Tornado Hits OKC

[Edith K. Thurmond]

Tornados formed very quickly and without much warning. We have had enough 'adrenaline rush' for one afternoon.

www.koco.com/index.html (http://www.koco.com/index.html)

[Jim Franklin]

It brings back vivid memories of the times I was hunkered down waiting for an "all clear" signal when tornadoes were threatening.

[Jen Blackburn]

i saw that and thought of you! i'm glad to see you posting to know you're alright.

praying you'll stay safe the rest of the storm!

[Thomas Cook]

Tornados formed very quickly and without much warning. We have had enough 'adrenaline rush' for one afternoon.

www.koco.com/index.html (http://www.koco.com/index.html)

Is SNU ok? Was there much Damage?Glad you are ok.

[Edith K. Thurmond]

SNU is fine; the damage was north of it.

Wow, what an incredible afternoon! The sirens were on for almost 45 minutes and lots of damage in 3 major areas on the northwest side of the city. SNU is on the NW side but the damage started a few miles north of there. Some streets were flooded from the intense rain that accompanied. Several people have been transported to hospitals with injuries. The news has been continual with the storm damage, etc. but now some stations are running more regular programming. Lots of people without power but the power company is doing a wonderful job of restoring it.

A friend did have the funnel go right over her as she sat under an overpass on the Kilpatrick turnpike that goes across the north side of town. She was okay but her husband was behind her in his truck and saw it go over her and thought surely she was dead. By the time he got to her, he was flooding tears and he is not prone to doing that. At least she knows that Trey loves her! :)

Lots of power lines down everywhere because of the 122-250 mph wind and many cars and trucks overturned; several homes destroyed with others damaged.

One family from Naznet said they were fine but a bit shaken.

More tornados are predicted to come through tonight. These this afternoon formed very quickly and without much warning at all.

Taking cover is a weird feeling but I have a helmet and a safety emergency kit ready. Tornadoes give an added dimension to the term 'adrenaline rush."

Thanking God for safety today,

[Barbara Moulton]

SNU is fine; the damage was north of it.

Wow, what an incredible afternoon! The sirens were on for almost 45 minutes and lots of damage in 3 major areas on the northwest side of the city. SNU is on the NW side but the damage started a few miles north of there. Some streets were flooded from the intense rain that accompanied. Several people have been transported to hospitals with injuries. The news has been continual with the storm damage, etc. but now some stations are running more regular programming. Lots of people without power but the power company is doing a wonderful job of restoring it.

A friend did have the funnel go right over her as she sat under an overpass on the Kilpatrick turnpike that goes across the north side of town. She was okay but her husband was behind her in his truck and saw it go over her and thought surely she was dead. By the time he got to her, he was flooding tears and he is not prone to doing that. At least she knows that Trey loves her! :)

Lots of power lines down everywhere because of the 122-250 mph wind and many cars and trucks overturned; several homes destroyed with others damaged.

One family from Naznet said they were fine but a bit shaken.

More tornados are predicted to come through tonight. These this afternoon formed very quickly and without much warning at all.

Taking cover is a weird feeling but I have a helmet and a safety emergency kit ready. Tornadoes give an added dimension to the term 'adrenaline rush."

Thanking God for safety today,

One of the things that I learned from folks on the Internet was what it is like to live in areas where tornados from. We get them only rarely up here.

I didn't know about sirens and area shelters before I started hearing the stories from people in places like Oklahoma.

Glad you are ok.

[Betty Bolerjack]

SNU is fine; the damage was north of it.

Wow, what an incredible afternoon! The sirens were on for almost 45 minutes and lots of damage in 3 major areas on the northwest side of the city. SNU is on the NW side but the damage started a few miles north of there.

Actually, Edie, it first touched down to the west of SNU with NO warning! As I watched the reports, they kept finding damage further south. Some people from our SS class live very close to what they were showing (39th Expressway & Sara Rd.) so I called to check on them. The tornado touched down in their back yard! Their fence is destroyed as is their grandchildren's swingset. It took the back wheels off their grandson's wagon. The kids live with them. The 6-yr-old granddaughter was at home with a teen from the church who was babysitting. They were both very shaken. The teen said it sounded like a freight train. They had no warning and were not sheltered! Our friend was just a short distance away on his way home when it hit. I don't think he saw it. I heard one person on TV say it was rain-wrapped. I understand those are nearly impossible to see. Thank God, these friends along with other church members who also live in the area are safe.

