About the time we tuned off I40 onto 240 the tornado warning was announced on the radio. We were only about ten minutes from Josh's and thought we could at least make it. As it got darker and the rain got heavier with added heavy hail we found a spot to pull over in a closed Shell station at the intersection of Sooner Road. The traffic was quite heavy with people scurrying to get home and I did not want to be stuck in traffic on an overpass.
The news got worse as the announcer suggested that anyone not underground might not survive. And there we sat on a knoll staring straight at the vortex. The storm was so wide that we saw no rotation at the time.
We sat for a while discussing what precautions we should take. 1) keep our phones in our pockets so we will have them when we land, 2) keep our seat belts on so we won't get thrown out of the van if we are tossed into the air, 3) crack the window a little and maybe the window won't shatter.
At the suggestion of a guy near us on a motorcycle, we decided our best bet was to get out of the path. It was hard to tell how far it was or how fast it was moving. The radio announcer kept telling us it was crossing the river and nearing I44 and certain landmarks, none of which we knew where were. Then the observer shared how he saw it pick up two cars and hurl them into the river. Away we went. We thought the person in the background giving the descriptions was in a helicopter but later learned he was in a car driving towards the tornado on its west side.
It was still pouring rain and hailing like crazy as we flew south on Sooner Road (77), in line with others running red lights as fast as we all could go. We were watching the storm on our right side just trying to get out of its path.
Eventually we came to a spot where people were parked on the side of the road taking pictures. We pulled over with a sigh of relief and watched transformers blow as the E 5 tornado churned northeast toward either Tinker Air Force Base or Stanley Draper Lake. Leon commented how the birds in the field in front of us were having a hard time flying and I suggested that it was paper fluttering across the field, not birds.
After a bit we continued to try to follow the GPS to get to Josh's house. At the time we had no idea we were heading into Moore nor the amount of devastation in our path. We met or were passed by scores of police cars and fire trucks and the traffic got denser as people tried to get home. We started to turn up I35 but saw cars coming back off the entrance ramp. The next street we tried to turn northward on was also blocked. We continued eastward until we reached the point where we could go no further due to traffic and litter in the road. We went under, over, and around power lines and finally managed to get the van turned around in a gas station after Leon removed some debris. Two little dogs were wandering around as if they had new-found freedom.
There was a large fire several blocks in front and off to our right. As we continued east we began to see more and more devastation, still not the worst in Moore as we would later learn.
After two hours of creeping along in traffic it finally came to a standstill. People were not able to get home and we realized we could not get to Josh's house so we decided to head further south. All of the power in the area was off and of course there were no traffic lights. Some guys next to us at a stop sign were also trying to get out of the area. We shouted "how can we get headed to Amarillo, Texas?" And they told us to follow them.
We went back eastward for several miles until we were finally able to turn southbound in I35. We planned to take the first exit to go westward again but the traffic was backed up by others trying to get around the damage and the river. We continued south and soon were in heavy rain and hail again near Norman but finally managed to turn west. Before long we were rolling along crossing beautiful countryside through Chickasha and on over to I40.
Our trip had been delayed a little on Monday morning as I called at 8 am to see if we could get into Razorback RV to get them to check the water line that broke on Sunday but they couldn't work us in. At that point we made the decision to leave and go past OKC before the storms moved in. When we got in the van the check engine light came on and we stopped by Kilby's Automotive to learn that a sensor had gone out. It would take him two hours to get one but we should be fine without it. I told him "no thanks, we have a storm to outrun!" Those should have been our first clues. I hope I learned my lesson. I feel really lucky to be alive.
1 comment:
OMG! How scary! I think there's no more helpless feeling than being in the path of a tornado in an RV. We had that going through Texas. I convinced Ron to take the car and get out of the predicted path. Of course it turned and we were even closer than we would have been. Yikes! So glad you made the right decision and are alright.
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