Tornado!!

We were hit by a F4 tornado Monday evening! Knowing that the day was a perfect set up for severe weather, I kept an eye on the news throughout the afternoon. Included in my afternoon chores were: filling oil lamps, checking flashlight batteries, moving outdoor objects into secure places, taking down wind chimes and bird feeders and storing water- just in case… As I lined both hallways with pillows and blankets, I explained to Susan that if I asked her to get into the hall, she needed to move quickly. Throughout the day, Susan and I had talked about tornados as we watched the news. Susan’s hope that a nap would take the bad forecast away, did not work.

The local weather forecasters were asking folks to be where they needed to be by five that evening; so when Susan’s nurse called to schedule her visit, I advised her not to show up if the weather was not stable. When Jeff arrived home before three-thirty, we ate an early dinner so that everyone was fed- just in case... After dinner, Jeff decided to take a short nap. Why not? It surely seemed as though I had the latest predictions all under control. I watched as severe storms brewed in northern Oklahoma and far to the west of us. Lucky us, so far no storms seemed to be churning in our part of the state, not yet. I felt rather sure of my interpretations of things after spending the past thirteen years living in the middle of tornado alley.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the weatherman reported that the National Weather Service just issued a tornado warning for Oklahoma County! I heard the sirens sounding outside and reminded Susan that we may need to go into the halls to take shelter soon. Kiara and I touched base over cell phones and laughingly reminded one another of our love.The storm seemed to be on the west side of the city. Since we are on the east side, I figured we had some time. After all, I didn’t want Susan getting bored with hunkering down too soon and leaving in the middle of the real thing; so I waited. Peeping my head into the bedroom, I told Jeff that we were presently under a warning and that I would let him know when it looked bad. I wandered outside to check things out and found myself dancing freely under the brilliantly still perfect sky.


Gliding back into the house where Susan nervously sat watching the forecast, the sound of large hail began hitting the house and bouncing around in the yard. Alarms ringing loudly, Jeff and I went from back porch to front checking the skies. Probably it was the precarious look of the western sky that caused me to finally take Susan to the hall and set her on the pillows and blankets there. I covered her with loads of fluff and asked her to wait until I looked at the sky again. If you are screaming at your computer right now, I hear you, really I do! Yes, we knew we should be hunkered down already, but perhaps we don’t take them as seriously as we should because this is not an altogether rare thing here in tornado alley; or perhaps we are just- well, not very smart.

Either way, Jeff and I stood photographing this dark front as it moved over the trees heading our way. Finally, I think I said something about how idiotic we were and we better head inside quick! Jeff made what turned out to be a brilliant move as he put his key in the door and secured the deadbolt! I began re-covering confused Susan, who lay there yelling for more pillows. Soon, she had all the pillows, leaving Jeff and I with one for each of our heads.

In the hall, everything went dark and silent for about ten seconds. Then, a loud suction noise began gurgling through our pipes. Jeff insisted that we move into the small bathroom right beside us. Susan had no idea what was going on anymore, so we dragged her (with her pillows and blankets) and laid her across the bathroom floor. I felt the walls vibrating as I crouched between the gurgling toilet bowl and my confused mother-in-law! “Karen, duck lower!” I heard my husband command. “I love you, Jeff.” I returned the sentiments. All the while Susan was grumbling about her aching legs and her uncomfortable position. Having quite enough, I impatiently blurted out something like, “Susan, we are trying to save your life here! You are just going to have to keep quiet and be patient!”

We listened as things quieted down, all but Susan that is. It was dark and silent and perhaps it was over, we thought out loud. Suddenly in the background I could hear Mary (my sister in Alabama) on the other end of the cell phone yelling, “No Kare, there are more tornados! We are watching it live right now! Don’t go out there!” Oh yeah, (her voice reminded me)I had called her sometime before we took shelter! I could hear what she was saying, but we didn’t listen. Instead, we did what seemed logical in the midst of ill-logic. We went out!

Cracking the bathroom door open just enough to squeeze through, Jeff exited first and I followed. Around the dark hall corner we crept cautiously. All at once Jeff caught a glimpse out the back window and screamed that we needed to get back in the bathroom because more were coming! It wasn’t until later that he told me that what he saw was streaks of debris flying by the back windows so quickly that everything was unidentifiable!

We again crouched cozily together in the small dark bathroom as the noises returned. Suction- gurgle- deep humming- vibration noises- and Susan’s low-pitched whines! Everything seemed surreal. Finally things calmed down again. This time we waited in the dark, wishing that we could hear a weather report. Mary’s voice was now silenced by the loss of reception sometime during the last whirlwind of activity. Crouched there, we three seemed so disconnected from the rest of the world. There was no way to know what to do next or what was going on out there!

P.S.I will write part two of our tornado story very soon. But as you know, because I am writing this, we are alive and reminded of God’s power and love!