Thursday, May 23, 2013

Missed it by a mile...

*****DISCLAIMER
First, I would like to say that I am one of the more fortunate people as I observe the people around me; my family, friends, and community. I am in no way complaining. I do feel that by typing out this post it will be therapeutic for me. Being so close to the vicinity of the direct path of the tornado on May 20th has impacted my life even though I am beyond blessed to have no physical losses because of the storm.
I know and have seen the people who are not so fortunate. This post is not meant to diminish what they are going through. This may not even be what they need to read right now. That's why it's on my personal blog. Like Oprah Winfrey says, "Everyone has a story". This is mine. People don't have to read this.
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For those who are still with me reading this, thank you for your time.

"Missed it by a mile" In our culture this saying is used to communicate that you were a long ways off from something. However, in our part of the country, "tornado alley" being missed by a mile from a powerful tornado is too close for comfort.

I found myself and most of my family in this situation, yet again on Monday afternoon, but my story doesn't begin here.

I was born in Oklahoma. However, from ages 5-11 I lived just outside of Houston, TX only a 30 minute drive from Galveston. That is where I received my knowledge about Hurricane weather and survival. My mother's entire extended family has always lived in Oklahoma and we would come back and visit. When there was a threat of a hurricane we flew into OKC  from Houston to get out of the path. I also recall a time when we were just visiting Oklahoma and there was a strong storm coming through, so we went to my great aunt's house about a mile from my grandmother's house because she had a storm shelter below ground.

August 1994, age 11 is when my family returned to Oklahoma. Becoming acclimated to the ever changing weather was challenging and took some trouble shooting. Coming from Houston, I had not owned a winter coat since I was four years old and I was adjusted to a constant warm and humid climate. In Houston I knew when it was raining outside because it looked like buckets of water were being dumped from the sky and there was nothing severe about it unless it lasted for days or weeks. Here in Oklahoma I would look outside and couldn't even tell it was raining at times. Fall, brought on allergies I didn't even know I had. Winter, we froze to death (or so we thought).

Then, springtime rolls around and I began noticing that the television stations would occasionally interrupt programming to give reports about severe weather effecting the area. At first this seemed to be bothersome, especially to a 12 year old. Eventually, I began to understand the need for this and became well versed in the differences between a thunderstorm warning, thunderstorm watch,  tornado warning, and  tornado watch. I knew which part of the map we were on and could easily determine if it was headed our way or not.

I don't recall hardly any times where I had to take shelter because of a tornado between 1995-1998.There may have been small tornadoes that went through towns that I had never even heard of. Coming from Houston, I was not well versed in the small towns of our state (that came later in college). I knew Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Lawton that was about it.

May 3, 1999 

I was 16 years old, a sophomore at Westmoore High School. I don't remember the school part of the day, I guess it just started like a normal day. After school I went to work. I had a part time job filing for a doctor's office near Southwest Medical Center. In the break room they had the television on and they were reporting on severe weather coming into the area. At first I was just expecting a thunderstorm on the way home, even though it was sunny outside. Usually I would get to leave at 5:30, but that day I think they tried to let us leave as soon as possible. If I remember correctly, I got to leave at 5pm. I remember walking outside when I left and it just felt weird. Minutes ago it had been sunny, but it appeared dark in the distance and the air was warm.

I had to drive home about 5 miles south, we lived less than a mile from my school. I noticed people on the road were in a bigger hurry than usual trying to get home before the storm and I saw a ton of cars at my school. I get home and my mom had my twin mattress in the bathroom and her and my dad were standing there deciding what to do. Clearly, all three of us were not going to fit. This is when my dad decides we need to leave, NOW! He had been watching the forecast all afternoon. I mentioned there were a lot of cars at the school and maybe we could take shelter there (later that proved to be the wrong thing to do). Dad said no that's the direction the storm is headed, we need to go south. As it turned out people were at the school for scholarship night where they gave awards and announced the scholarships received by the graduating seniors.

My sister was attending college at UCO and commuting that year and she was with her boyfriend (who is now her husband) driving back from class that day. I'm not sure what they usually did, but that day they drove home to his house, which would prove to be fortunate later.

So, my parents and I got in the car, took 4th street to I-35 and headed south. Traffic was not terrible, but there were people out trying to get away as well. I'm sure we were listening to weather reports on an am radio station during our get away. As we drove south of Norman we were confident that we were out of harm's way, but now what to do? There is not much south of that area (or there wasn't then). My mom suggests going into Purcell and eating at a pizza place that she heard about from a lady at work. So that's what we did. We had to drive across their entire main street, but we found the pizza place near the end of the main road.

We walked in and the place was packed especially for a Monday night. We had to stand and wait for a table to be cleaned. Very quickly my dad begins talking to people and come to find out lots of people there came from the same area as us to get away from the storm. At this point I had no idea of how big the tornado actually was and the path it had taken. My dad was comparing with other people what they heard on the radio and they were piecing together what had happened. We ate our pizza and had been there long enough that we decided it was safe to return home. My parents probably were not sure what to expect and at the same time they were trying to prepare me. "We may not have a home to go to," they said. Which I think I didn't react because the reality had not set in at all.

