2/11/09

Tornado season may have arrived?

Photo courtesy of KOCO.COM

The Hubster has always told me we could have a tornado anytime of year in Okieland, if the conditions are right. Well I guess yesterday proved his point, although most people interviewed seemed somewhat surprised it happened quite this early.

The two tornadoes that touched down were in central and southern OK, well away from us. The first one touched down in the Oklahoma City suburbs at 2:30pm and then forged a path on the ground for ten minutes. In it's wake it left a badly damaged shopping area; Chuck-E-Cheese lost a wall, Target lost part of it's roof, and Hobby Lobby sustained some damage after the doors were sucked off.

The worst damage was in the Edmond area, where six homes were totally lost, others were badly damaged and some minor injuries sustained. But the thing that struck me repeatedly, smiling Okies that had lost alot, but were still able to laugh it off and just be grateful they were alive.

Sadly though things were alot worse for the small town of Lone Grove in the south of the state. The second tornado tore through there just after dark and caused much more destruction. The trailer park in town was hit badly and there have been 8 confirmed deaths and 50 injured, with possibly more to follow, as some are still unaccounted for. Until dawn breaks it is hard for the emergency services to really assess the damage, but the funnel was a half-mile wide.

Tornadoes are a fact of life here, the people we saw interviewed perfectly demonstrated the resilient, fighting Okie spirit.

However the idiotic quote of the day, was won hands down by the weatherman on the local 9pm Fox News. And I quote, word for word if you can believe this - "The good news is it's now moving into Eastern Oklahoma, well good news for us in Central Oklahoma, but bad news for them"!! Us Brit's have a word for this man - DICKHEAD!

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this post, Sarah. After seeing the tornados on TV news, I wondered if they had affected you. I kept checking your blog for word.

I hope you are safe.

TR Ryan said...

Just stopping by to make sure you're OK. I have a weird fascination with tornadoes. But I am in Australia today and missed the whole thing!

Kay said...

I've been up to my ears these past couple of days but I just had to stop by to see how you were. I saw the tornadoes and storms that were causing such terrible destruction and wanted to know you were safe.
"Dickhead" is too kind a word for that weatherman.

The Antiques Diva™ said...

Wow... my mom lives in Edmond! I guess I should give her a call soon as Oklahoma wakes up this morning!! I'm assuming "no news is good news"... and that's why I haven't heard from her.

Imagine my surprise though, as I was just browsing your site this morning and thought, "Oh crap, I need to call my mom!!!"

Believe it or not, my parent’s house in Northwest Oklahoma on the family ranch actually blew away in a tornado 14 years ago, the semester I was studying abroad in London. And THEY DIDN'T TELL ME until I returned home to discover there was no home! My mom was in the house during the tornado, was in intensive care for a MONTH but my family made the decision "not to tell me" because I was abroad. They thought they were saving me "worry"! Meanwhile my mom was crippled from the incident. I returned home when the semester was done to discover the wild events which had occurred in my absence!

Your final comment cracked me up, you said it was only a "True Brit" could!

Best,
Toma, aka The Antiques Diva

Mare said...

So glad to see your post. Like the others, when I saw the tornado report on the news, I immediately thought of you. Your last sentence[priceless] caused LOL for me.

Anonymous said...

I just saw the news and had to come and see if you were okay. I'm relieved you are. So sad for the folks in Lone Grove.

That weather guy, was truly a dickhead!

Pam said...

And that is probably why he is on Fox and not the major local networks!!! I totally missed it! My sister lives close-ish to the NW Highway touch-down but had no damage. I have to switch betwee weathermen because they just wear me out with the drama -- show the map and let us deal with it!!!! hugs to you

Sherri said...

Sarah, I am so glad that you are all right!! When I heard the news this morning I got so worried! I feel sorry for those people in the parts of Oklahoma that were affected by that horrible tornado.

Karen said...

Dickhead is the perfect adjective for said weather man. I lived in southern Kansas for a while. I loved the beautiful storms, but don't miss sleeping with the Weather Channel on. Glad you are OK.

Joan said...

Yikes! I am so happy to read that you are safe but it makes me sad when I read or hear about the devastation caused by such violent weather. And I can think of several other choice words to describe that idiot of a weatherman. Geesh!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about the destruction. The weather seems to be wacky everywhere.

Mary (Bookfan) said...

I can't even imagine a funnel that is 1/2 mile wide!!

What an idiot of a weatherman.

Glad you're ok!

Peggy said...

I also saw the tornados on tv...stay safe, i look forward to you voice

Louise said...

Happy Blogaversary, and glad those tornadoes missed you. They CAN happen any time, but they prefer to come when I'm driving through most of the time, so look for a lot in May!

LHA said...

I was watching intently on newsok.com/live and koco.com. Mother-in-law had a close call in NW OKC, but luckily no damage. Some of my former colleagues - a lot of whom live in Edmond - suffered some damage. It's sad to see this, but it could have been worse. People are still missing in Lone Grove, apparently, so hopefully they're found safe and alive.

I wrote this post (http://britsnbobs.blogspot.com/2009/02/id-take-tornadoes-over-new-england.html) the morning of the tornadoes, having no idea what was about to happen that day. I feel I might have to reconsider my preference for tornadoes to New England winters!

Lantaw said...

these tornadoes show how nature can be unforgiving sometimes...

re the weatherman: couldn't agree with you more!

Anonymous said...

Another one who raced to your blog to check you were ok !
Glad all is well with you but heartbreaking for others

I think the Brits have a better word for the weather guy
It starts with w and rhymes with banker ;)

Stay safe

Z

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh Sarah---I've been thinking about you all all day long. Since I didn't know exactly where you live, we were worried. Thanks for posting... I'm so glad you are okay---but feel sorry for all of those people who lost their homes and other things. SCARY!!!!

Take Care...
Glad you are fine.
Hugs,
Betsy

*mary* said...

Wow, that is scary! We had strong winds and tornado watches all the way over here in WV.

That anchorman is an idiot. What compassion!

Its Just Me - Daring to Dream said...

I heard about the OK tornados...I am so glad I moved from the midwest where they are frequent...stay safe!

Anonymous said...

What an idiotic comment from the weatherman! Glad that you are OK. Did you even get any rain?

Unknown said...

Z - yes you are so right!

Kay Kay - NO!!

You're all very sweet worrying about us. FOr future reference we are up in the northwest corner of the state by the panhandle.

George said...

I'm glad to learn that you are okay. It certainly seems as if tornado season is getting off to an early start. I'm glad most Okies have more sense than that weatherman.

Silverback said...

Dickhead indeed. Even in Yorkshire we'd not wish a tornado on Lancashire !

Well maybe not.......

Glad this one wasn't close to you.

Linda Jennings said...

Glad to hear the tornados were not in your area. We had the high winds in KY yesterday and last night. 6+ hours without power. (No power is getting to be old news!)

Daryl said...

Scary stuff tornadoes ... stay safe

Winifred said...

Hi Sarah

So pleased you're OK. Whilst you're mid tornado we're mid snow storms that I didn't see any forecast for.

Love this quote from the news this morning. Note the word AFTER! Talk about stating the bloomin' obvious.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for the North East after a morning of heavy snowfall.

Yes I've come to the conclusion weathermen are wassocks!


Take care!

Janet said...

By all means, wish it our way why don't you? I couldn't agree more with your sentiments, Sarah, that weatherman should have his tongue forcibly removed with a pair of pliers.