Tornado Update

I just wanted to put a little note on the blog to let everyone know that we're doing fine after Monday's tornado outbreak here in our city.  Ryan had been TDY but was able to fly in early that afternoon.  We tracked the weather into the early evening, as we had been warned about this several days in advance, and we live in a particularly vulnerable part of the city.  At about 5pm we saw a part of the system coming in from Newcastle, OK that was growing pretty angry.  The sirens blared, and the forecasters were warning that it had potential to begin circulating.  At about 5:15pm it did indeed begin circulating right over our house and dumping some quarter sized hail.  We were about two seconds away from jumping into our shelter, but the system was moving so quickly that it passed over us before we had the chance to get in.  In hind sight we probably should have already been in there, but it's a steel box approximately 3 ft by 5 ft, most likely filled with spiders and who knows who else, and it takes a lot for me to want to get down in there with my husband and two small children. 

I've never seen anything like the clouds I saw that evening (we're obviously not Oklahomans).  When that system came over our house, the clouds began moving in all different directions, and they were almost exploding from the sky, one after one.  I told Ryan it almost looked like volcanic ash exploding from a volcano in every direction. 

We did not have any damage to our property.  There were a few homes in our neighborhood that sustained roof damage, and there were several downed fences, all pretty minor events when compared to other parts of the city.  Just 15 minutes after the system passed, I fired up the grill and went on with cooking dinner.  On the other side of the interstate, just a few miles from our home, softball sized hail fell and caused significant damage to a lot of homes and cars.  Ryan and I drove over there last night, and saw many rooftops that now look like swiss cheese.   We also saw many cars with windsheilds and window shattered.

We're feeling extremely lucky this week.  Several insurance companies have set up mobile claims centers in shopping center parking lots, and I've seen lots and lots of cars pulling up to those trailors.  I'm so thankful we're not dealing with that right now.