Thursday, April 27, 2017

Fake Tornado Reports Are Not Funny

For anyone that knows me, they know that I have pulled some pranks. My friends know that I will do anything to make them laugh or smile. The guy who posted this picture to Facebook last night was probably trying to do the same thing. I get it. But, posting fake tornado reports is not funny. It's dangerous. It creates false panic. And, it wastes time for those trying to warn people in the line of storms. The pic above was NOT from Region 8 yesterday. It is a picture from Marshall Brozek in Moore, OK in 2013. Let me explain more about the picture above:

Its' a picture of a tornado that killed 25 people in Moore, Oklahoma on May 20th, 2013:
NWS-Norman
It's the picture of a tornado that killed kids, pregnant mothers, dads, sons, and daughters. Here are their names, ages, and links to their lives:
Terri Long – 49
Megan Futrell – 29
Case Futrell – 4 months
Shannon Quick – 40
Sydnee Vargyas – 7 months
Karrina Vargyas – 4
Jeany Neely – 38
Antonia Candelaria – 9
Kyle Davis – 8
Janae Hornsby – 9
Sydney Angle – 9
Emily Conatzer -9
Nicolas McCabe – 9
Christopher Legg – 9
Cindy Plumley – 45
Deanna Ward – 70
Rick Jones – 54
William Sass – 63
Gina Stromski – 51
Tewauna Robinson – 45
Randy Smith – 39
Leslie Johnson – 46
Hemant Bhonde – 65
Richard Brown – 41
Kathryn Begay – 90

(List compiled by KFOR)

It's a pic of a tornado that lead rescue workers to spend days looking for victims, like these workers in Plaza Towers Elementary School:
Pic: Oklahoma National Guard
So, I don't find fake tornado reports funny. Most of the time, we can easily identify a fake report through metadata, recognizing the particular tornado, weather conditions, or geographical references. However, judging by the over 100 shares on Facebook, the public does not know that this is a fake report.  

I blocked out the dudes name because I've done some things in my past that I thought was funny and it wasn't. I hope he realizes that things like this matter and I hope others learn from his mistake.

Enjoy the sunshine today,
Ryan

2 comments:

Dora said...

I promise you, if they lived through and saw the aftermath of what it did to their family and friends, they wouldn't be making ANY kind of FAKE reporting or jokes either. Maybe they need to visit Nettleton Cemetery and see all the grave markers with May 15, 1968.... read the names..... and think about who was left behind, and what the storm actually did to these precious victims.

Unknown said...

So not funny. In April of 2014 Vilonia, Ar. was devastated by a powerful tornado. One whole street of my subdivision was totally wiped out. At least 6 people died on my street alone. I still am paranoid about storms 3 years later. So, no, I do not find fake tornado warnings or pics funny!!