About a month ago, I wrote a blog post about Oklahoma tornadoes, and at that time I guess I should’ve knocked on wood.
You see, when I wrote this post, I had only been caught up in a tornado twice in my life. At about 1:45 this morning, that changed. I found myself, my wife, and my kids crouched down in our laundry room, riding out a tornado that hit dangerously close to home.
It had been a normal night for the most part. I was up late working and had the TV on, just to keep an eye on the severe weather that had been buzzing around the state for quite a few hours. Once the high winds hit our area, I started paying a little more attention.
You see, night-time tornadoes, IMO, are the most dangerous. During the day, you can step outside, take a look around at the clouds and get a pretty good idea of what’s going on, but at night you have to rely completely on what the guys on TV are telling you. Thing is, they’re going almost completely by what the radar shows because, big surprise, they don’t have any better vision at night than you and I do.
So, they’re showing radar coverage of the ‘hook’ and how this slow-moving storm is just dumping tons of rain and hail all over the metro. Next thing you know, they’re fully geared up, talking about a ‘touchdown’ (do you know the two types of touchdowns that occur in Oklahoma?)around Danforth & Western. Yep, that’s exactly one mile West of us, and this storm’s moving East. Sounds like trouble right? Yeah, that was enough for us to go get the boys out of bed and make a mad rush for a safe room in the middle of the house.
Long story short, we faired well. This thing skated by about 1/8 mile South of our home, taking down power lines and snapping the poles in half. The boys had a great time & I guess they thought we were playing hide & seek or something. They enjoyed playing with the flashlights & stuff.
Later, we found out that several homes in the Valencia area (just west of our church, and 3 miles from home) got hit pretty hard, but praise God, there were no reported injuries. One house in particular had almost the entire roof ripped off, with Mom & her twin boys inside.
It was quite a site this morning, as I drove around checking on clients & friends and their homes. Several of the main intersections were closed to through traffic as the power company worked to get the lines back up. I couldn’t really get any pictures of the damage to homes, but you can see here one of those utility poles snapped in half.
By the way, I want to applaud those from my church who decided on their own to go over to Valencia this morning and help those residents any way they could, with cleanup and prayer. What a great bunch of people!
So, here we are, a month after my first post, and I now have to increase my number by 50%. Yes, it’s true, I’ve been in that crouching position 3 times in my 36 years.
Here are some of the local news articles on last night’s storm:
About Ryan Hukill
Very Lucky…
Bob Carney's last blog post..Friday Foto for Fun
I am happy to hear you and your family are safe. I hope that your 3x in 36 stays flat- no increases!
Ginger Wilcox's last blog post..Out like a LION
Ryan, how scary! I am glad you, your family and your home were unharmed. I have always thought that I would rather ride out a hurricane than a tornado. Stay safe!
Maggie Dokic
Palmetto Bay Redland Real Estate's last blog post..The Blog That Ate Miami’s Last Post
Bob, Ginger & Maggie, thanks for your comments and your well-wishes. I've been lucky a few times in regard to tornadoes. Guess I better keep praying 🙂 I always enjoy hearing the perspective of others from out of state.
That was ENTIRELY too close to home Ryan! I am happy to hear that your family is safe!
Thanks Renee. It was definitely an interesting night. How the heck is Vtown?