Well, I truly think we now have had the last winter storm for this year. At least I hope so! When parts of Oklahoma have the lowest low temperatures recorded in history, at 21 and 31 degrees BELOW ZERO, and two storms back to back, I certainly hope they are over. There was just enough of a 24 hour break between where some people were brave enough to get out on slick, ice and snow covered streets to grab more supplies before the next round came through.
Now we start preparing for what could either be a rough spring with many outbreaks of tornadoes or a very quiet one with no tornadoes but lots of wildfires. Yes, I did say wildfires because even with all the snow we received the weather forecasters say we are still experiencing a drought.
With as much of the country being affected by our recent weather, not only in our country but world wide, my concern is for what has happened to all our crops. I am expecting to see food and gas prices going through the roof sky high! Just one more reason to be sure to replenish those pantries as soon as possible.
I know that once it warms up a little bit more, probably in the next week or so, it will be time to start getting those early garden plants into the ground. It will also be time to do any repairs on my storm shelter so that it is ready to go once our spring tornado season is upon us. I am not going to be waiting until the last minute.
Showing posts with label tornadoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tornadoes. Show all posts
Friday, February 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Massive Damage In Oklahoma
Today, we were hit with numerous tornadoes across Oklahoma. I have only seen and heard about the damage on the television, I haven't ventured out yet to see first hand the damage that has been done in my city.
What is surprising is that they are saying there was quite a bit of damage done here in Norman, but I haven't seen any in the few blocks close to my house in the Central north part of the city. Yet, about 2 miles away, where the National Weather Service building is located, they are saying that they lost many windows. I am not sure if it was from an actual tornado or just the 100+ mph straight line winds or outflow winds that were created which caused the damage. I'll have to venture out tomorrow and see what I can see.
So far, most of the damage I've seen on the television has been south and west of us down off I-35 and Hwy 9 and also north and east of us out towards Lake Thunderbird.
Luckily I have an underground shelter, which my neighbor and I went to as the sirens began going off. It was interesting in that I was watching television and they were talking about a storm forming down to the south and west of us and then almost instantaneously they stated a tornado warning issued for Norman and the next thing our sirens were going off. It was a good thing that I had already gotten my animals into their carriers and taken down to the shelter because once the sirens went off, it was just minutes to get us humans down into the shelter and safety.
We listened to the weather radio, that I had taken down with us, as the wind and rain pelted the door of the shelter. I kept listening for the "sound of a train" that everyone says you usually hear as a tornado roars through, but I didn't hear any sounds like that. But of course with the continual sound of the siren along with the wind driven rain it made it difficult to hear anything that might have sounded like a train going through.
Finally there was silence, no more sirens, no more rain and no more wind. I listened to the radio to see if they would announce that we were now in the clear but they were too busy announcing warnings for other areas. We continued to stay in the shelter for awhile longer and then I ventured out and went and checked the television to see if I could determine if we were now in the clear. It appeared that we were so I had my neighbor come on up out of the shelter and I started making us some ice tea. Before I could even get the tea made, our sirens went off again. We looked at the television and weren't able to tell if they had another sighting or if perhaps that siren was the "all clear" siren. We decided not to take any chances after having seen some of the video of the recent destruction in our area. So back down to the shelter we went again. This time we were down there about 30 minutes before I once again ventured out to check the situation. The weatherman was saying that all of Central Oklahoma was now clear and the storms were moving East into Arkansas traveling at about 60 mph and would be totally out of the state soon.
This was the first storm of the season and they are saying there were somewhere between 25-35 tornadoes that touched down in many communities in Oklahoma. This is more than we normally have in an entire tornado season per year. There are massive power outages, with the big metal towers down as well as telephone poles which have been snapped off at their bases. First estimates are that most of the twisters were between F3 & F4 strengths as they uprooted trees, flipped large tractor trailer rigs, destroyed homes and snuffed out five lives.
We are due to have more storms come Wednesday and Thursday. Please say some prayers as we begin the massive cleanup ahead of us and those who lost loved ones are able to lay them to rest and have some time to grieve.
What is surprising is that they are saying there was quite a bit of damage done here in Norman, but I haven't seen any in the few blocks close to my house in the Central north part of the city. Yet, about 2 miles away, where the National Weather Service building is located, they are saying that they lost many windows. I am not sure if it was from an actual tornado or just the 100+ mph straight line winds or outflow winds that were created which caused the damage. I'll have to venture out tomorrow and see what I can see.
So far, most of the damage I've seen on the television has been south and west of us down off I-35 and Hwy 9 and also north and east of us out towards Lake Thunderbird.
Luckily I have an underground shelter, which my neighbor and I went to as the sirens began going off. It was interesting in that I was watching television and they were talking about a storm forming down to the south and west of us and then almost instantaneously they stated a tornado warning issued for Norman and the next thing our sirens were going off. It was a good thing that I had already gotten my animals into their carriers and taken down to the shelter because once the sirens went off, it was just minutes to get us humans down into the shelter and safety.
