SLT from any and all liability.

 

[JamesCaruso]

Not sure the video really provides all that much new information beyond what was already known based on the analysis others have done of their position, the damage path, and radar. There’s not enough to know what they were seeing in other directions or exactly what they were trying to do when they got hit. It’s evident they were surprised by the tornado, but didn’t we all know that already?

 

[Greg McLaughlin]

This video doesn't really give any new info other than what it was like the moment they were hit. It's obvious they were not aware of the tornado until just seconds before it hit. I have seen some people more or less insinuating that this proves Roger was being deceitful about claiming it was a satellite tornado. This was already laid to rest when Roger shared Jon Davies' post analysis of the event, confirming they were hit by a separate tornado to the south of the developing eF4.

I drove for Roger on the tour immediately after this tour, and was with some of the guests who were in this incident on their first chase since it happened. They all were adamant about chasing again, and had full confidence in Roger. I have chased with Roger a number of times and I can attest to his experience and dedication to safety.

Tornadoes buried in the RFD gust front are rare, but do occur (5.05.07 Radium, KS) and something one has to be mindful of. In this case the tornado was completely rain wrapped and impossible to see until you were in it. They were making their way south out of the notch where they had tried to get a view of the main circulation which spawned the eF4 tornado. I have done the same maneuver with Roger a number of other times, and have done it on several other chases over the years. I am sure many of you have done this as well. This storm evolved rather quickly. Had the tornado not formed in the RFD, then it would have been just another chase. Instead, a tornado did form, and because it was rain-wrapped it was impossible to see. Roger said in the future he will never again get that close to an HP supercell.

As for the legal side of things, I don't see how this video proves gross negligence. If anything it further strengthens SLT's argument that they didn't see it coming. Everyone who chases with SLT has to sign a waiver acknowledging the danger involved with storm chasing and SLT is not responsible for death or injury. Before this incident, SLT had a great safety track record spanning two decades. They aren't the first tour group to be directly impacted by a tornado and probably won't be the last. Fortunately everyone survived, and hopefully this will be a learning experience for all of us.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

Waivers are not worth the paper they are printed on. See Dr Kevorkian. Pull your head out of your ass dude, he had no situational awareness and almost killed 2 vans full of passengers including himself.

 

[Spencer Dant]

You have a right to certain reasonable expectations when you pay for a service in the United States. Just because someone signed something saying the service they are paying for is not responsible for your safety or injuries and grant them contractual indemnity, that someone could still successfully sue over those matters without that being a major hurdle.

Not a lawyer, but owned a business for years. Fine print is little more than words on a page for a good contract lawyer.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

I do think the waiver would be good for something like a rogue hail stone that came out of a storm and hit someone on the head, or a lightning strike or something else you couldn't reasonably predict. We're talking a different beast here, and I don't think the waiver holds up to that. We'll see, I'm sure.

 

[John Farley]

I am saying this more for the benefit of less experienced chasers and members of the general public who may be reading this thread than as a comment on the judgment of anyone at SLT. People should understand that the maneuver that Greg McLaughlin describes above - driving into the notch of an HP supercell then heading south into (or closely ahead of) the RFD is an inherently dangerous move. For a couple reasons. First, if you are in the notch of an HP supercell, you are in likely in the path of the mesocyclone/potential tornado. Second, if you escape by heading south into or close to the RFD, you are risking, at the least, intense crosswinds and/or hail. Yes, tornadoes are rare there though they do occasionally happen, but there are other dangers associated with being in the RFD, especially if there is heavy rain there such that you can't see what is going on in there. Personally, I generally avoid the notch of an HP supercell, except in the rare case where I have a good path to that location AND I have a good eastward or northeastward escape route and am confident I can get out of there when I need to.

 

[Jeff Duda]

People should understand that the maneuver that Greg McLaughlin describes above - driving into the notch of an HP supercell then heading south into (or closely ahead of) the RFD is an inherently dangerous move. For a couple reasons. First, if you are in the notch of an HP supercell, you are in likely in the path of the mesocyclone/potential tornado. Second, if you escape by heading south into or close to the RFD, you are risking, at the least, intense crosswinds and/or hail. Yes, tornadoes are rare there though they do occasionally happen, but there are other dangers associated with being in the RFD, especially if there is heavy rain there such that you can't see what is going on in there.

Agreed. I mean...31 May 2013 should be the only case anyone needs to cite on this. That exact maneuver cost so many people in various ways.