May 31st - Multiple Tornadoes

I came home from work on my lunch break around 7pm. Brad had the news on and was listening to the storm warnings. It was about that time that they mentioned they had rotations from a hook echo in union city, near mustang. We nervously watched together as these storms formed. I was on my way out the door when they announced that a tornado was on the ground outside El Reno, OK which is just outside Oklahoma City, OK. I drove back to work and listened to all the broadcasters mention how terrible this storm was going to be. I text Brad when I arrived to work and asked what he had been hearing. It was at this time I heard on the radio that they were evacuating the airport into an underground tunnel. The airport is about a mile from out house. He immediately got up, put on a jacket, and jumped in the car. He ran to fuel real quick in case we had to flee the city in a hurry. He then text me and told me he was parked in the parking lot at home depot. With tornadoes dropping out of the sky, he felt more comfortable being right there with me. We watched the coverage nervously. When a tornado touched down in Mustang, OK the sirens started sounding at Home Depot, and we began procedures to shut down. It was at this time that Brad called me and asked me if I could leave. I clocked out, and hoped in the car, and we headed south on the back roads. As we drove, traffic was terrible. People were honking, and yelling out their windows. They were driving in oncoming traffic lanes to keep traffic moving, and the police were directing people to keep moving at every major intersection. We were moving steadily, as Brad recalled back streets and neighborhoods to cut through. We called to his Mom and told her we were on our way, and would probably make it just in time. Unexpectedly the storms had shifted and they were heading a little southeast, following us the whole way to Norman. At one point, we heard the broadcaster on the radio announced that two specific intersecting roads needed to immediately evacuate as a strong rotation and funnel was forming. As I watched out the window, I noticed the road signs. We were exactly where they called out. I looked up at the clouds to see the inner most clouds rapidly spinning, and the outer clouds crashing together almost violently. I told Brad, "We need to get the heck out of here, we are in the worst place." We were flying over speed bumps in neighborhoods, and it was starting to get dark. That's when tornadoes on the ground are so dangerous, because the chopper and weathermen cant see where it is or where it's going. The only can see the readings of the skies activity. We saw power flashes, and we high tailed it into Norman. We arrived at Brad's mom's just as the Hail started. The power flickered on and off. We gathered flashlights and the battery powered radio, and prepared for the worst.

We were there in the storms for about 45 minutes. The wind howled, the hail fell, and the rain flooded. The weather was insane. Several tornadoes on the ground at once. How terrifying it was to see not only my husband, who tells me not to worry unless he does, scared, but also his mother who has lived here her whole life, and never get's too worked up over the storm systems that pass through this area.

We live in tornado alley. At times, I feel we will face these natural disasters, although, I can't agree they are natural at all. There is nothing natural about the calamities they cause. But, we live to tell about another day. Following the tornadoes, they then issued a flood warning for our area, and said to stay off the roads, that standing water was posing as a transportation issue.  But we had to get back to Home Depot, to get my purse, and pick up the truck. So we headed out into the darkness, feeling our way back into the city. It took us nearly an hour to do the normal 20 minute drive. Every canal, neighborhood, and side street was flooded with water. We could see cars in the medians just sitting, waiting out the storm.

The multi-vortex tornado that started in El Reno, OK

El Reno's tornado will go down in history as the widest known.

Maps of the three tornadoes that effected our area in one night. The middle one just missed our house, and caused minor damages to our home.,

Semi's overturned where the tornado crossed the highway on I40

Weather Channels storm chasing car that was caught in the El Reno, OK tornado. This tornado would actually take the lives of 3 professional storm chasers- due to the unexpected turn of the tornadoes path. You know a storm is unpredictable when it takes the lives of three professionals tracking it.

When we arrived home, we noticed our neighborhood dark, and flooded. We opened our door to find our downstairs flooded. Water had come in under the threshold of our front door, and in through the baseboards on the front side on our townhouse. It then (probably because of pressure) blew the seals on all the windows and water poured in through our windows as well. We couldn't really see what damage was done on the exterior, so we decided to wait till morning. Because it was already midnight, we agreed to call it a night, and headed upstairs for bed. Because it was hot, we left our window and door open for the evening to have some airflow. The whole night we listened to the storm, the rain, and sirens all night long.

water coming through the carpet where we stepped

peices of the fence completely gone

hard to see but this shows water pooled in the window sill, most had dripped down the walls

we have several pictures of leaks in the attic, a few of which sprung a leak into our master bedroom

in the daylight, we could see the majority of the fence is gone, and the neighbors outdoor belongings tossed about.

Power poles down

siding ripped off, and parts of the roof tops. Shingles everywhere.

Inside, all our picture frames are crooked, and our doors no longer shut

Screen door ripped off

Neighbors shed down

More poles down

We called out to our friends Dustin and Kerrie Hodge, where our fifth wheel is parked, and asked if we could plug-in to their power source, so that we could keep at least some of our fridge items cold. Brad got off work and we drove 20 minutes to find a resteraunt open, which was PACKED. I then went to work (which also had no power- ran off generators), and Brad drove out to the RV to get it cooled off and opened up. We stayed there three days until miraculously the power came back on! The smell in the condo was horrible. Because of the heat, lack of air flow, soggy wet walls, and carpet, the condo smelled like sitting water. It took the AC movement of air, and my wax burners to cover the smell for the time being, until insurance comes out.

Then, after making the claim, insurance tells us they don't have a policy that covers flood insurance unless you live in a flood plain. We do not live in a flood plain so it's not an option. But, because the area was issued a flood warning, the surface water is considered flood waters, to which they do not cover. On top of everything else, this is just what we need!

The same day the power came on, I was at work, and noticed part way through my shift that my truck was gone. I asked Brad if he came and picked it up, and he immediately was concerned. SOMEONE STOLE THE DUALLY FROM THE HOME DEPOT PARKING LOT! We just couldn't win. It obviously was not our week. We filed an insurance claim, and a police report. Neither were hopeful that the truck would turn up. It's probably in Mexico, or in pieces. Thank you Mister Thief, I hope you need it more than I do. Thank goodness we hadn't taken the RV to a campground to hookup to amenities, and had left it parked at the Hodges. Who knows how we would have moved it!  Also the day after, I was paying bills and noticed my credit limit was increased. To inquire about this, I went to my statement, to see that I had several charges that I did not make. I immediately called the bank, reported fraud, did some investigating, called some companies, and retrieved two names and addresses of individuals posing as me and using my card, but who knows, they might have had their identity stolen...We just can't get ahead! So, we live another day, to tell of another adventure.