Good Friday Tornado

This is a sad blog entry, whenever I read about fatalities or lost of life / massive property that I personally could prevent I feel troubled.
I am referring to the “Good Friday” Tornado. Good Friday refers to the crucifixion of Jesus when, in a later stage, he went up to heaven … well this more or less what had happen to John Bryant (on April 10th – the Good Friday) or in his own words:

"It sounded like a train coming."
"I knew in my gut that something was wrong."
"I was going up, up, up ... and I flew."
"It broke my heart."

The last time John Bryant saw his 9-week-old daughter, Olivia and wife Kori, 30, "he was being sucked through the roof" of his home.
He "was looking down at Olivia as she was looking up at him ... His exact words were, 'I was going up, up, up ... and I flew.'"

Few days later, volunteers found Olivia under debris about 20 feet from what was once her home. The baby was found, still strapped in her car seat that her parents thought would give her extra protection.
Yet another 20 feet away, under a tree, volunteers found Olivia mom Kori Bryant's.

On top of the two deaths — Kori and Olivia Bryant (names that I will need to remember), there were 42 injuries and more than 900 homes and businesses that were damaged by the tornado.

Emergency Management Agency figures showed the destruction amounted to almost $42 million to businesses and 845 homes. About 117 homes were demolished, 298 sustained major damage and 175 sustained minor damage. An additional 255 homes were affected. More than 8,000 tons of debris, tree and brush were collected.

The Good Friday Tornado was kind and less deadly compares to his predecessors which rage at the same route during 1949 killing 55 people in its path, and another twister which killed 7 people in 1975.



I hope that by the next tornado season we will have a Nooly system up and running in the South East.
I would feel much better knowing that our minute – by – minute Location base Nowcasting system help to save some lives with accurate early warnings and alerts.


The following video is a great example for the Nooly power solution; when we see the killer tornado is building itself and making a touchdown while the NWS weather report give a general tornado warning.



With the Nooly system the Tornado warnings are much more focus (both in time and location) and they are specific for each tornado or a possible tornado with contrasted with the common general tornado warning as we have today.

To show how serious the situation was and how people were not prepared to this; here is a news flash tracking the 23 miles twister;



They went on air an about 12:35 (about 16 min after the Tornado made touchdown).
There was no any specific tornado warning only a general warning for the all region, and nothing to warn the people of deadly F4 tornado making his way to this schools and kindergartens’

Twister data from NOAA
Location / Time of event: Rutherford County, 04/10/09 12:19 PM
Beginning Point: Kelley Road and Hwy 41A - SW of Murfreesboro
Ending Point: Eight (8) Miles NE of Murfreesboro
Rating: EF4 - Maximum estimated wind speed around 170 MPH
Path Length: 23.25 Miles (~37.5 km.)
Maximum Width: Almost 1/2 Mile (800 m)
Fatalities: 2
Injuries: 42

For some personal stories from the Tornado I recommend reading “MRS. 007” blog