NSSL helps with damage surveys

NSSL helped staff several of the nine NWS teams that determined the damage locations, times and Fujita ratings for the majority of the tornadoes in the Norman NWSFO county warning area. NSSL also participated in a more detailed damage assessment of the 38-mile track of the major tornado that struck the Oklahoma City metro area. This was the second time Greg Stumpf, damage survey point of contact at NSSL, had surveyed an F5 tornado. The first for Greg was the Andover, Kansas tornado that occurred April 26, 1991. The F5 damage in Andover was confined to one subdivision neighborhood and a trailer park, with farmland surrounding each. "What makes the Oklahoma City event surpass the Andover event," Greg says, "was not the strength of the damage, which was about the same as Andover, but the scope of the damage. The Oklahoma City event consisted of miles and miles of subdivision neighborhoods being destroyed." Preliminary details are available at: http:/www.nwsnorman. noaa.gov/storms/3may99/.

Damage photos taken by Kevin Kelleher. Mike Eilts is pictured in the photo on the left standing next to a car that was blown 1/2 mile and came to rest under a bridge