Tony Laubach
EF5
I gotta split the agreement here... there is nothing wrong with saying "it can happen to anyone", but to use that as an excuse to sweep it under the rug is also not correct.
It's not easy to get hit with a tornado... in fact, one could argue NOT getting hit by a tornado is one of the easiest part of storm chasing. Many of us, including myself, can spin stories of times we have been hit in some form or another. So yes, it CAN happen to anyone, and it has before. And mine encounter in 2008 was part of a research mission and that involved me and my occupants getting closer than we would on our own. But even still, it's not easy to get hit by a tornado.
But here is the issue... we understand, all of us do, that there is an inherent risk in what we do. We interact with severe weather, meaning we will increase our risks of being hit by tornadoes, struck by lightning, clobbered by hail, etc. It's part of it. And when there are a couple people (or only you) in a car, and those people fully understand the risk, you may take the occasional bigger risk than you would, say having a van full of people, most of whom do not fully understand the inherent risks.
The issue at matter, in my opinion, is that they had vans full of paying customers. And two of those vehicles were hit by a tornado because they were in an area of higher risk of being hit by tornadoes. Who cares whether it was a satellite, the EF-4, whatever. Satellites are nothing new, and yes, highly unpredictable. But why would you be in that situation to begin with when you have four vanloads of people. This isn't a question of them being accidentally hit. Of course they were... but what were they doing there?
Look, in similar situations in the past, I have made judgements as to how to approach similar storms, and it's often just me, or myself and a partner. We understand the risks, and in a few cases, opted not to take them because of the danger. When you have people in the vehicle with no experience or little knowledge of severe weather, you're making that decision on their behalf. And this was clearly the wrong decision. Sure, it could happen to anyone, but it happened to them. And the question is why? Because they took a risk to be in an area of the storm that posed this kind of danger.
I am not going to play the what-ifs and ask where would they be had people been killed, seriously injured, etc. The fact of the matter is that these people were taken into a dangerous area of the storm and they got hit. A risk which should not have been taken under the circumstances. Lack of predictability of satellites, unforeseen changes paths, etc, are not excuses. Because we DO know those things happen, and they can happen in those areas of storms, and low and behold, they were hit. Radar presentation indicated something significant going on, and they elected to proceed into a low visibility area with an ongoing strong circulation cleared evident on radar.
I am happy to know that the injuries were minor, and that things worked out the way they did in that manner. And I hope that the outcome of this is nothing too serious for those involved. But I just wrote a lengthy article regarding risk-taking in storm chasing, and this to me, for any group carrying multiple people whom they are responsible for, was a bad decision and an unnecessary risk and they ultimately got lucky.
Whatever legal action comes from this is moot... it's not our concern. We were not involved, and whatever transpires with that will happen as it will. And I hope it favors SLT as best as possible. The issue here, and in my opinion, is the biggest concern, is what were they doing in a region of the storm where something like this can happen with a group of inexperienced people who ultimately did not sign up to be tossed off the road. You on your own or with a couple of your chase partners, have at it. But would you as a chaser with your wife and kids, take a risk like this?
I don't care what their track record was prior... they certainly can't say that now. And six years ago today, three very experienced friends of mine with a very lengthy track record had it happen once. Only once, folks... that's all it takes. It's my hope we would've learned something from that by now.
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