One family from Naznet said they were fine but a bit shaken.

I guess that would be us since you called to check on us! Thanks so much for your concern! We had gone out to Edmond to take Mark's car to the shop, only to find out there really wasn't anything wrong. We took different routes home since he had a couple of stops to make. I had just passed through a major intersection near home when they came on the radio and announced that a funnel had just been sighted at that intersection! I started scanning the sky!! I didn't see anything and was puzzled that they were saying power lines were being hit yet I had seen nothing. I finally started hearing the sirens. Then, they came on with the official announcement by the National Weather Service in Norman. They said it was headed north and I was going northwest so I just kept going. I had Tamara with me. When we got home, I sent her into the house quickly. Mom had the TV on and said it was west of us. I thought at first they were talking about two tornadoes. It took a while to piece things together, but I finally decided that station had their facts wrong because they kept saying the wrong intersections yet there was only the one tornado!

More tornados are predicted to come through tonight. These this afternoon formed very quickly and without much warning at all.

Most people I've heard say NO warning. (If we were even under a watch, I was unaware of it.) This is highly unusual! We knew there was potential for major storms this afternoon and it was raining really hard just prior to the tornado forming. One guy said the power went off, then his ears popped when the air pressure changed. That was the only warning they had. Next thing he knew, he was watching the tornado pass by in front of the house. Another person said the sirens went off after the tornado hit. Everyone was calm because they didn't know anything was happening until it was over! This one really had the potential to cause much more physical injury than it did because of the lack of warning. I guess it just didn't show up on radar. Fortunately, no one was killed. You can find some video accounts here (http://www.newsok.com/video/117689).

Thanking God for safety today,

Amen and amen!!!

[Betty Bolerjack]

Hey! Now, we're on Fox news!

[Marsha Gupton]

Edith, thanks for posting. So glad you and others from OKC are safe.

Marsha

[Joel Merrill]

A friend did have the funnel go right over her as she sat under an overpass on the Kilpatrick turnpike that goes across the north side of town. She was okay but her husband was behind her in his truck and saw it go over her and thought surely she was dead. By the time he got to her, he was flooding tears and he is not prone to doing that. At least she knows that Trey loves her! :)


We have been getting a lot of tonado safety training a work this month. Contrary to what they used to think, highway overpasses are extremely dangerous places to take shelter in a tonado. Studies have shown that the wind speed actually increases as it goes under an overpass.

Opening the windows of your house on the down wind side also does not help and puts you in danger while you are doing it.

Taking refuge in the corner of you basement nearest te tornado is also an urban legion.

Naznetters need to know this. Joel

[Edith K. Thurmond]

Edith, thanks for posting. So glad you and others from OKC are safe.

Marsha

Thanks, Marsha and the others! My THANK button on NN disappears when it is clicked.

A really sad thing happened tonight while I was gone to Jamba Juice. Something got into the wreath and the bird nest is on the floor of the porch, torn into pieces and no aqua blue robin eggs anywhere. The wreath is still in place though with some of the nest still in it. This made me rather sad; perhaps because of all the turmoil of the day. It was so exciting to find that nest there this morning; now we will have no baby robins. :basic04

[Edith K. Thurmond]

We have been getting a lot of tonado safety training a work this month. Contrary to what they used to think, highway overpasses are extremely dangerous places to take shelter in a tonado. Studies have shown that the wind speed actually increases as it goes under an overpass.

Joel

Joel, people in this state have been told that and in the May 3, 1999 tornado, several people, who were doing just that, were sucked out of their places of "safety" and tossed to their deaths. I was living in TX at the time but read and heard those accounts. I consider Tracey very lucky today. She was under the underpass because it was raining so hard and had NO idea a tornado was anywhere around - not until it passed over her.

Thanks for giving some safety education for everyone. If a tornado can hit London, UK, one can certainly hit in many places in the U.S.

