Discovery Channel presents "Perfect Disaster"

[wxmann_91]

Am watching it right now.

[jasons2k]

that guy said that the other guy should drive parellel to the tornado, i have heard otherwise. opinions?

Yeah - I would think perpendicular to the right if possible.

I saw it too and I think overall it was a good program but it did have its cheesy moments.

My thoughts on using Dallas, well I lived there for almost 20 years so I do have my opinions, and I think they chose it for a couple of reasons. As pointed out, it is the largest Metro area in Tornado Alley. Yes, OK has more by density but the DFW area is definitely tornado prone - they have just been relatively lucky for many years. Check out a density map. They have had some bad ones in the the suburbs but the best-known even was the F3 Dallas tornado of 1957 (link below). A similar event today would be devastating. I also think the producers had more to work with by choosing Dallas because about a year ago a study came out based on a computer simulation of an F5 tornado cutting from Arlington (The Ballpark area) to Downtown Dallas with damage estimates, casualty count, etc. So, a lot of the groundwork was already layed. Finally, it is a question of when for the Metroplex. For those that think it's too far south from the heart of Tornado Alley - let me remind you of Jarrell and Waco. Someday Dallas' number will be up. I think it's very much the equivalent of a Tampa or New York in a hurricane event.

Info on 1957:
http://www.stormtrack.org/library/historic/dal57.htm

Waco (F4):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_Tornado

Jarrell (F5):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarrell_Tornado

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

How about a tornado cutting across Collin County? The supercell lines tend to fall apart when they hit Denton and Tarrant...but one of these days, we're going to get hit. This entire county of 600,000 is mostly densely packed suburbs, built quickly and cheaply with wood frames and brick facades. The water table is too high for basements to be feasable, meaning that if I ever got caught by a tornado in my 2nd floor apartment, the only thing I could do is hide in an interior closet with a mattress.

Not something I'm looking forward to doing in a flimsy wood-frame building.

[f5]

the reason why they are so focus on Dallas is beacuse its one of the biggest cities in the country in it happens to be the largest in Tornado alley.Dallas/FT worth is just one big megacity that has merge together over the years.

[TexasStooge]

I've recorded the first 2 episodes last night.

Yeah, todays news and science channels must've really loved the Dallas area.

[wxmann_91]

I think they got the idea for this series from TWC. Some comments-

-The waterspout with the fish falling out of the sky was really random.
-They kept saying how supercells can die off and then reform. I think they meant the mesocyclones die off and then reform, classic indicator of the cyclitity (is that even a word?) of the supercell.
-I liked how they made up a story of one family and integrated it into the scenario.
-A really funny thing was that they said "You have little chance of dying if you are in the middle of a skyscraper", and then the next scene was Tim Marshall I think saying "the building is designed so the frame survives but the glass falls, the flaw with that is if the glass is blown out and you are in the middle of a skyscraper you will be sucked out".
-Supertwister of winds of 350 mph will completely strip homes of their foundation. Their Photoshopped scenes are only indicative of F4 damage. In addition, even in a safe room, an "F6" tornado would probably still kill them. I was also wondering why they didn't mention to go underground for cover.

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

I was also wondering why they didn't mention to go underground for cover.

There is no underground in Dallas. Nobody has a basement - one of the reasons our area is so vulnerable, should a tornado ever strike.

I just got around to watching the first two episodes. I was a bit disappointed in it - the lead-up to the tornado seemed extremely overdramatic to me. The parents made some downright stupid decisions like leaving the kid at a cancelled scouts meeting, leaving the car doors open in the middle of a hailstorm...getting out of the car as soon as the hail ends, etc. I've never managed to run out of gas the entire time I've been driving, let alone at the worst time possible.

The hero of the docudrama seemed to know that Texas Stadium (in Arlington, not Dallas) was going to be hit hours before the tornado struck. The storyline led me to believe that the main reason the stadium wasn't evacuated was because it would cost too much money to do something like that. I'd like to know where that storm spotter saw the wall cloud drop down, because west of Dallas isn't farmland...there's another large city called Fort Worth over there.

And I really don't like that they only showed the destruction of Texas Stadium, downtown Dallas, and the family's home in East Dallas. Residents of Grand Prairie must feel the way Oregon felt after 10.5 The worst-case scenario doesn't have to destroy downtown. An F5 moving through open farmland is no problem. An F5 moving through a populated area is the worst-case scenario. Doesn't really matter where that is.

[HURAKAN]

MAR 26 2006
@ 09:00 PM Perfect Disaster Super Typhoon

MAR 27 2006
@ 01:00 AM Perfect Disaster Super Typhoon


A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO THAT'S JUST WAITING TO HAPPEN. WATCH IT FIRST TONIGHT AT THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL!

[weatherwoman132]

I autotuned it lol.! I'm gonna watch it

[Weatherfreak000]

I'll be watching it, the last special kinda disappointed.

[cheezyWXguy]

I missed it which was the last one...the dallas tornado?

[JtSmarts]

I missed it which was the last one...the dallas tornado?

Dallas Tornado and some type of solar storm.

[weatherwoman132]

6 minutes!

[JonathanBelles]

now

[JonathanBelles]

now

[Rainband]

I am watching it