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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.
1999
In 1999, a storm produced up to 14 tornadoes on May 3rd. The ninth tornado to spawn from the storm was the deadliest of all of them and is infamous for creating millions of dollars in damage in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma City, and Moore.
Whether it was by intuition, or pure chance, the usage of the first tornado emergency during the Bridge Creek-Moore tornado could not have come at a better time.
During a typical tornado’s lifespan, the most intense damages will occur for a brief time. The NWS will rate a tornado based on the most severe recorded damage. Even if a tornado produces EF5 winds for only a few seconds, that tornado will still be considered an EF5. There are many tornadoes on record that have high EF ratings but produced significantly lower wind speeds throughout the majority of its life.
