Wednesday, May 20, 2015

OKLAHOMA'S TERRIBLE TWISTERS by CHERYL PIERSON


Hard to believe two years have passed since our state was hit by a spate of tornadoes that killed 7 elementary school aged children in the city of Moore, Oklahoma. Even so, our state has still not voted in money to be used for storm shelters in schools! Some smaller schools are taking matters into their own hands and raising the funds on their own. I published this blog 2 years ago, but wanted to remember those victims of the storms once again on this anniversary of their deaths. No matter how far we've come since I grew up "back in the day", there are major obstacles to overcome before we can all be safer from these storms.

Growing up here in Oklahoma, every spring was the same story—tornado season. My dad would carry me out on the front porch with him to watch the clouds. He’d talk about them, and command the thunder to roar! The lightning to flash! Looking back on it now, I understand that he was trying to teach me not to be afraid of the weather, and it worked. And maybe he was trying not to be afraid, too.

In those days, there was little to no warning before the storm hit. In today’s world, so many improvements and inventions have come along that our weathermen can pinpoint the minute the storm will hit a certain area. There is round the clock coverage on the three major stations when we are in a severe weather watch. They also broadcast from sister-station radio channels, in case you’re not near a television or are in a storm shelter. Doppler radar is one of the greatest life-saving inventions that ever happened, in my opinion.

Every elementary school child here is trained in our “tornado drills” just as they are trained in fire drills. How well I remember the hardships of trying to crouch on our knees, bowed over next to the walls in the hallway! At that time, most little girls wore dresses. Our biggest worry was trying to hold our dress down so no one could see our underwear.

Most families here don’t have storm shelters or cellars. Most houses don’t have basements. Our home was no exception—no basement and no cellar. Our water table is so high here that it’s hard to keep the dampness and/or flooding out. Even the pre-fab shelters are sometimes prone to leaking water.

One of my enduring memories was of the time when I was about five years old and we were caught at my grandparents’ just before the storm hit. They had an old root cellar—dug out of the red Oklahoma dirt, with an old tin door that my grandfather had made, and some cinder block steps that led down into the darkness. I remember my mother not wanting to go down into the cellar for some reason. When I got down there, I understood. My grandfather lit a kerosene lamp and we could see spiders…There was an old cot against the wall, and Mom and I sat down on it. Across the cellar, no more than 5 feet away, there were rough shelves that my grandmother’s jars of canned goods lined. And in the space between two jars…two eyes looked out at me.

“Look, Mom…there are eyes looking at us,” I said. In the next few seconds, I found out something about my granddad I would never have suspected. He could move like the lightning above us outside! He had everyone stand to one side, and he took up a hoe and an axe from the corner (hmmm….this must have happened before down there!) and quick as anything, he had that snake out of the shelf and on the floor with its head chopped off. I learned later it was a copperhead.

Public shelters? Few and far between. Liability is a huge responsibility that no one wants to assume. And in these sue-happy days, it’s a very real possibility that organizations who are just trying to be good neighbors and offer safety could lose everything to one lawsuit. This is true of governmental and private organizations alike. Another fear, quite justified, is the fact that many people trying to get to a shelter create a traffic jam and are sitting ducks.

In light of all the tragedy that has happened lately here in our great state, I’m relieved to learn that FINALLY there is some positive action being made toward outfitting our schools with a safe place for the kids and teachers to be. That should have been done long, long ago. Of course, it’s all a matter of money. It’s expensive to do. But what price can we put on a child’s life?

I guess we can say that is the “silver lining” to all this. Thanks to each and every one of you who has kept us in your thoughts and prayers. There is still a great need for help and healing, but what a country we live in! I’m so proud to be an American. We have our differences, but when tragedy strikes, no one stands together like we do. I’m so thankful for that.

This is one of the most touching pictures I’ve seen. It reminds me of how, someway, there’s always someone who manages to fly Old Glory in the direst of circumstances and remind us that we are all just human beings, trying to make it in this world, helping one another when our world is literally ripped away from us. There has been such an outpouring of love and help from all over not only our own nation, but other countries as well, and yet–for whatever reason, we are always surprised and humbled that other care so much.

Last but not least, I leave you with a picture of one of my favorite Oklahomans, Miranda Lambert, married to another favorite Oklahoman, Blake Shelton. Blake organized a benefit concert and got tons of performers, not just fellow Okies in the business–to come out and give their all for our ravaged state. God bless them all!

