On May 3, 1999, a 78-tornado outbreak occurred in Oklahoma and Kansas, causing more than $1.5 billion in damage. An F-5 tornado, moving along a 38-mile path through Chickasha and north to Oklahoma City, became the costliest single tornado in U.S. history to date, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Multiple supercell thunderstorms produced the outbreak during the late afternoon and early evening hours of May 3. The killer tornado, which tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs of Bridge Creek, Newcastle, Moore, Midwest City, and Del City, damaged some 8,000 buildings, killed 46 people, and injured 800. Winds were clocked in excess of 261 mph. by weather researchers, and the National Weather Service credited the Norman, Oklahoma Forecast Office for providing 18 minutes of warning time, seven minutes better than the national average. Local news stations were diligent in communicating to citizens the severity of the storm. Sufficient warnings allowed people the time to seek shelter either underground, in above-ground safe rooms, or interior rooms such as bathrooms or closets.
Thousands pitched in to help tornado victims rebuild their lives. In addition to the usual donations of food, clothing, money and manpower, one group formed the Photo OK Project in an effort to reunite pictures caught up by the twister and scattered across the Oklahoma plains. The photos, turned in by people who found them in fields, on sidewalks, or blowing down the streets, contained treasured and irreplaceable memories for many victims. As of May 1, 2000, more than 15,000 photographs had been recovered.
RESOURCES:
The Central Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak of May 3, 1999. (2002, June). Available:
Costliest Twister in U.S. History Tops the 1999 National Roundup. Greensboro News Record. Jan. 4, 2000.
Experts on 99 Tornadoes: It Could Have Been Worse. The Patriot Ledger. May 4, 2000.
Photo Recovery Saving Memories. Florida Times Union. May 1, 2000.
FURTHER READING:
Writing Up the Storm: Students’ Perspectives of the May 3, 1999 Tornado. Mid Del Schools. Midwest City, Okla. 2001.
FURTHER VIEWING:
Deadly Force.KWTV News. Oklahoma City, Okla. 1999.
May’s Fury: May 3, 1999, Oklahoma Tornado Footage. New York Times. Oklahoma. 1999.
Oklahoma’s Surviving Spirit.Griffin Television. Oklahoma City, Okla. 1999.
Tornadoes. World Almanac/Choices. Beverly Hills, CA. 2001.
