Tornado, the say the worst ever?

[tri again]

Hard the believe the news but hope everyone is ok.

Friends daughter was in the Norman OK tornado a few eyars ago.
No phones, no cell service but we were able to hear she was ok through some kinda of email connection.
I think it was backup from the library or something.

[atc007]

I tried posting this last night. I NEVER watch news. But saw this last night. square miles absolutely leveled and gone. I have no clue how ANYONE in that survived. They were digging out a school when I saw the clip. I hope Flying W is ok,and anyone else..

[hoosierlogger]

Truly sad. Alot of kids killed in the 2 schools that were a direct hit of the storm. Think about the family's and the kids that were victims every time you look at yours today and every day.

[Bryan Raffa]

Hope everyone from here is all right!!!! down right brutal!!!

[Flyingw]

FlyingW checking in all secure. Having witnessed a few tornados since arriving here in 1988 and personally going through one in 2010 I can tell you this is by far the worst. The tornado at its worst was 2 miles wide and bulldozed everything in its path. The Plaza Towers Elementary school didn't stand a chance. As of last night, there were 40 children unaccounted for and emergency services knew they were buried under the rubble in the school but they were waiting for darnkess to recover the children from the school so the news helicopters wouldn't be broadcasting those efforts on live TV. As of right now, the death toll is holding at 51 20 of which are children they had already recovered from the school. If you guys feel the need, please make donations to the American Red Cross. The Red Cross fed me and all my neighbors for weeks following the May 10th 2010 tornado. You can donate to the Red Cross by going to redcross.org, dialing 1-800-REDCROSS or texting REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. The Red Cross will be providing meals and services for 10s of thousands of people in coming weeks and probably months. Thanks you everyone for checking on me. This is certainly something I don't wish on anybody.

[kb0nly]

I wouldn't wish this upon even my worst enemies, its brutal. I got hit July 1st 2011 here, it was a mere EF2, but it did a lot of damage. I had 20k worth of damage to my house and property, not including the vehicles. Had a tarp roof for a month and was on generator a few days before we had any power, then a couple more days til the power was stable. It took a half year for the contractors around here to even catch up with repairing roofs and making houses weathertight, i couldn't imagine the damage down there looking at the footage on the weather channel this morning..

Reminds me of the devastation in Joplin... I see they compared the route of the 1999 Moore Tornado to the 2013, it started out roughly the same then turned, thats rough taking a hit to the same area twice in less than 20 years. Before 2011 here the town hasn't had a Tornado hit since 1918.

[fabiodriven]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't understand why more structures aren't built under ground in tornado alley. There's an underground house 3 or 4 towns over from me. They mow their roof. I know sometimes my way of thinking is unorthodox, but I'd rather live in an underground house than have to worry about being killed and having my house blown away.

[roostin atc]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't understand why more structures aren't built under ground in tornado alley. There's an underground house 3 or 4 tow ns over from me. They mow their roof. I know sometimes my way of thinking is unorthodox, but I'd rather live in an underground house than have to worry about being killed and having my house blown away.
I've always wondered the same thing. They put houses on stilts on the coast, Why not go underground In tornado alley.

[rjs89ia]

have a friend that was 8 miles from where it happened, building houses underground would certainly take away most of the destruction but i believe it would be just as easy having storm shelters on every block especially in that part of the city. 3 tornadoes in the same place in the past 15 years just ridiculous.

[kb0nly]

If i lived in an area with a track record like that i would have a shelter at least, ideally a hardened basement. But it seems like most houses down there are built on grade on a mere slab of concrete. Why?

At least when the storm hit here i could get underground.

[tri again]

Dad is consistently insensed that houses on the west coast have no basements,
and the midwest T alley, does not escape his wrath either.

He's used to the northeast where the frost level can go down 10 feet
so it is necessary.
West coast is also 2x6 walls but east coast is 2x4 and 2 story.

I buried a 1,000 gallon water tank on the hill but not sure what to use it for.
either water storage or septic for a future house but other than being real spooky to be in, seems pertty secure and cost me almost nothing...and I'd only have to duck in there for a few minutes, right?

My next house will have cables running from the foundation, up and over the roof somehow but not sure that would help with those kinds of winds. Main thought was for earthquake flex.

Heck, even burying a station wagon with a sunroof would be better than nothing.

Heaven help all affected.

[MyMistress86R]

If the news footage is even close to half of how bad this truly is, I am truly in awe of this situation. Thankfully, I am a certified power production (generator) craftsman with the Ohio Air National Guard and have already let my base know that I am ready at a moment's notice to ship out and help these people recover as soon as and for as long as is necessary. God bless Oklahoma and speedy recovery!

[atc007]

Great to hear you're A ok Flying W. It was great to see Trace Atkins win the Apprentice Sunday. Nice check for the Red Cross. As luck would have it,we howed out my Brothers stuff last week. 32 pairs of nice Corduroys. And a lot of other stuff. We figure we easily donated $800 of clothing,at their prices. And it's out of our way. Theirs some hurtin folks down there. Help wherever anyone can,that's all we can ask.

[tri again]

I should really keepa me mouth shut for fear of getting on some *&^% list but someone has to say it since we're all thinking it.
How and why we send BILLIONS to other countries at the drop of a hat and usually overnight or at least so fast it would make yer head spin.

but the weather channel is having freakin' BAKE sales and begging for donations to fund the fix of this new storm, Joplin from LAST year and KAtrina still ain't over.

I mean, anything we can do we certainly should, but I'd really rather just go there
and help so I know it's doing some good and not lining the pockets of whomever is 'administrating' the funds from an office 1,000 miles away with donuts and coffee
and catered lunches and meetings and more meetings about what to do till all the money is gone and warehouses of supplies sit untouched.

Aren't those katrina trailers still sitting a couple states away rusting into the ground?

sorry for my attitude but at least I didn't get woke up by a tornado.

and as of a couple years ago, anyone taking donations for sick kids or other
benefit to society, were LEGALLY ALLOWED to KEEP 95% of all funds accumulated
for administrative costs. (California, for sure, at least) BIG LEGAL scams after the 89 quake.
NINETYFIVE percent!

[atc007]

95% huh, Wow,Guess I'm doing something wrong lol.. I know one member from here that is on the ground there. He was shipped out Monday night. I watched NBC last night. Their attitude is something else down there. Toby Keith was on. It's just " home" to them,and they will not leave. Knowing,it WILL happen again ! I understand. And to LOOK at that swath and the death toll is now Down to 21 or something like that. They obviously have some darn good drills in place. I would have guessed 1000 or more from the copter videos.

[tri again]

oops, I edited to specifically quote Calif law
after the 89 quake.

[kb0nly]

Its crazy down there from what i am hearing, and i can understand it...

I know a RV dealer up here that took his entire staff of employees plus some friends and relatives and loaded up RV's with food, water, fuel, and took off for Moore. He said he had a standing offer from a dealer down there to purchase all the stock he could bring down, sounds like the RV dealers down there are selling out on units to those who lost their homes and are now getting some emergency funding in place to buy temporary housing. The insurance companies are moving fast to, thats awesome!

When we got hit in 2011 i had a State Farm agent here the next day with a $5k check to tide us over and make temporary repairs and buy what we need to live until the adjuster could come out a week later, they had their disaster team here but it still took a while to get to the top of the list. I cant say enough for how well they handled it, some others here in town were insured with other companies and they waited weeks to get any money out of them. A month after i had a crew here putting on a new roof and siding to get the house back together on the outside, i had checks to cover the damage about two weeks after. Some other people took 3-4 months to even get a check to start.