A few years back, I don't know if you recall, but some tornadoes swept through the OKC area and headed straight towards where we lived. We had seen what had happened in OKC on TV and were watching these storms plowing right toward us. As they approached Tulsa, the stormcams could see the electricity flashing everywhere a tornado touched down, and we were watching it happen live, coming right at us! The storms were terrible and the electricity went out, but we had already prepared a spot in the inside doorway of our garage which was centrally located in out duplex. It had a huge step down and we made a "nest" at the base of the step with blankets flashlights and storm radio. When the sirens started going off, we scooped up the boys and laid them gently in the nest, then huddled down over them. Thankfully it didn't hit us, but it hit the RV park nearby where my folks normally stayed when they would come visit (before they moved here)and just demolished it.
My husband went with our church and an 18-wheeler full of supplies to the OKC area to help clean up. He said that there was nothing left of the houses...that even the foundations had been stripped away, and the street pavement looked like it had been pealed up. He couldn't even talk about it, it was so upsetting to him. Our little nest would have been of little good with this particular storm.
I'll never forget a police officer found a baby, covered with mud at the base of a tree. They showed the officer's car cam showing him sitting the baby on the hood of his car and cleaning off it's face. It was muddy, but fine!
It is amazing how powerfull they are and how much damage they can do... and where they go is such a random roll of the dice! Puts us in our place doesn't it? They fascinate me, from my safe distance of course!
I'll never forget a police officer found a baby, covered with mud at the base of a tree. They showed the officer's car cam showing him sitting the baby on the hood of his car and cleaning off it's face. It was muddy, but fine!I remember seeing that footage on TLC or Discovery Channel; one of the Disaster shows. That particular tornado stayed over one area for quite a while, which is unusual behavior for a tornado. It actually scoured the earth down about 18" and did chew up foundations etc. SCARY!