Dave Morris » tornado

Reporting from Lone Grove

davemorris — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:32:03 +0000

We sent Tanner Herriott to Lone Grove earlier this morning. His mission to report from the scene and send back video. He caught up with The Oklahoman’s Steve Sisney, who left last night to shoot photos and video. Tanner reports the town is in bad shape. He drove to a nearby Burger King where residents were still in their pajamas trying to sort through their plans. Tanner used the wifi to file a video (below) and spoke with me via phone for a quick recap (above).

Here’s how we did that. Obviously he used his cell phone to call into our studio. We have a RemoteMix C+ JK Audio box that feeds the calls into our board which sends the audio to Final Cut Pro. We taped in front of the plasma screen. Covered the video with Sisney’s photos from the scene in post-editing and created a full screen graphic to show who I was talking with. Very simple stuff.

I just spoke with Tanner about 12:30 pm. Gov. Brad Henry is expected to be in Lone Grove at 2 pm for a tour and press conference. We have two more videos to post before then. Also the trailer park residents may be let back in this afternoon to tour their homes, properties and damages.

Sonics ruling expected today

davemorris — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:11:53 +0000

Where the Seattle Supersonics will play basketball next year could be decided by 6 p.m. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman is scheduled to release a ruling then on whether the Sonics must stay in Seattle two more seasons or be allowed to move to Oklahoma City. Stay with NewsOK for the very latest updates.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced Tuesday a joint venture in the Haynesville Shale natural gas field that will make the Oklahoma City-company more than $3 billion.

The tornado-ravaged town of Picher appointed a new mayor Tuesday. Tim Reeves inherits a town that at the beginning of his term is looking for ways to close down for good.

The Mayo Hotel in Tulsa, a once-proud landmark turned eyesore, is getting a long-awaited makeover that will result in 72 apartments and 100 hotel rooms being added to downtown.

In OKC today: Mostly sunny. High near 94. South-southwest winds 11 to 18 mph, gusting to 25 mph.

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Tornado safety podcast

davemorris — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:10:34 +0000

I produced this podcast earlier today. John Sutter, a reporter from The Oklahoman, interviewed Greg Carbin from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman. We recorded the interview in the OPUBCO Studios podcast room, John on mic 2, Greg from Norman via phone. Pretty cool that we can have phone interviews that sound at a broadcast level. I know it’s not rocket science or remotely advanced technology. But when you have so many simultaneous projects going at once, it’s nice to have simple technology that works well.

And this was a good interview, listen here.

Tornado oddity: Toilet paper unwinds, rewinds

davemorris — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:10:21 +0000

Now here’s an odd story out of Minnesota.

HUGO, Minn. – As residents in Hugo begin to move on from last week’s tornado, some say they noticed a few bizarre things amid all the damage. Jason Akins said the twister unwound a roll of toilet paper in his bathroom — draped it across the countertop, then rewound it in the sink. The toilet paper didn’t even rip.

Hmmm… meanwhile:

Terry Clarkin said the Hugo tornado stuck four steak knives in the yard — and they landed in a perfect square, with the blades in the dirt about three inches.

China death toll rising; Picher residents face new challenge.

davemorris — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:25:51 +0000

It’s Tuesday, here are some headlines for you…

Today’s Oklahoma County bond issue election is mostly about Tinker Air Force Base. County leaders want to buy the abandoned General Motors plant on the south border of the base and lease it to Tinker. The county has negotiated a $55 million purchase of the plant from GM should voters approve the proposition.

Other bond propositions would pay for fixes to flood control, the county courthouse and county records retention, as well as a new county extension building.

You can find your Oklahoma County polling places online at NewsOK.com.

Ok turning to international headlines, in China, the toll of the dead and missing soared as rescue workers dug through flattened schools and homes today in a desperate attempt to find survivors of China’s worst earthquake in three decades.

In Oklahoma… As Picher residents searched Monday for their lost belongings in the rubble left by Saturday’s tornado, they faced a unique barrier to recovery: They can’t go back. With a federal buyout in progress, many storm victims don’t know what the future holds, but they know it won’t be in Picher. They say rebuilding would be foolish.

More severe weather is predicted to return today to Oklahoma.

A slight risk for severe thunderstorms will be east of a line from Medford and Enid to Lawton. Today: Mostly cloudy. Highs about 80 and windy. Thirty percent chance of thunderstorms, with some turning severe, in the late afternoon. 40 percent chance tonight.

The price of a first-class stamp rose to 42 cents Monday. But folks bought Forever stamps at 41 cents can still use them without extra postage. New Forever stamps went up to 42 cents.

NewsOK is free, be sure to check it out all today for the latest news and information.

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Bad news out of China; Picher tornado scale

davemorris — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:14:14 +0000

Thousands are dead in China this morning. A major earthquake hit.

Also, the Picher tornado has been measured at an EF04.

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Picher cleans up as the week begins

davemorris — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:15:26 +0000

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Search and rescue over, clean up begins in Picher

davemorris — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:03:20 +0000

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Oklahoma Focus – Picher

davemorris — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:01:55 +0000

I grabbed a few of the photos The Oklahoman shot in Picher, Okla., today and put them into this video. They do great work.

The Oklahoman’s photographers tell the story through their lens.

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Picher death toll at six

davemorris — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:16:28 +0000

The death toll in Picher is at six after yesterday’s outbreak of
tornadoes, the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes in Oklahoma since 1999. The
seven dead includes an infant.

The infant died at a Tulsa hospital. Identifying those killed could take up
to a week, according to
officials.

Several Picher residents told authorities they had no warning before the
tornado, which destroyed the south end of the city.

There are many people missing, but authorities could not give an estimate
given the extent of the damage. Crews and search dogs are going through the
town today.

At least 150 people — from scratches to more serious problems — were injured
in the Picher tornado, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the state
Emergency Management Department.

Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of emergency late Saturday. He is expected
to tour the area this afternoon.

There will be official press conferences this afternoon. We will cover those
and provide video from them. Also, there are photo galleries from The
Oklahoman’s Matthew Strasen online at NewsOK.com. NewsOK.tv’s Tanner
Herriott is in Picher today as well and will be filing more video from the
scene.

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