The First Major Tornado Emergency
It has been almost eight years since the last EF5 tornado struck the United States. The unlucky plot of land happened to be in Moore, Oklahoma. Funny enough, Moore had already experienced what some storm experts believe to be the most powerful tornado about 14 years prior.
In 1999, Oklahoma endured a tornado that would tear through Moore and Bridge Creek at record-shattering speeds. At one point, the twister reached 318 mph.
In the 1999 outbreak that produced this tornado, the first tornado emergency was declared. For many years after the Bridge Creek-Moore tornado, the storm was believed to be the most powerful tornado ever recorded. To this day, some still believe it to be true.
For a tornado to secure an EF5 rating, the damage surveyed must suggest wind speeds exceeding 200 mph. The Bridge Creek-Moore tornado reached 118 mph over the EF5 rating, causing the storm to leave a significant and deadly imprint on Oklahoma.
While the following tornado in 2013 was less powerful than its predecessor, it shared an eerily similar path. The likelihood of a tornado striking a metropolitan area is fairly minimal. The likelihood of a tornado striking the same metropolitan area more than twice is even slimmer.
