Picher, Ok 2013
Picher is a ghost town and former city in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. Formerly a major national center of lead and zinc mining at the heart of the Tri-State Mining District, over a century of unrestricted subsurface excavation dangerously undermined most of Picher's town buildings and left giant piles of toxic metal-contaminated mine tailings (known as chat) heaped throughout the area. The discovery of the cave-in risks, groundwater contamination and health effects associated with the chat piles and subsurface shafts—particularly an alarming 1996 study which showed lead poisoning in 34% of the children in Picher[4]—eventually prompted a mandatory evacuation and buyout (via eminent domain) of the entire township by the Environmental Protection Agency and the incorporation of the town (along with the similarly contaminated satellite towns of Treece and Cardin) into the Tar Creek
May 10, 2008 Severe Weather Outbreak Picher Tornado
The most significant tornado occurred across Craig and Ottawa Counties in Northeast Oklahoma. This EF-4 Tornado caused extensive damage in the town of Picher, Oklahoma and resulted in 6 fatalities.
The tornado touched down 2.5 miles southwest of Chetopa, KS near the Oklahoma/Kansas state line. The tornado continued eastward inot the southern portion of Picher, OK where extensive and widespread damage occurred to numerous residental structures.
Based on the structural damage in this area, the tornado is rated an EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds estimated at 165 to 175 mph.
The tornado continued southeast across the northern edge of the city of Quapaw, then crossed interstate 44 near mile marker 325. The tornado then moved into southwest Missouri, 3 miles northeast of Peoria, OK.
It's been 5 years since the EF-4 tornado hit the small town of Picher, OK which was undergoing a federal buyout due to lead and zinc contamination. 160 houses were destroyed and it is now a ghost town. The tornado "merged" with another tornado and became a mile wide rain wrapped tornado as it moved into Newton county, MO. 22 people died from this tornado, most of them in manufactured housing or in cars. This was the first tornado that actually scared me and the one that made me realize that one day, Joplin could get hit.
The NWS service assessment mentioned that 75-125 cars fled Picher, OK in the 10 minutes between the sounding of the sirens and the impact of the tornado.
The most significant tornado occurred across Craig and Ottawa Counties in Northeast Oklahoma. This EF-4 Tornado caused extensive damage in the town of Picher, Oklahoma and resulted in 6 fatalities.
The tornado touched down 2.5 miles southwest of Chetopa, KS near the Oklahoma/Kansas state line. The tornado continued eastward inot the southern portion of Picher, OK where extensive and widespread damage occurred to numerous residental structures.
Based on the structural damage in this area, the tornado is rated an EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds estimated at 165 to 175 mph.
The tornado continued southeast across the northern edge of the city of Quapaw, then crossed interstate 44 near mile marker 325. The tornado then moved into southwest Missouri, 3 miles northeast of Peoria, OK.
It's been 5 years since the EF-4 tornado hit the small town of Picher, OK which was undergoing a federal buyout due to lead and zinc contamination. 160 houses were destroyed and it is now a ghost town. The tornado "merged" with another tornado and became a mile wide rain wrapped tornado as it moved into Newton county, MO. 22 people died from this tornado, most of them in manufactured housing or in cars. This was the first tornado that actually scared me and the one that made me realize that one day, Joplin could get hit.
The NWS service assessment mentioned that 75-125 cars fled Picher, OK in the 10 minutes between the sounding of the sirens and the impact of the tornado.
At this time we were unable to do an official investigation so we gather photos