s
U
± .
Tornado warnings for New
Bern and the rest of the coastal
area during recent days had a
lot of folks gazing at the sky
and crossing ttielr fingers.
Those who remember the brief
but violent blow that ripped
along the Trent not tod many
moons ago aren't Inclined to
take wind of diis type lightly.
Unlike our more familiar
hurricanes, tornadoes are
somettilng that meteorologists
know very little about. They still
haven't figured out how they
form, or where all the energpy
which produces those hmnelsof
swirling 500 mile per hour
wind comes from.
Until they can establish this
basic information, weadier
scientists will never be able
to predict when and where a
tornado will occur. They do
recognize condlttons that make
sudden storms of this kind a
possibility, and these conditions
existed here early this week.
Ebmerts admit toat the best
the weather bureau can come
up with, as of now, are pre
dictions of the posslbillfy of a
tornado over a general area,
and this much can be done with
80 percent accuracy. We gather
from this that some of the crit
ters can swoop down with no
advance warning whatsoever.
Fortunately, our section of
North Carolira doesn't seem to
be as likely a target'as various
other parts of ttie nation, for
example the midwest, inciden
tally, don't get the mistaken idea
that your house is sturdy enough
to be tornado proof. Those in a
position to speak with authority
say it is impossible to design
buildings, unless they are un
derground, that are safe from
destruction. In a single tornado
at Oak Lawn, lU., ttiree weeks
age, 500 homes were destroyed
or damaged.
Research aimed at establish
ing the pattern of these big
blows is moving at a discour
aging pace. It may surprise
you, in this age of remarkable
mechanism, that obtaining ac
curate measurements of the
speed of the winds in the fun
nels is presently imposslblefor
the simple reason that no equip
ment up. to Ms point has been
fashioned to withstand such
force.
Hurricanes can be penetrated
by aircraft, although it is no
picnic for the pilot, but
penetrating a tornado is some
thing else. Even the establish
ment of numerous testing sta
tions would be largely ineffec
tive, since the possibility of a
tornado striking in a given lo
cation is extremely remote.
If it seems to you that the
midwest is having more and
worse tornadoes than it used to,
there's an explanation. Land
that was open prairie andligdit-
ly populated is now subdivided
into residential sections. Blows
that once would have done little
damage now destroy buildings
and take a grim toll of lives.
Money to carry on extensive
research is not part of toe
problem say the tornado
specialists. One of them frank
ly admits that if he and other
experts had one billion dollars
to devote to toe cause they
wouldn't know how to spend it
wisely.
Currently, toe few experi
ments that are conducted are on
a small scale. A half dozen
scientists are creating tiny,
(Continued on page 8)
NEW BERN-CRAVEN COUNTY
PUBLIC LIBRARY
The NEW BERN
PUBLIfHID WIIKLY
IN THI HBART OF
•«TBRN NORTH
, **OLINA
VOLUME 10
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1967
NUMBlSiv , /
FAMOUS VISITOR—^Rocky Marciano, retired unde-
over in our
.. .Tsv«wew#i)6&d City wborc
he was honored with a special day. The hard punch
ing native of Brockton, Mass., became the world's
best in one sport because he failed miserably in
another. Well does this editor remember, as Coastal
Plain League statistician, the extent of Rocky's heart
break when he couldn't make the grade as a catcher
for Fayetteville's team in the Class D circuit. Strange
isnt it, that Marciano's darkest moment opened the
*- * ' ‘ att( ‘ *
golden door to fame and fortune, and altered the
course of ring history for all time to come.—Photo by
John R. Baxter.