We listened to the weather radio, that I had taken down with us, as the wind and rain pelted the door of the shelter. I kept listening for the "sound of a train" that everyone says you usually hear as a tornado roars through, but I didn't hear any sounds like that. But of course with the continual sound of the siren along with the wind driven rain it made it difficult to hear anything that might have sounded like a train going through.
Finally there was silence, no more sirens, no more rain and no more wind. I listened to the radio to see if they would announce that we were now in the clear but they were too busy announcing warnings for other areas. We continued to stay in the shelter for awhile longer and then I ventured out and went and checked the television to see if I could determine if we were now in the clear. It appeared that we were so I had my neighbor come on up out of the shelter and I started making us some ice tea. Before I could even get the tea made, our sirens went off again. We looked at the television and weren't able to tell if they had another sighting or if perhaps that siren was the "all clear" siren. We decided not to take any chances after having seen some of the video of the recent destruction in our area. So back down to the shelter we went again. This time we were down there about 30 minutes before I once again ventured out to check the situation. The weatherman was saying that all of Central Oklahoma was now clear and the storms were moving East into Arkansas traveling at about 60 mph and would be totally out of the state soon.
This was the first storm of the season and they are saying there were somewhere between 25-35 tornadoes that touched down in many communities in Oklahoma. This is more than we normally have in an entire tornado season per year. There are massive power outages, with the big metal towers down as well as telephone poles which have been snapped off at their bases. First estimates are that most of the twisters were between F3 & F4 strengths as they uprooted trees, flipped large tractor trailer rigs, destroyed homes and snuffed out five lives.
We are due to have more storms come Wednesday and Thursday. Please say some prayers as we begin the massive cleanup ahead of us and those who lost loved ones are able to lay them to rest and have some time to grieve.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Are You Prepared?
Why does it take either a natural disaster or a man-made disaster to refresh my mind on how lax we are in taking steps on a daily basis to protect our families and our every day existence of our communities? With the recent earthquake in Haiti once again I am reminded how very important it is to have emergency plans in place to care for your family and neighbors as well as your community in general. I feel that everyone needs to try and take responsibility for themselves and not expect any type of government assistance to be coming to your aid. As we have seen in past catastrophes, it can be days and weeks before assistance arrives, so it is necessary that you are able to care for yourself.
With tornado season right around the corner here in Oklahoma, NOW is the time to get our emergency plans in order. We have been fortunate, our city has been spared for all the years that I have lived here. We’ve had them nearby and zooming up in the sky over our heads but not touching down in our city….. knock on wood! Over the years we’ve gone to the shelter, waited out the warnings and in some cases been without electricity for several hours but we’ve not had the destruction that devastated a great portion of many cities in Oklahoma with the F-5 tornado that touched down May 30, 1999.
Get your shelter in order.
I personally have an underground shelter. This is the one thing when I purchased my home that HAD to be on my list of amenities as a MUST HAVE.
With the frequency and severity of the tornadoes that come through Oklahoma, I would suggest that if you do not have a shelter or an above ground safe room, that you look into putting one in place right away. If you just can’t afford one, clean out a closet in the center of the house where you can take shelter. If you have too many people in your family to all squeeze into a central closet, go to a central hallway, away from windows and be sure to have plenty of blankets and pillows near by that you can use to cover yourself with. Another good item to have handy are helmets, like bike or sports helmets for your children especially.
Put Important Papers Together
I have a plastic tote in which I have copies of my insurance policies for my home and my automobile, along with my car title, my birth certificate, a copy of my last will and testament, medical directive and a camera. When I know that we are into bad weather warnings, I immediately take this tote down into the shelter. Otherwise, everything is already all together incase someone needs these documents.
Setting up your supplies
Down in my shelter, I have a small plastic rolling cart in which I can keep canned goods, a can opener, matches, candles and hygiene products along with pet food for my critters. In a large plastic trash barrel are sheets, pillows and extra clothing. I even have some basic medical supplies stashed away in the trash can. On the table are the radios, lamps and flashlights.
Presently there are plastic chairs and a table down there, along with a weather radio and a regular radio. I used to have a little portable TV down there which is no longer useable thanks to the new digital TV receiving. There is electricity down there, but if we were to lose electrical power, I would be able to rely on both flashlights as well as oil burning lamps.
Keep your purse nearby
I keep my purse close by during tornado season. That contains all my current necessary items such as car and house keys, debit cards and driver’s license. If I took medications, I would be slipping those into my purse also so they would be ready to go to the shelter with me.
Critter Care
I have three cats and a parrot whose safety I am responsible for. When I know that we have bad weather in the area, they all go into their carrying cages. The cats have individual carriers, for the simple fact that I don’t want them fighting with one another if they get frightened. They go down into the shelter early. Luckily they seem to know the drill, having been through this over the years. A couple of them will actually go lay inside their carriers when I bring them into the house, as if to say “okay, I’m ready when you are!” Now the parrot is a different story, he doesn’t like his small cage and I do need to look at getting him a larger one this year.
