70 of them are children. The revised number is 24 dead, with 20 of them being children. That the monster tornado destroyed two elementary schools is what makes this tragedy so horrible. I wondered on Facebook yesterday why these elementary schools, or any structure really, had no basements or underground storm shelters while located in the heart of Tornado Alley. To me it seemed criminally negligent. But then I was told that the ground in the area, which is either clay with a high water table or bedrock, makes it cost prohibitive to build them. I am not satisfied with that explanation, but at least it is an explanation.
These monster tornadoes hitting dense population centers are going to become more common for two reasons: 1) climate change and 2) population and suburban expansion. These tornadoes used to just hit open spaces and farm land. Now that open space and farm land is a neighborhood with a school. Add to that the fact (yes, you conservative idiots, it is a fact) that global warming has changed our climate (hence the term climate change), making all types of storms exponentially more severe.
So this is going to happen more and more, so perhaps Oklahomans and Kansans and Arkansans and Missourians should get to work on building storm shelters and perhaps the government can help them with tax breaks or credits to do so, if not outright stipends. And perhaps Senator Coburn and other Republican can change their insistence that all disaster aid be offset by cuts in funding elsewhere, for sooner or later Coburn and the GOP are going to have to cut either their own salaries or something they really love: miltiary spending. Yes, that’s right, Oklahoma’s Senator Tom Coburn announced in the midst of the devastation last night that his constituents can go directly to hell if they were not already there because it is more important to be ideologically consistent than it is to help them with federal aid.
At least he is consistent. He voted against Hurricane Sandy aid for the same reason.
I am watching Ch. 10 this morning and they already have two local weather reporters on the scene in Moore, Ok. Really, Ch. 10? Is that necessary? In the day and age of cutbacks in local news, you sent two reporters out to Moore? You can’t rely on your national reporters and then have your local reporters cover, oh I don’t know…. local news and weather?
Finally, Eric Erickson, the odious founder of the right wing Daily Kos wannabe, Red State and, for reasons passing understanding, a CNN contributor for a short while, said yesterday on Twitter that someone needed to find and muzzle Pat Robertson before he offered one of this trademark opinions about why disasters happen (i.e. 9/11 happened because we Americans tolerate and do not kill gays on sight). I responded that no, I was curious to hear what sins these 24 (now 70) children committed to earn God’s wrath.