May 3rd, 1999 tornado.

[Eagles_07]

I was in the fifth grade at the time. My dad, sister, nephew and me had just got home about 15min's before the storm came through Del City. We took cover in our homes hallway. Just before my dad took cover with us the tornado was heading straight for us but by some grace of god the thing turned north east about a block before it would have come through our neighborhood. I still to this day remember what it sounded like. When they say a tornado sounds like a train their right but make it about 200 trains

[TaoMaas]

I was inside the Ch. 9 weather center when it was all going down...too busy for what was happening to really sink in. I looked up at a monitor that was taking a feed from our helicopter and I couldn't quite make out what I was seeing. There was a red stripe down the middle of the picture that didn't equate to anything I was familiar with. As I stepped closer, I could see that it was the path the tornado had taken and that red stripe was where it had left nothing but dirt.

[PennyQuilts]

I was inside the Ch. 9 weather center when it was all going down...too busy for what was happening to really sink in. I looked up at a monitor that was taking a feed from our helicopter and I couldn't quite make out what I was seeing. There was a red stripe down the middle of the picture that didn't equate to anything I was familiar with. As I stepped closer, I could see that it was the path the tornado had taken and that red stripe was where it had left nothing but dirt.

God.

[Jesseda]

I was in my parents neighbors storm shelter off of eastern between 19th and 27th street. I was in 11th grade, I remember people kept getting out of the cellar to look at the storm. I remember my parents found documents from chickasha in their yard and small pieces of insulation was all over. I attended school at moore Christian school on eastern between 12th and main and I remember going a back to school a day or few afterwards and the high school was on the second floor and I remember opened the double doors to the balcony/ fire escape stairs and counting the telephone poles until all of sudden they just stopped, very creepy moment

[ewoodard70]

Family and I were in the hallway of our house when the tornado hit us. We were on the north end of the damage in MWC. Remember the sound and the smell afterwards.

MVC-020S.JPG

This is my home 4-5 days after tornado.

[PennyQuilts]

That's a real fixer upper. Jeeze, glad you survived.

[ewoodard70]

Thanks, luckily we were two houses east of where it actually was. That house was almost completely leveled. The tornado lifted just a street later.

[Prunepicker]

I was in the April 1960 tornado. It lifted the roof of our house and
slammed it back down. Many homes were destroyed, i.e. flattened.

We never celebrated or honored that tornado. Wait. Channel 4 provided
a special the following year. After that it was forgotten. I believe that
was a major catalyst of healing. Not the broadcast, but the lack of a
broadcast. The media let us deal with it.

What's the purpose of opening a wound that's trying to heal? Seriously.
How is picking at a wound supposed to create healing?

[oklip955]

I was on duty at the Edmond Fire Dept. We responded to MWC, I remember driving on I-40 just after it hit, we were first on the seen. Since it quickly became dark, I set up lights, my crew went searching for people that were trapped. I remember people walking over large powerlines and refusing to head my warning not to walk on them. How do you stop a hundred people that want to go look for loved ones or to check on their homes?

[Prunepicker]

Does anyone believe that picking at a wound helps it to heal?

This isn't meant to be a come down. I'm serious. Should we continue
to parade the deaths? The destruction? The loss?

[mmonroe]

Prunepicker,

While I see your point as valid, there are some things that should not be picked at when it comes to sensitive subjects such as death.

I believe this is not one of those, neither is the Bombing Memorial or 9/11. We remember these events annually to do several things, 1. remember those who we lost so that we may not forget them 2. celebrate the lives that were lost and cut short so tragically (it helps us to remember that life is precious and to set aside our pettiness.) and 3. for some events it's better to remember history so that it may not repeat itself.

Remembering events for me helps me to put life into perspective sometimes and keep me level headed. Particularly, it reminds me that like the weather, life can change in an instance. It's more humbling that an it is to bitch over.

[Wambo36]

I was outside grilling at our old house at SE 87th and Sooner. My wife came out to tell me there was a large tornado around Chickasha. My immediate reaction was "so?". As it progressed our way it became clear it was going to be very close and I needed to be concerned. It went north about a mile west of us and crossed I-240. As my neighbors and I were standing around in the street, laughing discussing our near miss, my wife came out to tell me that it had pretty much leveled my younger brothers Del City addition. We spent the next 2 weeks helping him and other friends pick up what was left of their lives. I agree with others, it changed the way I look at and react to severe weather.
I have a friend who lives between Chichasha and Anadarko who's got video of it forming, from several smaller rope tornados. For some reason, he's never shared the video with any news outlets.