We had heard on the radio that the very powerful tornado had hit Westmoore high school and had crossed I-35 and was headed toward the Tinker area. On the way home we only knew the high school had been hit and we were still not sure what that meant for us and our home. We made it back to our house and it was still standing and quickly discovered there was no electricity. With several extended family members near our area my mom immediately gets on the phone to call people to let them know we are okay. This was a time of no cell phones, but we did have a land line and one phone in the house that had one of those swirly cords. That was the only way we were able to make phone calls and get in contact with people.

Come to find out, the north side of our neighborhood had been hit by the tornado, which made our neighborhood impossible to leave or come back into. My brother lived a few blocks from us at the time and he tried to return home maybe an hour after we had gotten in and they wouldn't let him in. I think we got in touch with my sister and she was with her boyfriend and my parent's advised her that she probably shouldn't try to come back to our neighborhood just yet, so she stayed with him for a few days.

Obviously, my school was canceled the next day, but for some reason I went to work a day or two later. I took the same route I always did, north on Western Avenue right past my high school. To leave the neighborhood I had to show my ID and state my destination. They let me through, I don't know why...I wish they hadn't.

This was years before social media had hit the scene. The only pictures I had seen were from the news and media and I think they had not been able to get this close to our area yet. When I drove by the high school I saw the damage. It looked fresh and untouched. Cars were mangled and scattered across the parking lot. I could not even recognize my high school. The apartment complex across the street was leveled. It was all so unreal.

Our high school was allowed to meet at Oklahoma City Community College for the remainder of the year, although it was not required. You basically got the the grade you had on May 3rd. You had the opportunity to improve your grade, but your grade could not be hurt.

Reality was slowly setting in. The following Sunday was Mother's Day and one side of our church auditorium was filled with items that had been donated. We grieved with and comforted people who had lost everything.

By now I understood how powerful this tornado was and just how close it had been to leveling our house. We were among the fortunate. 

Fall 2001

I was a freshman in college at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU). How did this big city girl end up  at a small town college?  I had my ACT score sent to a few universities in the state and when SWOSU came to my high school to recruit football players they pulled me out of class as well because they had my score. They talked to me about scholarship money that was available based off of my score and my grades. So I said okay, and that's where I went to college.

In Oklahoma, during Freshmen orientation they throw in somewhere the procedures for severe weather in the information packet and meetings. They told us what county we were in (that is in important to know during severe weather reporting) and explained where to take shelter in the buildings on campus. Nothing new for me, same old, same old. I came from the high school that was hit by the F5 tornado. Even so, I was still surprised when we had to take shelter in the downstairs basement in the dorm across from the girls' hall. I wasn't surprised that we had to take shelter, but it was October! That is not the prime season for severe tornado weather in Oklahoma. Anyway, down we went and we had to explain and indoctrinate the people from out of state that had no idea what was going on. Once the explanation was over we laughed, played cards, and had a good time. I think the out of state people still thought we were nuts because they were still genuinely shaken by what was going on and we were sitting around acting goofy.

When it was over we learned that there was a medium sized tornado that ripped through the town of Cordell, OK just about 30 miles from SWOSU.

2003

I remember this incident happening, but the details are very lacking (like the exact date). The tornado was powerful, but it only lasted for a few miles not impacting very many people.

One day when I was home from college (it was probably mid May when classes were finished) I was watching television in the afternoon and a severe weather threat had popped up. I was watching Gary England on News 9 and he was describing a strong tornado that was near our area. In fact it was in a similar path as the May 3rd tornado. I was the only one home because my dad went to pick up my mom at work because her car was in the shop or something. I was doubting my knowledge and skills I had about fleeing the scene by driving away in the car (like which direction to go). So, as the tornado got closer I turned the television volume up, cleaned out our hall closet, and hopped in. I could hear Gary England, then I heard what sounded like a freight train, as if it were just outside our door, then the electricity cuts out and Gary England's voice disappears. I sat in there until I could no longer hear the tornado. I emerged from the closet to find my parents just getting home. We went outside and down the street there was a giant telephone pole that had been hit and had landed on top  of a house at the end of their block. Once again, it had been another close call.

 

May 20, 2013

Time has certainly passed. I've lived in Oklahoma long enough to learn to not let the weather surprise you. Be prepared for any type of weather no matter the season. In the spring be ready to take cover from storms. In the work field some employers let their employees leave early. Being a teacher I cannot leave until the students leave. I've left early while other teachers stayed. I've stayed while other teachers left early. It's all according to how close you live and how far other people live. I've lived the furthest and I've also lived the closest.

 It was Monday, May 20th. The night before we had a hail storm and a tornado that had built up in the Norman area and went north and devastated the towns of Little Axe and Shawnee. Not shaken at all, this was all typical Oklahoma spring time weather. I even told my husband that if we had a storm shelter I still would not have gotten inside it last night (Sunday).