Again, thanks!

[Marsha Lynn]

We have been getting a lot of tonado safety training a work this month. Contrary to what they used to think, highway overpasses are extremely dangerous places to take shelter in a tonado. Studies have shown that the wind speed actually increases as it goes under an overpass.

Opening the windows of your house on the down wind side also does not help and puts you in danger while you are doing it.

Taking refuge in the corner of you basement nearest te tornado is also an urban legion.

Naznetters need to know this. Joel

OK, now I know what NOT to do. Did they tell you the CORRECT response when a tornado knocks at your door? Are we back to lying in ditches in the pouring rain? (I've always thought that in the face of a real life rather than hypothetical tornado threat, I would have to see the funnel actually bearing down on me slinging car-size debris around before I abandoned my nice dry car to go lie in the mud in a soggy ditch exposed to the elements.)

:fav01

Marsha
(who was 7 years old on Palm Sunday, 1965 and heading home from Grandma's house - we just kept driving north, listening to reports of damage where we had just been and observing signs of damage where we arrived while travelling with a patch of stars directly overhead)

[Joel Merrill]

OK, now I know what NOT to do. Did they tell you the CORRECT response when a tornado knocks at your door? Are we back to lying in ditches in the pouring rain? (I've always thought that in the face of a real life rather than hypothetical tornado threat, I would have to see the funnel actually bearing down on me slinging car-size debris around before I abandoned my nice dry car to go lie in the mud in a soggy ditch exposed to the elements.)

:fav01

Marsha
(who was 7 years old on Palm Sunday, 1965 and heading home from Grandma's house - we just kept driving north, listening to reports of damage where we had just been and observing signs of damage where we arrived while travelling with a patch of stars directly overhead)

There is lots of tornado safety information on the Internet. I just typed in "Tornado Safety" on google and this was the first one that came up.
http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/safety.htm
Click on that picture of a car mangled up against a tree.

Joel

[Judy Hamilton]

We have been getting a lot of tonado safety training a work this month. Contrary to what they used to think, highway overpasses are extremely dangerous places to take shelter in a tonado. Studies have shown that the wind speed actually increases as it goes under an overpass.

Opening the windows of your house on the down wind side also does not help and puts you in danger while you are doing it.

Taking refuge in the corner of you basement nearest te tornado is also an urban legion.

Naznetters need to know this. Joel

Forget the open the windows routine Joel

and JUST TAKE COVER

a basment is great with blankets or a mattress over your body,
If there are tornadoes
in the area, have everyone put on good shoes, as after the fact there is always lots of debris and glass. Basement are great. The next choice is an inclosed closet in the centermost part of the house. Bathrooms are also good.
It matters not where in the basement you seek shelter, just get there.
The suction created by the wind force bascically moves objects and people around where they do not want to be. Try to be able to hold to somthing solid, plumbing, a commode

the underpass of a highway is known to be a dangerous place to seek shelter, so you are absolutely correct. Get out of your car and find the lowest level of the ground, a shallow ditch, if possible and flatten your body against the ground, covering your head with something if possible.
Do not ever do as storm trackers and try to out run a tornado with your auto.

Be aware that these tornatic cells are extremely unpredictable and can move very quickly, so standing in the doorway, or in the yard admiring the
awesome swirling cloud formations can be deadly foolish.

Other Okies and Texans and Kansas and Missiouri residents
are welcomed to chime in and offer advice

Judy

[Joel Merrill]

a basment is great with blankets or a mattress over your body,
If there are tornadoes
in the area, have everyone put on good shoes, as after the fact there is always lots of debris and glass. Basement are great.

Judy

Yep, and a flashlight, a battery operated radio and a cell phone are also good things to have ready in case you need to take cover quick. We don't have as many tornadoes as you do but we have more than enough. I've been in a few of them including one I was outside in, in 1973. I don't take chances with them. We even have a weather radio in our house.

Another thing I should mention is that it is not a good idea to go site seeing after a tornado. The one I was outside in did a lot of damage in our town but no one was hurt by the tornado. However 2 people were electrocuted by downed wires while they were driving around looking at the damage.

Joel