Tornado on April the 13th

Friday the 13th of April a tornado touched down in Norman, OK

I was visiting a family for work, with the weather channel on in the background.  The rain was coming down pretty good, and behind me I heard the weather guy say "if you're not in your tornado shelter, you need to get there" then the lights started to flicker and the tornado sirens sounded. I say to the family all nonchalant like, "well, time to head to the bathroom," while my inner child was scared out of her pants.  I gathered up the family and their creepy black cat and headed to their bathroom, which had a window.  I should have had them go to the hallway.  The wind and rain got fierce, the animal crate from the front yard whipped into the back yard, a tree fell into the back yard and brought the house power line down about 2 feet from the window.  All the while the family members were in the tub, on the edges of the tub, and on the toilet.  I sat in the corner by the door on a case of toilet paper.  When the sirens had been off for about 5 minutes I told the family we were all best friends now, and bid them adieu.  When I got out to the car I noticed the passenger side mirror was torn up, but no other vehicle damage.  On that block I saw tons of branches and downed trees, some roofing in the road, and a bent over stop sign. The drive home was horrible, the rain was up to the sidewalk in some areas, and there were power lines on the road in other areas, so I has to follow traffic and it literally took half an hour to go 5 miles. 

Anthony was at home in bed as he was not feeling well after chemo the previous Wednesday. The tornado sirens woke him up, and he stumble around for a bit as the power was off.  He grabbed Winston and Hemingway and headed to the bathroom to wait out the storm.  He primarily got rain and some wind, no damage. 

The red line below is the approximate path the tornado took.  

Benjamin was at his apartment, far off the map to the middle right.

 This is what I saw after leaving my visit, heading home directly after the tornado.

The water was super high, all the way up to the sidewalk.

(I was driving and could not get a clear shot, but this is a section of roof)

The next day Anthony & I went back to the same area and took these photos.  

Here are some media photos after the tornado.  This first one is the same area I took photos of the downed power lines.  

 This is the Tornado Intercept Vehicle, it drives into the tornado to record video and collect data.  I want to ride in it SO bad!

There was a second storm coming later in the evening, but it ended up missing us.  The next day Anthony & I sorted through our 72 hour kit to make sure we had everything we need.  The hydrogen peroxide expired in 1987, and the socks would not cover half my foot.  We have added clothes that fit, new batteries for flashlights, a weather radio, and cat food.  A little treasure I found in my kit; a note that was written in elementary school from my mother stating she loved me, and if I was not with them they were on their way to get me, that she knew I was scared and it seemed like a long time, but they were on their way.  The letter included a photo of our family.  I put the letter and photo back in my kit.  I'm never too old to know my mother is looking for me.

I've mentioned food storage and 72 hour kits to a few people, and everyone looks at me like I am crazy.  I honest to goodness did not know this preparedness stuff was primarily an LDS thing.  Believe you me, I've been spreading the word.   This is what the water and flashlight sections of the store looked like the day after the storm when we were replenishing our 72 hour kits.

So, that was our first tornado.  We're better prepared for the next ones now.