In the afternoon sometime after 1pm Blake was taking a nap and I had turned on the television only to see Mike Morgan on news channel 4 reporting on developing storms. The storm was developing in the Newcastle area. Now this had my attention. Any storm that develops out in that direction has my full attention because I know all too well the potential it has to make a similar path like the May 3rd tornado. He kept talking about how powerful it was becoming and heading towards sw 149th and the Moore area. I'm a mile and half south from the street he was referencing, but I looked outside and I could see the dark ominous clouds developing.

 I became a nervous mommy. I've been through tornadoes before. I've ran from them and hid in my closet, but now I have a baby. Oh yes, the baby! Blake was waking up from his nap and usually he settles himself back down, but I couldn't try to make him put himself back to sleep when a storm was brewing outside! I went and got him, held him and stayed glued to the television. I decided if things were going to go down I needed to be wearing my child. I've heard a story about a storm tearing a child from their mother's arms. That was one of the many reasons I decided to invest in a carrier/baby wearing device that I would definitely use while taking cover during a storm. Now with my baby strapped to me I decided to go get the closet ready. I brought a bunch of disposable diapers in there with me (we usually do cloth diapers at home, but I was expecting the worst here). I put on shoes and socks and cleared a space to hide.

After all these efforts, I go back to the television and a storm chaser from the news channel is describing his location. "I'm at Indian Hills Road behind Andy's Alligator park and Hey Day, if you're familiar with that area, and off to the west is the tornado making it's way to Moore." Now you have a true Okie shaking in her boots. The storm chaser from the news channel is watching the storm come in from the intersection that is just south of her neighborhood!

Then, Mike Morgan declares that this is just like May 3rd and a closet or bathtub isn't going to cut it. You need to get below ground or leave immediately! "Gee... I wish we had a storm shelter", was what I was thinking at that moment in time. The night before I was not interested in a storm shelter (buying one, much less using one) what so ever, but right now I sure had a change of heart. I looked outside the front door and could hear rumbling in the distance. This wasn't about me anymore and I had a child to think about. If it were just me I would have stuck it out in the closet. Reluctantly, I grabbed my stash of supplies that I had brought into the closet and threw them into the car. I put Blake in the car seat, opened the garage door and high tailed it out of the neighborhood.

I was heading south on Santa Fe Avenue. It looked like some other fellow Okies waited until the last minute just like myself. Some of them felt like they had driven far enough south because they had pulled over onto the side in the grass and had gotten out to watch the tornado. I had the radio on the am station and was listening. I made it to Tecumseh Road in Norman and decided I could make my way back. I drove over to Western Avenue and took Franklin Road back to Santa Fe Avenue.

I pulled into our driveway and discover we are without electricity when the door doesn't go up. Our neighborhood had the tiniest particles of debris from the tornado all over the place. It looked like someone need to get a wet rag and just wipe the entire place down. Tiny blades of grass, dirt, and little pieces of insulation caked on everything. Two of my neighbors were standing in their driveway listening to a hand held radio. I went inside, fed Blake, and managed to get a Facebook post out letting everyone know I was okay. Not long after that there was no use trying to use your phone on the 4G network.

I went outside with my neighbors and we listened together to the radio. As we heard about the devastation that had happened we were all beginning to wonder about our families and friends that we knew who were closer to the areas they were talking about.

My sister's house is less than a mile from SW 149th and my parents are a mile north from it. I had now idea what to think.  All during this time I was getting texts from several people checking in on me. Which this was not a luxury we had on May 3rd. My husband was at work at Tinker trying to keep tabs on me. My neighbors kept me company until my husband got home. I had been cooking dinner in the crock pot that afternoon and it was still warm, so we took it outside, opened our garage door and set up a card table. We offered food to several of our neighbors even though only one person took us up on it. It's difficult to just sit there and do nothing when you are aware of the devastation that is not that far from you, but you are too close to it without electricity and can't really do anything to help immediately.

By evening I learned that my parents and sister were safe. My sister had minor damage to her house on the outside, nothing that cannot be fixed.

"Missed it by a mile." My family has been less than a mile from a tornado a few times now. We have been so fortunate. I'm not a religious expert. I want to say God is watching over us (our family), but He watches over everyone, even those who were directly effected and not as fortunate. All I can say is praise God we are safe! He must have plans for us to fulfill. I pray I am ready to do what he has for us. I cannot explain why one family is safe, but not another. I just count my blessings and hold my baby a little longer and a little tighter.

Also, I am not a wonderful writer. If you want to read from people who are more talented in that area I suggest you check out these links:

The first one is written by a Westmoore High School Alum who was in my sister's class and I was in his brother's class. The other ones are what I have come across on Facebook and I liked them.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/21/opinion/gunter-okies-tornadoes/index.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-rowe-walters/oklahoma-tornado-this-will-probably-come-to-define-us_b_3311478.html

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/05/oklahoma-teacher-heroes/65461/