(Cody captured one tornado descending outside of Station #6 on Alameda and 72nd in east Norman.)
May 10th brought some scary weather! At 2 pm, Cody emailed me at school to let me know tornadic weather was projected to be in the Norman area between 4-5 pm. Cody was already out preparing shelters in east Norman. The weathermen were actually right on with this one. A strip of storms traveled nearly 200 miles across central to eastern Oklahoma in Arkansas with somewhere around 30 different tornadoes.
Just before 5 pm, Noah and I were at the Erickson's home for a playdate with Gabby and Lilly. The sirens started going off so we climbed into their storm shelter in the garage. Noah was such a good boy, just very curious as to why we were hiding. After the sirens stopping going off, I decided to head home. (Being an Oklahoman, I'm not real anxious about storms. However, as I pulled into the driveway at our house, the phone call from Cody started making me anxious!) Cody said it was headed straight towards us! The storm would be right over our heads shortly! Trying not to freak out and project fear onto my son, I turned on the tv, sat Noah on the couch with a lollipop and prepped our hidey hole in the linen closet. There is a little nook under the shelves there, perfect for hiding. Grabbing pillows, snacks, diapers, sippy cup of juice, flash lights, my cell phone, the dogs, my son and his construction hat, we all piled into the closet. The cable box blew halfway through our game of hide and seek minus the seek, so I turned on the radio blasting it to hear the news. All I heard was, "The hook echo is right about W. Indian Hills Road." Now, I'm thinking, "Crap! That's us! Cody's at the station. We're alone!" My cell phone reception was out. Wind was gusting and booming outside the house. Noah; however, was happily enjoying peanuts and juice while consoling Addie, our dog, who was scared. He'd say, "Oh baby Addie" and pet her. He had no idea this was something to fear.
Cody immediately went out after the tornado hit giving aid to those who were injured. Cody helped one gentleman who was asleep in his trailer home during the tornado. His trailer home was picked up with him in it and placed in a completely new location. The man survived! Cody pulled a lady from a tree who unfortunately didn't survive. There is so much damage. It is a miracle more people are not dead than the seven who have be reported. Cody was out from 6pm until midnight then back out at 4 am until he got off work at 7 am. He has yet to sleep.
The same storm traveled to Seminole where Cody's parents live. They lost two barn roofs. Maria's brand-new trampoline is all bent and twisted. Several fence posts and trees are down. The iron basketball goal has been yanked from the ground. They have no electricity. But everyone is safe. They were hiding in the cellar. Our neighbors across the street have minor roof damage and broken fence posts that were concreted into the ground. Several of my teacher friends have hail damage to their cars. Hail was up to the size of a golf ball. Some friends said the large hail was busting through their roofs into the interior of their homes. The mulch in our flower beds is thrown about in the front yard, but that is it for us. As I watch the news reports, all I can do is praise Jesus our house was spared. Thank you, Lord, we are all okay.
Here is some footage of the damage from NewsOK.com.
