Live data from Hacker News

Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

reuters.com

101–110 of 367 posts

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#101
post #53

I slept through three tornado sirens last night. It was pretty wild. The first one, I thought it was a test. (We have tests every month on the 1st.) But it wasn't until a few minutes in that I realized it was for real. Then apparently I just... went to sleep? That wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made. It went off a couple more times. One strange thing was the realization that I had no idea where to turn for in…

You can use your phone as an FM/AM radio receiver. Tune to your local station.

Can you do this on an iPhone? The first time I was in a Tesla, my initial thought was why can’t my phone tune into FM Radio.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#102
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article doesn’t support what you are saying. Do you have evidence to support these theories? What happened is terrible and is part of a much broader natural disaster. Trying to turn this into some shallow Amazon shaming is unfortunate.

I'm not trying to shame Amazon; Not any more than I would be any other company. If this had been a Walmart or a Target or a Trader Joe's warehouse, I would have said the same. When there's tornadoes about, the first thing companies should tell their workers is 'Find somewhere safe to shelter, don't worry about the job or reducing damage to the company. Just make sure you're safe' (and if located somewhere known for t…

> When there's tornadoes about, the first thing companies should tell their workers is 'Find somewhere safe to shelter, don't worry about the job or reducing damage to the company.

I worked in the Midwest for a number of years. Every time there was a tornado siren, an attempt would be made to alert everyone in the building. We were to go to the shelter in the basement and/or 1st floor.

Only a minority would actually get up and move there. Worse, many would go to wall size windows to see the storm outside. There's no way security can force the majority of workers to move. All they can do is walk around and warn. Did people not go because they were worried about productivity dropping? No! They didn't go because they hear these sirens often enough (a few times every summer) and simply ignored them, because the odds of getting hurt appear low.[1]

So to me, reading people imply that they got killed because of capitalism is ludicrous. Simpler explanations exist.

Also, tornado shelters are not perfect.

Also, tornado shelters at work locations often are safer than ones at home. I know when I lived there, I always preferred to be in the office when a tornado siren hit. My home didn't have a basement, and you're not supposed to be in any room that has a window. That meant I should be either in the kitchen or the bathroom. At least the shelter at work was much bigger - you could walk around, etc.

[1] For that city, a tornado touches down there once every twenty years, and even that will be in a limited part of town. Not saying this is a good rationale, but humans will be humans.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#103
post #79
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twitter is a great source of information; when there's a tornado warning I keep a close eye on #gawx (substitute first 2 letters for your own state). That ends up producing a feed of info from meteorologists and amateur spotters with a mix of official reports, amateur info, photos, radar pics, etc. Often any photo or video will have comments from TV stations asking for permission to rebroadcast.

For me twitter is a terrible source of information because there is just too much noise. I rarely read anything on Twitter anymore

[deleted]

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#104

I slept through three tornado sirens last night. It was pretty wild. The first one, I thought it was a test. (We have tests every month on the 1st.) But it wasn't until a few minutes in that I realized it was for real. Then apparently I just... went to sleep? That wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made. It went off a couple more times. One strange thing was the realization that I had no idea where to turn for in…

if you live in tornado alley you ought to have an emergency radio, it at least gives you something to listen to while the power’s out https://www.amazon.com/Raynic-Emergency-Portable-Flashlight-...

They're also windup, so even if your power's out for 10 days, they'll still work.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#105
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because tornado;s are not hurricane, and you literally only get a few minutes notice... not days like you do with a hurricane Unless you think every business should shut down every time there is a tornado watch issued, which hell they issue those like candy the entirety of spring and summer around here we would never get anything done if we shut down for every tornado watch

Operating procedure at a former workplace in Texas was that during a Tornado Warning sheltering in a designated tornado shelter was mandatory . The question should be: was there a tornado warning, and was there any employee not in a tornado room?

> Operating procedure at a former workplace in Texas was that during a Tornado Warning sheltering in a designated tornado shelter was mandatory.

See my comment here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29526164

It was mandatory where I worked too. That most people didn't seek shelter was not a fault of the employer.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#106

I slept through three tornado sirens last night. It was pretty wild. The first one, I thought it was a test. (We have tests every month on the 1st.) But it wasn't until a few minutes in that I realized it was for real. Then apparently I just... went to sleep? That wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made. It went off a couple more times. One strange thing was the realization that I had no idea where to turn for in…

> One strange thing was the realization that I had no idea where to turn for information. The fall of TV means that in a situation like that, there isn't any "tune to your local TV station" type broadcast

Get a DTV antenna for your TV and you'll get your free local broadcasts.

> I imagine if nuclear armageddon ever happens, it'll be similar

In that case, I think any of us would be lucky to get a warning at all.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#107
post #39

Unfortunate that the title got cut off: "Six Amazon workers killed after tornadoes reduce warehouse near St. Louis to rubble" But the bigger story here is that despite multiple warnings of dangerous weather, the workers at this warehouse still ended up having to choose between risking their life or being fired/written up for refusing to come in. They didn't feel like they had the power to say "No, I won't work becaus…

The article doesn’t support what you are saying. Do you have evidence to support these theories? What happened is terrible and is part of a much broader natural disaster. Trying to turn this into some shallow Amazon shaming is unfortunate.

several people on this thread are asking for "evidence" for claims. but here's the more interesting question: why is an amazon warehouse open when a tornado warning was in effect? was it to shelter people? and if not, why was it open?

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#108
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They didn't feel like they had the power to say You definitely don't know this. Please don't speak to the mindset of people that just died when you have no idea.

14 people died at an Amazon facility when they were asked to work during Hurricane Ida, why does this theory seem so far-fetched to you? https://gizmodo.com/new-york-amazon-employees-had-to-work-du...

You wrote:

> 14 people died at an Amazon facility

This is false. From the article that you linked:

> Even as floods that have killed at least 14 swept through the city, warehouses remained open.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#109
post #39

Unfortunate that the title got cut off: "Six Amazon workers killed after tornadoes reduce warehouse near St. Louis to rubble" But the bigger story here is that despite multiple warnings of dangerous weather, the workers at this warehouse still ended up having to choose between risking their life or being fired/written up for refusing to come in. They didn't feel like they had the power to say "No, I won't work becaus…

The article doesn’t support what you are saying. Do you have evidence to support these theories? What happened is terrible and is part of a much broader natural disaster. Trying to turn this into some shallow Amazon shaming is unfortunate.

Do you have evidence to support these theories?

Sadly, the preponderance of evidence -- specifically the timing of the numerous severe tornado warnings in the region, starting as early as 4 hours earlier -- and the company's unfortunate track record during other severe weather events (such as Hurricane Ida) -- does suggest there is a significant chance Amazon was too slow to warn its employees of the impending danger as this particular calamity was unfolding.

More investigation will be needed of course -- but the initial indications do appear to be quite disturbing.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#110

I slept through three tornado sirens last night. It was pretty wild. The first one, I thought it was a test. (We have tests every month on the 1st.) But it wasn't until a few minutes in that I realized it was for real. Then apparently I just... went to sleep? That wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made. It went off a couple more times. One strange thing was the realization that I had no idea where to turn for in…

One day, fully alert and sober at something like 5 PM with no excuses, during a thunderstorm, I heard tornado sirens go off. I thought to myself, "sheesh they are only supposed to run tests at noon once a month, and not during sto- oh"

That is also my response to fire alarms so sensitive that they'll start to chirp when I can't even recognize the smell of a neighbor 50+ ft away smoking outside. It'd be really nice if no one smoked and if these alarms reserved the shrill noises for real emergencies and user initiated tests only.
Post reply on HN