Safety questions raised about storm chaser tours

Following the deaths of veteran storm chaser Tim Samaras, one of the stars of Discovery Channel's "Storm Chasers," along with his son Paul Samaras and colleague Carl Young in the May 31 EF5 tornado that struck El Reno, Okla., a lot of questions have been raised about the safety of storm chasing, whether for science or television or thrill seeking.

But one area of storm chasing that has received little attention or scrutiny since the deadly El Reno tornado, which also injured a crew from The Weather Channel, is a new type of tourism that has attracted everyone from thrill seekers to families to groups of Japanese tourists – tornado tours. And it pretty much is just what it sounds like – going on group tours in search of tornadoes.

Ryan Hoke, a tour guide with Bozeman, Mont.-based Storm Chasing Adventure Tours and a trained meteorologist, said the company he chases with has been in business since 1997 and provides paying tourists six day trips in search of twisters.
www.stormchasing.com/

The $2,400 cost mainly covers transportation expenses and hotels and in some cases, the company's paying customers get just what they're looking for when they leave for tours from one of the company's tour bases in either Oklahoma City or Denver.

"(The closest to a tornado that we've taken a group) I would say is about 150 yards," Hoke said. "We were in southeast Colorado and there was a very, very slow moving tornado, like 20 miles per hour. The visibility was great and road options were excellent. It was a compact tornado and we had a clear shot to get out of its way, so we were able to get 150 yards from it and in my opinion, I think it was completely safe."

Hoke said part of the determination in that storm, and every storm he and his tornado chasing tour group chase, in how close to get was based on the movement of the storm. He said the tornado was moving east to west, while the group was on a road that ran north to south, giving the tour guides an easy path to escape the storm's path while monitoring the storm on radar and visually.

While the storm was an adventure, he said, the reality of storm chasing, especially in Oklahoma and Kansas, is that roads get clogged with storm chasers – amateur, professional, television and tour groups. The risks, he said, are minimal for his groups, but he can understand how an incident like the deadly El Reno tornado could happen.

"Something that we've really become upset about in the last three years that I've been out there, and it came to light in 2010, is you've got these chaser convergences where you get massive amounts of vehicles, locals, people who don't know what they're doing, government researchers and that creates a real challenge for us. We need to get to the storm and get close to it, but at the same time, you have an incredible safety issue. You have small roads that are congested and it creates the perfect storm."

Meteorologist Brad McGavock with the National Weather Service in Tulsa equated the tour groups to entertainment and said it was important to know who you are with.

"We would recommend that people who do that go with someone with a reputable background that are skilled in the practice. It can be a dangerous situation."

Drew Michaels, chief meteorologist at ABC affiliate KHBS/KHOG-TV, said while groups like Storm Chasing Adventure Tours may tout safety, it is tough to determine which groups are safest when deciding to take part in a storm chasing tour, whether locally or out of state.

"There are no governing of these groups," he said. "It's not like you can go to the Better Business Bureau about these groups."

McGavock cautioned that even experienced storm chasers, such as Tim Samaras, were caught of guard by the El Reno tornado, which made a hard left turn and caught many chasers by surprise.

Michaels said tornado tours cannot "be 100% safe and it's definitely a risky type of business."

He also mentioned the possibility of storm shifts McGavock mentioned.

"They don't realize that if the storm shifts, they're dead or can be in a bad spot. …If you're in the wrong place, you're not going to survive that unless you're underground."

A situation similar to what happened to Samaras, The Weather Channel crew and other storm chasers in El Reno is something that Michaels said can definitely happen to tour groups, as well.

"I think if it's the right situation, yeah, you very well could (have deaths during a storm chasing tour). Anything's possible and it just kind of depends on where you are. (Tim Samaras) was known as a conservative chaser and scientist. So what's to say that someone running a tour group is in the wrong place at the wrong time. You bet it could happen."

Because of the increase in so many groups chasing, and not just tour groups, and no governing body to instruct chasers in safe practices or hold dangerous storm chasers accountable for risky actions, Michaels thinks it is just a matter of time before some sort of legislation is passed, whether in Oklahoma or other states, regarding storm chasing practices.

"If more people are chasing storms and this doesn't stop, you wonder when the government steps in or when on the local level, people start stepping in and says this goes too far," he said. "If the government meddles with Major League Baseball and steroids, I bet something like this will happen. We're just kind of waiting."

Hoke said the company he chases with has a safe record, though he acknowledged that there is risk with any type of storm chasing. He said while he was unsure of what kind of insurance the company holds to protect itself and customers, he was sure of one thing the company does.

"We do make folks sign a waiver. It very clearly spelled out what the risks are and what we're facing. We're hopeful that everything will be fine and we're safe. So far everything has been fine. If the day comes that something happens, you always have to have your bases covered."

But Michaels said for anyone interested in weather and storm chasing, a better option would be to take a National Weather Service-sponsored severe weather spotter class offered late in the year and leave the chasing to the scientists and professionals.

"I would caution people about doing (tornado tours). …If you become a (NWS-trained) spotter, you are providing the community with valuable information."