The Tornadoes of May 19-20, 2013

I was in downtown Oklahoma City on the third floor of the Dean A. McGee Eye Institute when the sirens went off.  Everyone in the building was directed to the basement. There was a young woman of about 20 or so, checking her smart phone, saying, "My cousin says it's in Newcastle. My cousin says it's in Moore. That's so far from here. Why do we have to go to the basement?" She was born and raised Las Vegas, Nevada, with a surprisingly sheltered upbringing, and had certainly never experienced anything like this before. She really didn't understand what the big deal was all about. I just said, "Tornadoes travel, sometimes pretty quickly. Better safe than sorry."

The next morning when I saw her I said, "Did you watch any TV last night?" Tears in her eyes, she said "Oh my God, yes! How awful!" She was clearly shaken. I said, "So you understand, now, why everyone gets so excited when the sirens go off?" She certainly does.

South Oklahoma City is my old stomping grounds, and I went to high school in Moore. The storm tracked less than a mile from my first husband's house, and even closer to the homes of some of my other extended family. I am personally acquainted with at least two families who lost their homes and everything but their lives and whatever they could grab and carry to safety as they fled the storm. There's a few folks I haven't been able to speak with yet, but I haven't seen them in the obituaries, and I have news of some of them via Facebook.

(Deep sigh) I'm going to go check on the chickens now.