Wild Night in Oklahoma City

[Madison Granny]

About 4:00 p.m. we had our first of many tornadoes in Oklahoma.  It was in a town just south of where I live.  Way to close for comfort.  We are more than a little shy when it comes to them.  We  were hit in May of 1999 and were almost hit again in May of 2003.  And then about 2:30 a.m. the sirens went off again but this time it was for the area where my son and his family live.  Fortunately it didn't hit them.  I was talking to my husband's sister this morning and she said one touch down near them.  But again no damage to them.  Another sister in law in western Oklahoma had one in a town just south of them.  A really wild night here.  And it is supposed to be as bad or even worse tonight.

[eye2dry]

Yes, I heard about the Oklahoma tornados on the news when we  got up this morning. I am very glad you and your family were spared.

I have a question for you, it may seem silly. But, do people out in Oklahoma, Kansas..you know the tornado alley states...do they have basements.

Whenever I read books on the midwest it seems people have to get in their storm cellars which are apparently located seperate from the house.

My sister lives in Louisiana and of course they cannot have basements d/t they would just fill up with water.

In Ohio we have our share of tornados. In 1985 our family farm was hit, the tornado moved our farmhouse off it's foundation and took out 2 100 year old barns. What a shame, one barn had hand hewn beams and handmade cedar shake roof. Our farmhouse foundation was 4 boulders with large logs placed on them.

I hope you continue to escape the tornados, take care and heed the sirens.

eye2dry

[Crymeariver]

Tornadoes scare me.  Especially the nighttime ones.  A small town just south of us was hit at night and not one siren went off in the town.  Luckily no one was injured.  Glad you and yours are all ok.

[lea78]

I can't imagine what it must be like to live in areas prone to tornadoes, I saw it on the news earlier. Hope everyone is safe

[harlin]

Praying that you are safe from the tornadoes today!

[Bucky]

Granny - thankful that you and yours are safe from the "wild night".

It seems lately, that we are having more and more tornadoes here in the U.S.   

Be prepared, heed any weather alerts, and above all . . . be safe. 

Take care,
Bucky

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

Having sheltered in a cellar from a tornado which touched down about 2 miles away from where we were - about this time last year - I really sympathise with all those potentially affected.

I'd read about them, seen them on the news but really had no idea what they - or their accompanying storms - were like until last April. The UK doesn't have a lot of extreme weather.

I hope you all stay safe.

Take care - scottie 

[lynnmarie219]

Thanks for posting and so glad to hear that you and your families are all safe! Tornados and bad storms are scarey especially at night when you cant see whats going on...I never used to be afraid until several years back with two very traumatic incidents for me.

We got hit by a bad storm in the middle of the night and the place next door to us got hit by lighting and burned down resulting in a childs death...something you will never forget or get over. We have also had near misses by tornados and one actually hit our little town a few years back and then went on to cause major damage and deaths in other towns further on in our area. Another one hit a town about 10 miles south of me and traveled over 20 miles in a straight path to devastate parts of the town I work in including one of our residential homes and some staff homes. Very, very scarey....as there is nothing you can do to stop it....

So as Bucky says...please heed ALL weather alerts and take them seriously....and everyone stay safe! 

[irish]

I live in MN but we are watching the weather here. At least I am as I am the designated storm watcher at our house.

We have had funny skys all day and the temperature was warm and humid. Really thick fog early this morning. Right now it is about 11:30 here and the temp had dropped but it has come back up to 72 now and the wind is blowing hard.

Just heard that a town in Iowa got struck and the hospital was hit plus the lights are all out in the town of 7000. It is going to be a long night. Yes, the weather patterns have changed and the storms have increased greatly in intensity.

Our town had a bad storm back in 1968 that we missed being in by about 6 blocks. It split our lake like the Red Sea in the Bible. Ended up killing 6 people in town and dumping several homes and bodies in the lake. Also the storm made a 50 mile path straight south taking out a lot of homes and farm buildings on its way.

We live in a tornado alley so I am even vigilant. We have had a very active Civil Patrol that has storm watchers on many corners in the country and people manning many radios and radar in town. Our town was really spooked back then and made lots of needed improvements in storm watching. Hope all are safe through the night. God Bless. Irish

[susanep]

Nasty weather. Everyone please stay safe. I am praying for you and your families.

susanep

[Madison Granny]

Last night was a really quite night here is central Oklahoma.  Can't say the same for NW Oklahoma.  They had a wild evening up there.  Haven't heard all of what happened.  One storm went into Kansas right toward Wichita.  I had to go to bed before I found out if it was going to hit Wichita or not.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   /Eye2Dry,  here in Oklahoma most people do not have basement especially in the newer house.  We have a layer of rock not to far down that makes is very expensive to dig a basement.  Since the May 3, 1999 tornado a lot of people have installed shelters just out side their back doors or even in the garage floors.  Some have what they call safe rooms in the homes.  They can use them but because they are built with materials that will with stand tornado they can be safe in there when one comes.  You would think after being hit by the May 3 tornado we would have something.  We just keep putting it off.   My daughter in law is from Kansas near Wichita and she says most people in that part of Kansas have basements.

[jazzlover]

I'm in the Midwest and we live on the bottom floor of a 2 story apt. Not many basements here either.. too rocky. We had a tornado hit our town 6 wks ago. Hubby and I slept thru it. It was two miles from us. Quite a bit of damage.. E2 .. Thank God nothing like Joplin's E5! That was only 75 miles from us.

I'm from S. Texas, where tornadoes are generally rare... though they are beginning to occur just about anywhere these days.

[Bucky]

Just a suggestion for those who live in tornado prone areas or where the weather is constantly changing - you can buy a weather radio for around $35 or cheaper.  I bought one last year and last Saturday morning it went off at 1:05 a.m.  Scared me as I had just gone to bed about 45 minutes earlier.  It did wake me up - you couldn't help but hear it (although, son and hubby slept through it -  ).  I'm a light sleeper and hear everything - but, this was quite loud.

We've had several tornadoes in the area the last few years where I live (Central Illinois). 

We can usually hear three nearby towns sirens when they go off warning of bad weather.  Plus, I'm a cloud watcher - I've been outside watching them on occasion when there's weather "watches".  In fact, I was outside watching the sky when a tornado hit 3-1/2 miles down the road two years ago.

This is just the beginning (although, there has been some all year long lately) of tornado season - so, don't let your guard down just because "this" particular event is over.

Bucky