Tornado hits Oklahoma City; injuries reported

Source: AP

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A broad tornado has blown through the Oklahoma City metropolitan area at the start of evening rush hour, damaging homes and injuring a number of people on the city’s northwestern side.

A second storm was poised Tuesday evening southwest of the city.

Emergency workers say a number of people were injured at Piedmont, a small community 20 miles northwest of downtown Oklahoma City. Spokeswoman Lara O’Leary of the region’s Emergency Medical Service Authority said ambulances were sent to the scene.

The tornado that hit Piedmont was on the ground for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon, giving forecasters plenty of time to warn residents. Interstate 40 was closed west of the city as the storm crossed the roadway near suburban El Reno.

Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/5572930-418/tornado-hits-oklahoma-city-injuries-reported.html

How is it in Tulsa?

and cleaning out the closet from the protective gear.
Godspeed to the rest of the Okies. I hope you all make it through. That was one scary hour of my life. My dogs were really frightened.

It was a little odd, watching the footage of the damage in Joplin, and contrasting it with the damage from Moore, (South of OKC, you probably know) after the big ground pounder from a few years ago. The one then was an F5, winds about 300 mph. Going through the damage, you couldn't see the streets. The storm picked up steel beams from a brick schoolhouse across the street (late at night) and used them as a scythe on the homes around it. (Sister's family had one in what was left of their living room).

When I watched the footage from Joplin streets were still recognizable, cars were bunched up, not so many concrete building leveled, so I thought this one would probably have a slightly lower rating. Sure enough, F4. Odd, the things we learn.

Glad you are ok.

Comparing the damage was intense. In the pictures I saw from Joplin there were cars bunched together, homes leveled (with at least one on fire where it had stood. There may well be areas that were much worse.

Moore had whole blocks where there was nothing sticking up except some broken water pipes and trees. Few homes sitting burning 'cause there was no fuel (wood) left to burn, just concrete and dirt. As far as you could see, which was clear across whole housing additions, cars weren't bunched, they were torn out of garages and rolled through homes by the winds. Whole lawns were missing, just bare dirt, remnants of foundations. Tornado shelter doors were ripped off and gone. They found pictures and other objects over 130 miles away. I don't think thee loss of life was as great, but Oklahoma City has put resources into education, warning, and tracking that other cities don't, and that makes a huge difference.

Makes one think about having a shelter in the home that will withstand 300+ mph winds. They built (some with taxpayer money, which I thought was a great investment) a lot of safe rooms after that, cellars, etc., but not nearly enough. Then again, who says one will be home when it hits? We were visiting with our therapy dogs at a hospital and they herded us into tunnels. Damn good place to be, had it come our direction. They don't build like they used to, and I don't mean just the basic structure. Basements are nearly non-existent in new homes, trailer parks don't build community shelters. Even if they did, it would be prohibitively expensive to build to withstand such wind with fairly low odds of ever really encountering that whole force.

Since the 70's, (and I bet the method is true of other midwestern cities) they built hundreds of thousands of homes on concrete slabs, no cellars or other protection. Whole generations rode storms out successfully in the bathroom\bathtub with a mattress draped over them so people got complacent, forgetting these big ones used to happen every few years. I haven't seen any data to tell me that they are actually more frequent or violent, though there is a huge difference in the press, which research tells us induces people to "perceive" they are more frequent or violent. People save thousands of dollars, millions in total, and statistically are quite likely to never be hit by this, but those "safe" places are useful for a variety of other things.

Seems to me, as a country, we have just lost the whole concept of return on investment for the things that are really important.

This year has become one of the most deadly on record. Hate to think what Hurricane season is going to bring.

Almost EVERY business and school in OKC closed early this afternoon. The Governor sent all state employees home in the middle of the afternoon. Graduations were rescheduled or cancelled. Traffic was crazy going home at 4pm, and after the storm passed there was almost no one on the streets or highways. Very unusual.

There's a lot of widespread damage. Piedmont, NW of OKC, got hit very badly. They are now searching for a three-year-old boy who is missing. They're now searching a lake for the child and other missing people (heartbreaking). A 15-month-old baby boy was so badly injured that they couldn't wait for MediFlight to airlift him, they took him by car to hospital. Many, many homes completely destroyed, nothing left but slabs. Someone took shelter at their house, and when they came up afterwards, there was a horse in their swimming pool. Lots of animals died or are missing.

I've lived here my entire life, and the weather just keeps getting worse. Luckily we have the best weather people in the world here, and if you pay attention, you will be safe. Your property, however, may not.

That's actually a very light death toll, considering how monstrous these tornadoes had been. The really big one passed about 10 miles or so from our house.

Here's one amazing and funny report. A man, who after coming out to inspect damage on his roof, discovered a horse swimming in his pool. He doesn't own any horses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVW8GlXmfJo

The horse looks calm, as if nothing happened: :)

:kick:

And he's not hurt...unreal.