Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Dang Tornadoes Kill 33

This is topic Dang Tornadoes Kill 33 in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-11-2002, 08:43 AM:

This was a close call for these viewers. Excerpted from the news on Yahoo......
Mark

"Rick McCoy, county EMA director, said he watched two twisters split into four just outside Van Wert.

One of those twisters destroyed the Twin Cinema just minutes after films ended, and two wrecked cars came to rest in the theater where "Santa Clause 2" had been showing.

Raymond Moore said his 22-year-old daughter was leaving the theater when she saw the tornado and ran back in. She was one of the customers who were rushed into the lobby and bathrooms, stronger brick parts of the building. "She watched the roof come right off the building," he said."

Posted by Kara J. McVay (Member # 1285) on 11-11-2002, 09:17 AM:

On the Columbus, Ohio news this morning, they are praising the employees of the theatre for evacuating the theatre and moving patrons to safe areas.

Pictures were awful, cars flew right thru the screen. There are 2 cars now sitting where the screen was. Very scarry.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 11-11-2002, 09:51 AM:

The owner, Jim Boyd, deserves a lot of credit here. He had a 28 minute advance warning, and was able to move all of the patrons to the center of the theatre, which survived the storm. The rest of the theatre and his house next door were destroyed.

The Washington Post reports that the tornado was 1/2 mile wide at the time it hit Van Wert.

This is one of the weirder storms I've ever seen. It looked on the radar like a July storm pattern, but there were many dangerous storms that popped up in front of the main area. One of them came through my area, and it is one of the more intense storms I've ever seen. And I've NEVER seen a storm like that in November.

My cable system has a 24-hour weather radar channel. One thing I've learned from watching this is that there is real trouble when storms move two directions at once. This storm had a main front moving west to east, and another section moving sw to ne. That usually means big trouble, and we certainly had that yesterday.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-11-2002, 09:52 AM:

here Star Tribune here ABC News here Toledo Blade

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-11-2002, 10:36 AM:

Part of the reason the building was destroyed in such a fashion is because the lobby was the only masonry part of the structure. The rest of the building was of metal construction.

Has anyone heard if the Ridgeway Drive-in immediately next door is still standing?

I took some photos of both the indoor and outdoor theater next door in August of this year. Here are a few.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-11-2002, 11:08 AM:

The footage of that destroyed theater made one of the network morning shows this morning. Unbelieveable. If the theater staff not herded everyone into that area with masonry walls, there probably would have been many more fatalities.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 11-11-2002, 11:31 AM:

I just saw this on the news and was going to come post about it, but looks like a lot of people beat me to it.

I did find some pictures of the theater's destruction here

Scary indeed! From the looks of things, the booth it barely hanging in there, but there's no way anyone can safely enter it. Although I've never experienced one, tornados seem more scary than hurricanes. At least you have several days to prepare. In this case, only quick thinking can save lives.

With the destruction the building faced, I doubt the drive-in is still there.

=TMP=

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 11-11-2002, 12:44 PM:

Here is the MSNBC.
here

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 11-11-2002, 01:09 PM:

From the Drive-In Owner's Forum:

Jim and Joyce Boyd of Van Wert, Ohio, suffered the loss of their home, drive-in theatre and adjacent indoor cinema as a result of the tornadoes that devastated parts of Ohio, Tennessee and Georgia. Jim and Joyce are okay but they are in a tough spot.

Fortunately, their other drive-in, the Van Del Drive-In Theatre, does not seem to have been damaged. It is located several miles away from the Van Wert site.

------------------
Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Lebanon, Tennessee

Stardust Drive-In Theatre
Watertown, Tennessee

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-11-2002, 03:40 PM:

The indoor was actually a 5-screener, not the twin as mentioned in the articles.

The Van-Del Drive-in is about 10 miles away, literally the next exit on the highway, between Van Wert and Delphos.

A couple of years ago, Parsons, Kansas, finally managed to get a small multi built to replace their delapidated downtown movie house. IIRC, it was a community-effort sort of thing. One of the people involved kept in touch with me in the last stages of construction and everyone was excited when it finally opened. Two weeks later, a tornado ripped through town, devastating most of the business district and taking the new theater with it.

Having managed theaters in Oklahoma for five years, every time nasty weather was in the area, I made it a point to review emergency procedures on-the-spot with the staff on duty. It didn't matter what kind of weather, we always had a flashlight check and a game plan.

We're coming up on a very busy season and this would be a great opportunity to make sure everyone is up to speed, especially the newbies.

To the manager in Van Wert I say "THANK YOU" for keeping your head on your shoulders and keeping everyone alive.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-11-2002, 05:44 PM:

I can't believe that weather. Basically, Oklahoma has had Seattle's rainy weather for a good while and our bad weather got exported to Dixieland. Can't say I want it back. Sure does bring back some memories about May 3, 1999 (the day an F5 monster tornado originated just north of Lawton and plowed its way into metro Oklahoma City).

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 11-11-2002, 05:49 PM:

Kudo's to the staff & management. They saved lives. I would rather piss off people 50 times then save lives on the 51st.

Posted by Joe Smith (Member # 190) on 11-11-2002, 06:37 PM:

As mentioned earlier, the Ridgeway Drive-In was destroyed as well. The only thing left standing is the ticket booth minus it's roof. I talked with Jim Boyd, the owner, tonight and he reports that all his family and employees are OK. Unfortunately there was one fatality in the parking lot. A patron that had not yet entered the theatre was killed while still in his car.

It's far too early to make decisions but Jim has hopes of rebuilding. The hardtop was indeed a 5-plex, having been recently expanded. Jim credits his manager with saving lives of the patrons. The theatre has a tornado warning device apparently tied to local early warning systems that alerted the staff in time.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-12-2002, 10:05 AM:

here AP Article about Theatre Staff as Heros

Ohio Staff Saves Audience From Storm

By JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press Writer
AP/Al Behrman [29K]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VAN WERT, Ohio (AP) — When theater manager Scott Shaffer heard the storm warning on the radio, he knew he had little time to protect the 50 parents, children and neighbors watching ``The Santa Clause 2'' and ``My Big Fat Greek Wedding.''

It turns out, he had just five minutes.

Shaffer and his staff hustled their charges into a brick hallway and restrooms at Van Wert Cinemas, just before a tornado estimated at a half-mile wide slammed into the building Sunday...(more in linked article).

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 11-12-2002, 04:55 PM:

To get a truer hint of what that Van Wert tornado did here is a wide-angle view from the Toledo Blade.