30 comments:

  1. We had a basement, but we never went down there when the tornado warning came. My mother would go onto the back porch and we would watch. Fortunately one never landed on our house. One neighbor had a root cellar that was a concrete type bunker, above ground that was covered with dirt. It looked like a small bump or pile of dirt, grass covered and everything.
    Having said all that, your post was a great reminder of what we can do, and what we should do. We basically are in this together and remembering that makes our responses the natural thing to do. Much like the responses to the fires here last year. We never know what may be coming, so be gracious and treat others like you wish to be treated. Sound familiar? Doris

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  2. I grew up in Texas and have seen my share of tornados. I've also lived through a few hurricanes. 3 while stationed on an air craft carrier and 2 while on land. One in the Philippines and one when I lived in the Houston area(I lived about100 yards from the beach. I couldn't evacuate because I worked as an EMT and had to be there to help with any medical emergencies.
    G W Pickle

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  3. I covered a number of tornadoes when I was a newspaper reporter. Darn tornadoes are capricious bitches. I remember one house. Looked untouched from the outside. Inside you noticed that there was no roof...and a Volkswagen was sitting on the dining room table. In the front yard a two foot thick pine tree had been ripped apart, but a couple feet below the break there was a flower bed with undamaged petunia blossoms. Weird stuff happens in tornadoes. Bad stuff.

    Pray for those in tornado alley.

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  4. I was reminded of this article about Kiowas and tornadoes... https://esirc.emporia.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/904/Marchand%20Vol%2026%20Num%202.pdf?sequence=1

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  5. Gosh, Cheryl, I got chills reading your account. Thank goodness your grandpop got that copperhead. They are vicious snakes.

    Living on the coast as I do, I also live in an extreme weather zone, so I don't have to ask why you stay there. It's home.

    But I'm so glad of the advance notice for you guys and that everyone takes this seriously.

    God bless!

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  6. My prayers for all of you. And, believe it or not, I've seen three here in the Northeast. One was a really small one that went right across my grandmother's yard in Duryea, PA. The second destroyed parts of Hamden and New Haven, CT, right by where I work. Third was just last year, and tore apart a good chunk of downtown Springfield, MA. First one I actually witnessed as it happened, second two I was there right afterwards.

    Jim Griffin

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  7. Doris, you are so right! We have had our share of natural disasters all over our country, haven't we? We had some neighbors who had a basement they had re-modeled, and there was plenty of room for everyone. We'd go over there and gather, and they'd make popcorn until it had all blown over. Very nice people, and I for one was sure glad to not have to go into any kind of cellar. LOL
    Cheryl

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  8. G.W., I have often wondered about the first responders and how hard it would be if you have your own families to worry about, to go on and try to do your job in a time like that. My hat's off to you and all the others like you, who had to stay and take care of business. Thanks so much for stopping by!
    Cheryl

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  9. Not many tornadoes come through my area, just the lay of the land. Of all the weather emergencies, tornadoes scare me the most. I'd rather face a hurricane any day.
    I don't blame your mom for not wanting to go down into that cellar. Sheesh, a copperhead? Really? Dang.
    All this time, I thought schools in Tornado Alley had emergency shelters. Now that I know they don't, I'm glad to hear they are are going to install them. Isn't it awful that we have to have tragedies before anything gets done?
    Get blog, Cheryl. I loved all the photographs.

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  10. Frank, I know what you mean. I remember as a kid seeing a film where they were showing things tornadoes could do (no need to scare the heck out of us, we were already!) and they had a picture of a bike up in a tree and a broom straw driven through the trunk of the same tree. That really was amazing. We drove through the damage on Saturday in Moore on our way to help my son move. As bad as it looks on tv, it's so different in person, as you know. Yes, thoughts and prayers are still needed in the worst way for those who were affected.
    Cheryl

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  11. Troy, I've always wondered how the Indians and the white settlers coped with tornadoes and the devastation they leave behind. I can only imagine how easy it would be to just throw up your hands and leave if you had all your crops destroyed and as well as your home. It would be so hard to try to rebuild it all. I haven't read the article yet in your link but will soon--I've been gone all day long.
    Cheryl

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  12. Maggie, God bless you for your support. I know how busy you are right now, and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and read and comment. Yes, I know people wonder why we live where we do, but I truly do love Oklahoma, and the good things outweigh the bad. We have some of the very best meteorologists in the world and get great advance notice, for sure.
    Cheryl

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  13. Jim, we don't normally think of tornadoes happening in the northeastern part of the US, but they do, as you say. I am sure they're absolutely terrifying to people who aren't used to the sirens going off at all hours and having to watch the weather when tornado season rolls around.
    Cheryl

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  14. Sarah, I've often wondered why the governor of Oklahoma has not asked me how to straighten things up in the budget so we could mandate shelters for schools. The first and easiest thing to do would be do get rid of all the piddly little school systems who each have their OWN superintendent and his entourage. Go to one or two superintendents per county like WV does, and cut the operating budget so efficiently with getting rid of these gravy train jobs that we could install a shelter in every school with no problem. Yes, it always takes a tragedy before the nation turns its eyes upon something that the state should have fixed years and years ago. I'm glad you enjoyed the blog. I wish the governor would just listen to me--I could fix it all! LOLLOL
    Cheryl

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  15. Dad built a pretty nifty storm shelter, so we'd head there when the storms were bad when we were kids. It was roomy and concrete, but we still had to worry about spiders and snakes. It also made a great hiding place for my big brother's still. Well, it did until dad found it.

