Well, we survived the end of the erroneously scheduled end of the world (May 21, 2011), and we barely survived the tornado outbreak of today.
I left work early because Nana Pam was a bit worried. When I got home and started tracking the storms on the internet, I got a bit worried, too. We watched the news, which today was wall-to-wall coverage of the tornado outbreak. Via local channel 4, we witnessed the tornados that hit Chickasaw, El Reno, Goldsby, and the Hinton area, feeling concern and empathy for those affected. But, when we saw two tornados forming south-west of home and getting stronger, we realized two things: 1) Hey, Newalla is directly in the path of these two F4 tornados; and 2) Hey hey, we don’t have a storm shelter.
Upon these realizations, Nana Pam and I decided to do the only rational thing available to us – WE GOT OUTTA TOWN.
We quickly tossed some important items into the truck and evacuated to Shawnee. But, within an hour, we heard reports on the radio that a tornado was approaching that fair city. So, we decided to head south and further east and ended up in Seminole. But, within 30 minutes of our arrival, a tornado formed to the south-west threatening that town as well.
Because all of the storms were tracking north and east we didn’t want to go back north until the first storms moved further east. So, we headed further south, going through Ada before turning west to head back home. And wouldn’t you know it, within minutes after making the turn to the west, Ada was hit by a small tornado.
Now, if all this sounds a bit fabricated, I assure you, dear reader, that it is not. The outbreak stretched from the northern border of the state all the way into Texas. I began to think we were in a remake of the movie “Twister”. There just seemed no way for us to completely avoid encountering wicked weather.
Tornados seemed to be the state hobby for the day.
When we got home and found it still standing, we breathed a sigh of relief. We immediately turned on the news to watch the reports of devastation across the state. Only then did we learn that one of the F4 tornados missed our humble little house by less than a mile.
We had a very close call today. And we think it’s time to consider building an actual storm shelter instead of relying on the “safety” of the little cubby-hole under the stairs.
At least a storm shelter could store potatoes after “harvest” season and between the seasons of “wildfire” and “tornado”.
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Buddha Belly Farm is situated in Newalla, OK, on Danger Lane, just down the road from Buddha Mind Monastery (no affiliation). We are a non-profit agency simply because we have never made a profit. However, we have been quite successful at growing all types of weeds in the garden, and have even cultivated a hybrid ragweed that resists all attempts to kill it. Currently, we are experimenting with cat herding and perpetual dog feeding, both of which promise to be quite sustainable.
