MOORE, Okla. (May 20)—In this handout provided by the US Dept of Defense, a rescue worker and his search dog sit during the search for survivors in the remains of the Plaza Towers Elem School after it was hit by a tornado. (Maj. Geoff Legler, OK Natl Guard Public Affairs/US Dept of Defense via Getty Images)
Like many of you, I have been extremely saddened to watch reports about the killer tornado Monday afternoon, which reduced buildings in Moore, Okla., to “sticks and bricks,” as Gov Mary Fallin saw things.
The tornado, estimated to be about 1.3 miles wide at some points, killed at least 24 people and injured more than 200, including at least seven and 70 children, respectively. Many of the young victims drowned in Plaza Towers Elementary School, where the school’s approximately 500 students were beginning their last week of classes before summer break.
In the wake of this massive storm, many people, especially Internet bloggers and commentators, have chosen to blame the deaths on the quality of school construction. For example, see the most common comment in the New York Times story we cited above. A writer who claims to be a school psychologist for Moore Public Schools, said:
There is no excuse for a public school in a tornado-prone area not to have been retrofitted with a “safe room” large enough to accommodate all occupants. Meterologists tell us … to go underground, go to a safe room, or basement, and if none of these is an option, to get in the car and drive away from the tornado. Thanks to our meteorologists, we have plenty of warning of impending tornadoes. … The children and teachers who died today had no such option. Sadly, they were forced to take shelter in the sheet-rocked hallways of buildings shabbily built in the 1960s. … Perhaps it is time to rethink our priorities and begin redirecting money toward, not only better educating our children, but keeping them safe in school—and not just from crazed gunmen.
The comment had 1,002 recommendations as of midnight Tuesday. And while I want to respect and honor the thoughts of people who live in the Moore area, I have also heard that the ground there is not suitable for building basements under buildings. However, other building codes ought to be upgraded, as other school tragedies have taught our greatest communities:
A photoessay of the fire at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic school in Chicago on Dec. 1, 1958, published in the Chicago Tribune, shows how a tremendous tragedy can bring about changes that provide our students with safer schools. Today, we live in a different world from that in 1958, but changes to Chicago’s building code that happened after the 1958 fire included mandatory sprinkler systems and alarms linked directly to fire stations. These changes have saved innumerable lives since the fire 55 years ago.
Now, in some ways, trying to prevent destruction from an EF5 tornado by building stronger buildings is about as effective as trying to prevent mass shootings by making it so law-abiding gun owners can’t buy certain types of magazines. This tornado was powerful, the first EF5 tornado to strike the US in two years, and several meteorologists told to the Associated Press its strength was more powerful than the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in World War II:
Several meteorologists contacted by The Associated Press used real time measurements … to calculate the energy released during the storm’s 40-minute life span. Their estimates ranged from 8 times to more than 600 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb, with more experts at the high end. Their calculations were based on energy measured in the air and then multiplied over the size and duration of the storm.
Somehow, I don’t think a few better bricks would have saved any lives in Moore on Monday. So, for this one, maybe it doesn’t make any sense to blame Oklahoma’s building standards. That being said, this is a wake-up call: Moore was hit by a tornado on May 3, 1999, another EF5 that produced the highest and most violent winds ever recorded on Earth: 302 mph. This is the definition of tornado alley, and in rebuilding, we should at least take that history into account.
Until the rebuilding happens, my prayers are with the family members and friends of victims in Moore. No amount of change to the building codes can address the loss they must feel, and turning this into positive change that saves future lives is a small comfort to those who lost loved ones in the storm.