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  16. Science experiment? LOLLOL Now that's a story you need to write, Livia! "A Still in the Cellar"...
    Cheryl

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  17. I've been terrified of tornadoes and high wind since I was a child. At an early age, I've respected the strength unseen in this invisible force. Every spring we, too, here in Georgia have our "severe weather" season. I'm always on the lookout for when/if a tornado should pop up. Here, they almost always come at night which makes the terror doubly worse. 2011 was a bad year. Oklahoma, Arkansas, the Joplin Missouri tornadoes...and then it all marched here. That day I watched on the television as the waves came through, apprehensive for when they'd roar through our neighborhood. They finally came at 11 that night. We were spared (thankfully!). Today, the evidence is still here. Hills are barren with snapped, broken trees. You can see the line the twisters took - atop that ridge, missed that house, crossed the road and ravaged that other hill. Though I always wanted - but couldn't afford - a storm shelter, after that night we found the money. I just pray we never have to use it.

    Sure prayed for you that night, Cheryl, and am so happy you're safe. Sorry for the destruction to others. It's incredibly moving, though, to witness how folks help others in time of need. :)

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  18. He was a science major, however this was not a science experiment. Big brother just heard too many stories about Granddad's homemade hooch over the years. Needless to say, Dad was not amused.

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  19. Good article.

    All I know is that life is very precarious indeed.

    Pray often for all those that suffer such tragedy.

    Charlie

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  20. Miss Mae,
    I think the older we get, the wiser we get, and we realize that we can't run as fast as we used to. LOL Like you, we've talked about getting a shelter for years, but now, we are going to find the money--even if we have to borrow it. I hope we never have to use it, either, but there are a lot of times right now that I would go into one if I had one, just to be on the safe side.
    Cheryl

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  21. Livia, that is so funny. I wonder what your dad thought when he found out? I'm sure he was plenty angry, but I have to say, there'd be a side of me that would have to be a little bit proud that I had a son that could put something like that together. LOL
    Cheryl

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  22. Charlie,
    Thanks so much! You're so right about life being precarious. I think of all those parents who lost children during those storms. We are so lucky to have the meteorologist that we have with their expertise to keep us all aware of the situation minute by minute. Thanks for your prayers for our state and its people. Still very much needed and appreciated!
    Cheryl

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  23. Hi Cheryl, you've been through so much in the last few weeks. I can't forget the 1999 tornado in Montgomery, Cincinnati. The whole area looked like a war zone for months.

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  24. Cheryl, Dad was just mad. Now Mom probably was tickled at her oldest's inventiveness. It was her father that made homemade hooch. If my brother had offered, I'm sure my mother would have even tasted some of his white lightening. I could understand my dad's side when bottles of some of big brother's stuff started exploding in his bedroom when I was home alone.

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  25. Hi Mona,
    It's amazing how different it looks "in person" than it does in pictures on the television, isn't it, Mona? Thanks so much for coming by today! I know you have been super busy.
    Cheryl

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  26. Oh, gosh, Livia! I bet you thought you were being shot at, didn't you? Well, that would have made me angry had I been your dad, even though it was an accident. There's just no telling WHAT was in that stuff!
    Cheryl

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  27. Great article. It's so hard for people to understand why shelters aren't built. Living in an area with a high water table and unfortunately copperheads, I feel your pain. About two years ago our small town suffered a freak F3 tornado. It came over an elementary school took out a cancer therapy building while patients were hooked up to their chemo and devastated the community behind the hospital. Thank heavens we do the same tornado drills you describe. I remember just how silent things were. As if all the sound had been sucked away into the vortex. I'm so glad to hear you are safe.

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  28. Hi Tessa,

    Yes, I know it is hard, but so many people just don't have that money to pay to install one with the way our society is today and needing every penny. And of course, then, there are still the people who live in apartments and mobile homes, the homeless on the streets, the people in hospitals and nursing homes, etc. and the people who rent homes but can't buy. My husband and I had been thinking of downsizing and selling, but no matter what we do, we will have a tornado shelter by this time next year, for sure. LOL I really feel for the nurses and doctors and staff in hospitals and nursing homes. No place to go, except to get the patients to the lowest level. We had some EMTs who were on a call to a guy who had had a heart attack, and had to drive right toward that tornado. They interviewed one of the EMTs on the news and he was talking about how they just had no choice, but to try to get to the guy, but he later died at the hospital anyhow. Talk about some heroes. They're out there everywhere.

    That silence is what so many people mention. That must be the eeriest thing. Thanks so much for coming by and commenting!
    Cheryl

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  29. Wow. Has it been that long. Every time I hear of a tornado, I think of Oklahoma and pray!

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    1. I can't believe it's been 2 years, either, Meg. They interviewed one little boy who had been injured on the news yesterday--he's in 4th grade now, so he was about 7 when this happened. Very matter-of-fact about it. You just wonder what must go through kids' minds after being so close to death.

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