Oklahoma Tornado

Glad to hear you and your family are alright. The devastation is incredible, at least 51 dead, 7 being children...

Glad your family made it through OK, it looks like many did not. The damage there is unbelievable.

After yesterday's Tornado we discussed buying a shelter as we really have no place to go. Then this happens.

I just feel awful for all the parents of the children.

Ron --
Glad your family came thru the weather OK. These kind of powerful storms place everything in perspective, especially how fragile we humans really are.

Thanks everyone.

Yes we truly are small in the big scheme. Yet as humans and Americans we are resilient!

Onward!!!

Here is the Tornado track from our local news station. My house is on the corner of highway 37 and 4. Just look at all the homes in the path of that thing.

Ron

http://kfor.com/2013/05/20/interactive-map-1999-2003-2013-moore-tornadoes/

Damn. I just woke up to the news pictures of the wreckage. The thought of having everything I own instantly demolished is tough to wrap my head around... and those are the ones lucky enough to survive. Thunderstorms forecast for today too. I hope more tornadoes don't develop.

cribbs74 wrote:After yesterday's Tornado we discussed buying a shelter as we really have no place to go. Then this happens.

I just feel awful for all the parents of the children.

I hear ya... we have a crawl space, but I don't know how safe that would be...

cribbs74 wrote:Here is the Tornado track from our local news station. My house is on the corner of highway 37 and 4. Just look at all the homes in the path of that thing.

Ron

http://kfor.com/2013/05/20/interactive-map-1999-2003-2013-moore-tornadoes/

Holy cow Ron! I'm glad your OK.... dang that's close....

Ron
I'm so happy to hear you family is ok. You and your wife must have been scared with you out of town. My prayers go up to the families that didn't fair so well and praise that your family is ok. Dig that hole when you get home though. I was just talking about you yesterday.

duke.johnson wrote:Ron
I'm so happy to hear you family is ok. You and your wife must have been scared with you out of town. My prayers go up to the families that didn't fair so well and praise that your family is ok. Dig that hole when you get home though. I was just talking about you yesterday.

Thanks guys,

Yeah Duke, going to dig that hole ASAP. Problem is I am probably not the only one thinking that way. I bet the backlog for shelter installs is going to be enormous.

Ron

This is an interesting site:
http://www.tornadopaths.org/zipcode/

Glad to hear that you, and yours are good.

I have been listening into some of the radio traffic on the HAM bands from the area, and It sounds really messy.

I feel for all of those involved, but it just rips me up to hear about the parents who have lost their children.

Buy a old shipping container and bury it in your back yard.

(relay from Anchorage, AK)

Ron:

Reading of your ordeal in Oklahoma makes me extremely thankful that we in Washington State only complain about the rain. Know that your friends here a CECF care about you and your family's welfare during this ordeal.

On to Fairbanks then off on our tour through "The Great Land". We'll watch out for the erupting volcanos now active.

SuperDave (SD)

My heart goes out to all those affected by the tragedy in Oklahoma. We sometimes experience things like that, in Kansas: see Greensburg. The loss of life is tragic.

Here is my rant:
During the constant news coverage by the Weather Channel, they referred to the devastation as: "the area was decimated". Over and over, they repeated how the destroyed homes and schools were decimated. I became quite tired of hearing that.

My profession REQUIRED that the person "be able to read, write, and understand the English language". I do, and to a high degree of competency.

Therefore, I wrote an email to the press section of the Weather Channel, and stated that decimate means to reduce by one-tenth, and that something that is "totally decimated" means that 90% of it remains intact. I did this fairly late, last evening, and it seems that in less than an hour after sending my note to them, they no longer used that phrase. I could continue about this, but the emphasis should be on the people affected, and how to help them.

Good for you, Gus. As good as my vocabulary is, I missed the obvious meaning of that word.

Hows it going for ya, how bout an update.

crankbndr wrote:Hows it going for ya, how bout an update.

For me just fine as I was unaffected. I personally know a few people who lost everything. My wife has been driving food to folks and taking animal feed to shelters. There was a lot of misplaced livestock and pets.

My wife says there is litter as far as the eye can see and everthing is coated in mud. It's a real mess, apparently Okies are used to this and really banding together. Huge outpouring of free items from local community and businesses alike. Cleanup should happen quickly and be back to normal soon.

Thanks for asking.

Ron

I hope your return home goes ok.
That's gotta leave an emotional mark.
Wishing the best for you and yours Ron.
Bob

dckrsn wrote:I hope your return home goes ok.
That's gotta leave an emotional mark.
Wishing the best for you and yours Ron.
Bob

Thanks Bob,

I have been home for a day or two the last couple weeks since the tornado. Work has been keeping me hopping. I have driven down the road from my place where it started and spooled up. Pretty powerful things those tornado's

I also drove through Chickasha yesterday. You can see a lot of damage off of I40. I drove past a house that was right off the highway and there was two guys just standing there looking at the home. Probably overwhelmed I imagine.

I went ahead and bit the bullet on a shelter. It's going to cost 4K, but figure that's worth some piece of mind and a small price to pay for the lives of my wife and children.

I went with the outside unit as I heard reports of people being trapped underneath their houses for hours with the garage floor installed ones. I am claustrophobic and not really keen on waiting for heavy equipment to arrive after a disaster.

Ron

Looks like you're getting hit again ... I wish for the best, stay safe.



We have having severe thunderstorms within the last week and a half. Mostly small hail, strong winds and heavy rain. Our tornado season peaks in mid June and the weather man says this could be a rough year.