Shelter Updates
This year, I want to do some major renovations down in my shelter. Instead of plastic chairs to sit on, I want to build benches with storage underneath the padded seats. In this way, bedding and clothing items could be stored under the benches. With them being padded, one could actually sleep on them if necessary.
The entire area under the stairwell, I would like to build in shelf units for storing food and other supplies. That way I would have more on hand for a longer period of time or at least would be able to share with and assist more people if need be.
One thing that my family needs to do is agree upon a way to contact each other and meet up with one another if we are unable to communicate by phone. We also need to advise other family members who live in near by states of what our emergency plans are and how to go about locating us if something happened.
When there is widespread devastation such as happened with the F-5 tornado, Hurricane’s Katrina and Ike, the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, and earthquakes such as in Mexico and most recently now in Haiti, it becomes apparent that individuals need to prepare for their own safety and well being. It can take time for the government or other countries to bring aid to you. It is imperative that you have shelter, clean water, food and clothing. Some basic medical supplies as well as tools would also be helpful to have.
I would like to know how you have made preparations to protect your family?
With tornado season right around the corner here in Oklahoma, NOW is the time to get our emergency plans in order. We have been fortunate, our city has been spared for all the years that I have lived here. We’ve had them nearby and zooming up in the sky over our heads but not touching down in our city….. knock on wood! Over the years we’ve gone to the shelter, waited out the warnings and in some cases been without electricity for several hours but we’ve not had the destruction that devastated a great portion of many cities in Oklahoma with the F-5 tornado that touched down May 30, 1999.
Get your shelter in order.
I personally have an underground shelter. This is the one thing when I purchased my home that HAD to be on my list of amenities as a MUST HAVE.
With the frequency and severity of the tornadoes that come through Oklahoma, I would suggest that if you do not have a shelter or an above ground safe room, that you look into putting one in place right away. If you just can’t afford one, clean out a closet in the center of the house where you can take shelter. If you have too many people in your family to all squeeze into a central closet, go to a central hallway, away from windows and be sure to have plenty of blankets and pillows near by that you can use to cover yourself with. Another good item to have handy are helmets, like bike or sports helmets for your children especially.
Put Important Papers Together
I have a plastic tote in which I have copies of my insurance policies for my home and my automobile, along with my car title, my birth certificate, a copy of my last will and testament, medical directive and a camera. When I know that we are into bad weather warnings, I immediately take this tote down into the shelter. Otherwise, everything is already all together incase someone needs these documents.
Setting up your supplies
Down in my shelter, I have a small plastic rolling cart in which I can keep canned goods, a can opener, matches, candles and hygiene products along with pet food for my critters. In a large plastic trash barrel are sheets, pillows and extra clothing. I even have some basic medical supplies stashed away in the trash can. On the table are the radios, lamps and flashlights.
Presently there are plastic chairs and a table down there, along with a weather radio and a regular radio. I used to have a little portable TV down there which is no longer useable thanks to the new digital TV receiving. There is electricity down there, but if we were to lose electrical power, I would be able to rely on both flashlights as well as oil burning lamps.
Keep your purse nearby
I keep my purse close by during tornado season. That contains all my current necessary items such as car and house keys, debit cards and driver’s license. If I took medications, I would be slipping those into my purse also so they would be ready to go to the shelter with me.
Critter Care
I have three cats and a parrot whose safety I am responsible for. When I know that we have bad weather in the area, they all go into their carrying cages. The cats have individual carriers, for the simple fact that I don’t want them fighting with one another if they get frightened. They go down into the shelter early. Luckily they seem to know the drill, having been through this over the years. A couple of them will actually go lay inside their carriers when I bring them into the house, as if to say “okay, I’m ready when you are!” Now the parrot is a different story, he doesn’t like his small cage and I do need to look at getting him a larger one this year.
Shelter Updates
This year, I want to do some major renovations down in my shelter. Instead of plastic chairs to sit on, I want to build benches with storage underneath the padded seats. In this way, bedding and clothing items could be stored under the benches. With them being padded, one could actually sleep on them if necessary.
The entire area under the stairwell, I would like to build in shelf units for storing food and other supplies. That way I would have more on hand for a longer period of time or at least would be able to share with and assist more people if need be.
One thing that my family needs to do is agree upon a way to contact each other and meet up with one another if we are unable to communicate by phone. We also need to advise other family members who live in near by states of what our emergency plans are and how to go about locating us if something happened.
When there is widespread devastation such as happened with the F-5 tornado, Hurricane’s Katrina and Ike, the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, and earthquakes such as in Mexico and most recently now in Haiti, it becomes apparent that individuals need to prepare for their own safety and well being. It can take time for the government or other countries to bring aid to you. It is imperative that you have shelter, clean water, food and clothing. Some basic medical supplies as well as tools would also be helpful to have.
I would like to know how you have made preparations to protect your family?
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