Terry and Jo, we are sitting here watching the horrible weather in real time in Oklahoma.  How are things with you?  Are you able to report to us?  Are you both O.K.?

Thanks, All.  Once again, we are touched that so many are asking about us and the citizens of Oklahoma as well.

It looks like we dodged the bullet again tonight.  When the storms started coming across, they were showing multiple (7 or 8, I think) vortexes within the storm and it was tracking pretty much along I-40 going East.  I-40 is roughly 5 miles south of us, and with multiple vortexes, we decided to populate the "fraidy-hole."  As it is, the storms diverted south again towards the south OKC/north Moore area and Norman.

We primarily got some heavy rain and small hail, so we are again blessed.

So far, we've heard of a mother and her baby being killed while they tried to weather the storm in their car.  The vortexes were rain-wrapped, so they would have been hard, if not impossible, to see in time.

Down in the Norman area, there are some highways that are literally parking lots from people trying to leave the immediate area of the storms.  That is not a good place to be if another tornado comes through down there.  Flooding is also going on in some areas.  Right now, some of the stores were down in the Lake Thunderbird/Little Axe area again.

Terry

Linda,

"Fraidy-hole" is an endearing term for a storm shelter.  They come in various forms from built in concrete "safe rooms" within one's home to totally underground ones either in the floor of one's garage or outside.  In our case, it is an outside, totally underground one that is about 100 feet from our RV's entry door.  It is large enough for a number of people, but once one gets in there, radio is the only thing that gives one an idea of what the storms are doing.

Jo and I prefer to turn on the TV and watch one of our local TV stations.  The meteorologists here in central Oklahoma are the cream of the crop.  The senior one at Channel 9 has been involved with the evolving technology in radar and tornado forecasting.  When we are watching TV, we have a very good idea of where the track of the storm is "likely" to go.  This time, with the storm having multiple vortexes (funnels) and traveling eastward along I-40, we decided to be a lot more prepared to "bug out."  Since they were also calling for hail, Jo decided that she didn't want to make that 100 foot trip in a hail storm to get to the shelter, so we went over early.  As it was, the storm diverted south away from us.

NEVER EVER park under a bridge or overpass.  When the winds get generated in an area like that, the wind currents through those areas are ferocious.

If one sees that a tornado is close upon them and do not have access to a storm shelter, one is supposed to go to an interior room (without windows) and cover up with a mattress or a lot of blankets.  Bicycle helmets are helpful, along with eye protection and long sleeve shirts and long pants.  If one is out in the open and a tornado approaches, one can find a depression in the earth like a ditch and lie down, trying to get as flat to the ground as possible.  Keep in mind, though, that if one is in a depression, one needs to be alert for sudden flowing water because it is usually raining during these events as well.

Flash flooding in our area can occur, but most people in this area get into trouble because they try to drive through water where they can't tell how deep it is.  Flowing water of only a few inches on a small car can take it off the road.  Once the water reaches the height of the bottom of the car and begins up on the side, it really gets dangerous because the water has a lot more area to affect than just the wheels.

At least in the Oklahoma City area, a number of the radio stations are partnered with the local TV stations and will broadcast the audio of the TV stations.  If one can have a tablet or smart phone with maps on it, one can listen and get an idea of where the storms are and with an idea of one's location, it is pretty easy to know whether one should take shelter somewhere other than one's vehicle.  Oh, never ride one out in an automobile.

Terry