Tornadoes in Oaklahoma/Kansas 26+? killed
07:37 AM EDT - 04 May 1999

Sometimes you see weather that's more severe than normal and you can't believe it. These systems in Oaklahoma consited of a family of tornadoes and some of them were on the high end of the F scale. Such as F4 and F5, which even for "Tornado Alley" are highly unusual in such number.

Once again the danger in Tornadoes is of the unpredictability and strong winds inside the funnel that Hurricanes find hard to match. However, destruction is usually more with Hurricanes due to the size. Andrew is still the costliest (in terms of money) natural disaster in America. But you can prepare for these storms.

A lot of the people in OK, KA had preperations, had the storm cellars, but these tornadoes were not the norm and still some lives were lost in this overnight system. As of right now (7:30AM) some parts are still under warnings. If they did not have the system they did more lives would have been lost. Even so, this emphasizes the need for severe weather preperations. Florida had it's own big outbreak of tornadoes last year that should serve as a reminder that Florida is a dangerous weather place. Don't take the fact that we have not had a major hurricane in the space coast in a while. I've heard people say that the federal government chose the area it did for the space center because of the low frequency or lack of major hurricanes in the area. THIS IS A MYTH. There have been major hurricanes to hit Brevard in the past, when it was less populated. And cocoa beach and merritt island have been under water because of the storms before, just not recently.

See the radar loop of a major tornado near Oaklahoma City

- [jc]