It's a Thursday. Last Thursday to be exact. We were ready to head to Plano, TX for my sister's gymnastics Regional Competition. We had heard the threat for severe weather, but we thought we would miss it since we were headed south. Too bad we didn't! We basically followed the storms the WHOLE WAY DOWN THERE. I felt like I had been on a 2 mile jog just from worrying so much and looking for the white lines on the road! Here's what we were dealing with.
We were actually okay until we got to McAlester, then the sky got pitch black, and we knew that things were going to get worse before they got better. We drove in rains so heavy that it almost caused flash floods, along with hail, thunder, and lightning. It was a TERRIFYING experience! We stopped at a Love's in an area right before the small town of Atoka, OK. The place was packed with gobs and gobs of people. It didn't cross our minds that people were stopping to take cover.. oops. We decided after all of the potty breaks to go ahead and push on through to Texas since we had already got a late start at leaving. We started heading down the road and many trees and power lines were blown down. Keep in mind that it was SO DARK since all the power was out. We kept driving and saw lots of ambulances, police, flashing lights, etc. We also began to notice lots of debris had been tossed around on top of things. THERE HAD BEEN A TORNADO. Like, right before we headed in that direction. We counted 4 (yes FOUR!) semis that had been blown on their sides, and many mobile homes had been thrown around. Here, take a look for yourself, I'm not fibbin'.
It was really scary. Thank the dear Lord for looking out for us and getting us there and back safely, and in one piece! I guess this isn't a very wacky post but I wanted to provide you with information about tornadoes. Since I only have 5 followers, and you're all from Oklahoma, you most likely know these things! But I have to believe in myself and hope more people will read all my babbles. Here's some fun facts about these scary storms!
-A tornado is a violent storm commonly known as a twister that brings destruction to people and property. Tornadoes mostly hit the United States of America although they might come anytime and anywhere. Tornadoes are high speed winds that hit the place generally in the months of March to May. The speed and size of the tornado can vary to any extent. Tornadoes are generally accompanied with thunderstorms. Some common signs of tornadoes are dark, blackish green sky, hailstorm and loud sounds like that of a yelling train etc.
-The main reason of occurrence of a tornado is the meeting of warm air that rises up the ground with the cool air that rushes down to descend. A tornado may rotate either in clockwise or anticlockwise direction. The speed of rotation of this funnel shaped tornado is so high that it destroys everything that comes in its way. The strength of a tornado is so high that it can uproot trees, blow the roofs of the buildings or even crumple down buildings to ashes. The color of a tornado depends upon two factors the surroundings and the time of the day. The tornado is a noisy wind; the sound of which can be either high or low depending upon the obstructions in the way.
-It has been recorded that almost eight hundred to one thousand tornadoes hit America every year killing 80 people and injuring around fifteen hundred. Other tornado prone areas are south of Canada, south of Africa, some regions of Australia, New Zealand and Asia. "Tri-state" tornado that hit United States of America in March 18, 1925 was the deadliest tornado and tornado in Oklahoma in 1999 was the most destructive tornado known to men. Interesting fact about tornado is that some people survived being in the middle of tornado.
-The main reason of occurrence of a tornado is the meeting of warm air that rises up the ground with the cool air that rushes down to descend. A tornado may rotate either in clockwise or anticlockwise direction. The speed of rotation of this funnel shaped tornado is so high that it destroys everything that comes in its way. The strength of a tornado is so high that it can uproot trees, blow the roofs of the buildings or even crumple down buildings to ashes. The color of a tornado depends upon two factors the surroundings and the time of the day. The tornado is a noisy wind; the sound of which can be either high or low depending upon the obstructions in the way.
-It has been recorded that almost eight hundred to one thousand tornadoes hit America every year killing 80 people and injuring around fifteen hundred. Other tornado prone areas are south of Canada, south of Africa, some regions of Australia, New Zealand and Asia. "Tri-state" tornado that hit United States of America in March 18, 1925 was the deadliest tornado and tornado in Oklahoma in 1999 was the most destructive tornado known to men. Interesting fact about tornado is that some people survived being in the middle of tornado.
(PS i got all this stuff from here.)
Hope you enjoyed! There will be more Wacky Wednesdays to come!
Just Trust Me..
Your mom told me about that crazy drive. Yikes! I was at home, watching the storm from my porch (until the hail started blowing sideways into my FACE!) and had forgotten all about your travel plans. I'm glad you guys made it safely, despite the storm's best efforts!
ReplyDeleteHaha it was a strong one! Thanks Rhonda! (:
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