Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...

...(and in this state) I always smell disaster when the wind comes right behind the rain.

Let me set the scene:


Wednesday, May 19- 1:52pm

So, here it goes. This is my first attempt at a real, complete, thoughtful blog. I'm currently at work (yes, playing spider solitaire and chatting on facebook at the washer/dryer rental shack) and I have a lot on my mind. Right now, I am waiting for:

a) the day to be over
b) tornadoes to rip through the area
c) a sonic drink
You're absolutely right. The answer is definitely D) ALL OF THE ABOVE.

My evening plans: Watch Twister (yes: both the action unfolding in real life courtesy of KOCO's Rick Mitchell and the movie- an absolute classic).

Thursday, May 20- 1:41pm

Well, world, as you can see, I didn't make it too far into my blogging attempt. In fact, it took me a whole 24 hours to get back to this spot. I promise, I have valid reasons. First of all, here is the simple truth. I am a procrastinator. This little flaw has become a huge problem in all aspects of my life, which we can add to the list of reasons I am not destined for the world of Journalism. I mean, if it takes me 24 hours to post one simple blog, it's time to admit I have a problem.

Secondly, those tornadoes I mentioned... well, they did rip through the area. In fact, my current partner-in-crime, Amanda, (aka one-of-my-best-friends-who-moved-into-our-apartment-for-the-summer-and-is-my-only-roommate-in-town-right-now-and-is-only-my-roommate-for-a few-more-days-before-I-leave-for-summer-who-I-facebook-chat-with-all-day-long-at-our-8-to-5-jobs) and I fully intended to spend all of last night blogging in the comfort of our home. But it is a proven fact of life that things don't always go as planned, and, in Oklahoma, be careful what you wish for when it comes to the weather. You want summer sun? Congratulations, you now have temperatures scorching in the hundreds. You want snow? Congratulations, you now have a foot of ice covering the entire state's landmass. Yesterday, I wanted tornadoes, and what did I get? Tornadoes.

So I got off work early around 4 in the afternoon to run all my errands (pay my boss' OG&E bill, pick up my dry cleaning, buy groceries, and get gas- this statement will come back to haunt me later) before the bad weather moves in. It's your typical Spring day here in Norman, Oklahoma. The sun is shining. The temperatures are warm. And even though there are clouds in the sky, they look as though they will never make their way above you. But those of us from the area know that these components spell disaster.

After running errands I met Amanda at home around 5. She was bringing stuff in from her car to finally finish up the moving-in process once and for all. We both knew bad storms were predicted to come through the state, and at this point in time tornadoes had already touched down in the northwestern areas of Kingfisher and Hennessey. We turned on Rick Mitchell and we both knew it was only a matter of time before the storms moved our way.

Around this time, we saw (on TV, of course) a 300-yard-wide tornado touch down near Stillwater, and we were cracking jokes about the possibility of OSU getting hit. My dad, who caught a plane to Las Vegas to skip the bad weather, was watching the Weather Channel and calling me to give me his "professional" opinion of the updates. (Side note: My father, who is not a meteorologist, tends to be right about most things in life. I have always liked to believe he doesn't know much about the weather, but he ALWAYS predicts it right). He said hail might be moving this way and tornadoes are coming toward Norman from Chickasha so we should probably go toward campus to seek shelter and protect our cars. Keep in mind, our apartment complex is a hotspot for these storms. Although we like to belive our apartment is a resort, we also live next door to a trailer park. Our complex also sits a few hundred yards north of Highway 9 (which was hit by tornadoes exactly 1 week and 2 days ago). As you can tell, this third-floor home of ours is probably not the safest spot to be during this time. Nevertheless, we choose to ignore Scott's good warning with the common idea that when the storms actually came, we would follow his direction.

As Amanda casually walked down to her car from our third floor apartment, I told her to look for the tornadoes in that sky (which was sunny and virtually storm-free at the time). Within a few short moments, the radar showed a lot of activity coming toward Norman and my panic set in. Being from this fine state, I have, over the years, gained the ability to distinguish severe weather from well, not-so-severe-weather; In short, I tend not to panic often. Amanda's panic-meter was at zero while I tried to convince her from our balcony that we should probably seek shelter. It was starting to rain, so we packed bags of essentials (laptops, flashlights, and snacks aka Gardetto's and Turkey Jerkey), and headed out the door.

In our separate cars listening the radio, we both heard the bad storms were over Riverwind casino and Lloyd Noble Center. I know what you all are asking yourselves... What? Lloyd Noble Center? The home venue for the OU basektball teams? That's on campus, right? Well, folks, you're absolutely right. Thus, the freak-out happens. Over the phone we panic. "It's right by our apartment. Don't go to the sorority house. Go to the stadium parking garage. It's coming. Now!!" This was when the realization hit me; I forgot to check one item off my errand list. I'm almost out of gas. At this point, the rain is coming down so hard I cannot see in front of my car.
"I don't have time to get gas! The sky is black!! Go to the garage! Where is it coming from?!" -Me
"Lindsey is completely closed for construction! I'm going through the dorms! The roads are flooded!" -Amanda
"Go to the parking garage on Elm! Can you get there?! I'm so scared" -Me

As we made our way through the flooded streets toward the garage, the radio went silent. And then it happened. The beeping that occurs right before the tornado comes, followed by the recording... [BEEP.BEEP.BEEEEEP. THE NATIONAL WEATHER CENTER HAS ISSUED A WARNING FOR (I can't remember the counties, but basically every county in Oklahoma) PLEASE SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY].

Broken tree limbs were blocking the roads and the high wind speeds caused the rain to pelt our cars. And as I turned the corner I noticed something... Everyone in the Norman community, and their dogs (literally), were parking in the garage and running into the Physical Science building. The garage was packed; I was almost out of gas. After finally finding a spot near Amanda's, I grabbed my bag and called my dad.

"The storm is here... Everyone is here. We are going into a building. I won't have phone service. I have to go."

I assured him that we were ok, but we had to get inside right now. We rolled up our pants, faced the downpour, and ran across the street and into the building. We were soaked. Well, Amanda and I were soaked. The Norman natives and their dogs were dry. Why is that? Because they sought shelter BEFORE the storm came; the same time dad warned us to go. Some man pulled up the live weather coverage on a projector in a classroom where we gathered to wait it out. We ate snacks, Amanda blogged, and I mulled over my wet possessions. We were there for 15 minutes before we got the all-clear to leave. The real storm had come and gone while Amanda and I were driving and parking.

We walked outside. The clouds parted and the sun came out. And just like that, smoke rose from the ashes.

So where did I go? To get gas. And on my way, I called dad to tell him the words no daughter wants to say: "You were right."

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Thursday, May 20- 3:45pm

The total? 16 Oklahoma tornadoes. 1 blog down. Countless more (of both) to come.