Oklahoma!

Like a lot of other people watching events in Oklahoma, I was seized by what my Dad would call a “horrible fascination.”  I look at the blendered remains of peoples’ homes and lives, and I see that no matter how good or stable your life is, it can all be taken away in a moment.  I am not alone in the universal experience of loss, grief and the bewildering sense of displacement following a traumatic life event.

For a while I looked at pictures, watched videos and read news stories, completely forgetting that in a matter of weeks I would be driving through Oklahoma City myself.  When I remembered this, it brought me up short.

Should I avoid the area altogether?  Delay my trip until after tornado season is over?  Give up my plan to return via the southern route and come home on Highway 80? First of all, I won’t need to drive directly through the damaged area, since I’ll be on Interstate 40, which did not take a direct hit and runs north of Moore, right through Oklahoma City.  So I don’t have to worry about being held up by debris or detoured around areas of damage (at least as of this moment).  I don’t plan to get off the freeway and take a tourist run through the wrecked neighborhoods, even though I’ll be right there and it will be perhaps the only chance I’ll get to see tornado damage on this scale in person.  I don’t want to get in the way of folks trying to pick up the pieces or crews trying to clean up and restore infrastructure.  And out of respect to the people who have suffered so much, I don’t want to gawk at their loss and pain.  I have a good enough view through the media coverage.  If I had the time, I would try to hook up with a volunteer group that would allow me to put some real time and effort toward the area’s recovery.  In that scenario I would feel okay about viewing the devastation first hand.  But I just don’t have the time.  Instead, I’ll try to buy gas and supplies from a local business and offer what words of encouragement I can to any local person I meet. 

The more pressing concern is what will I do to keep myself safe from these storms while driving through the heart of tornado alley during tornado season?  Statistically speaking, I’m safe as houses, as the Brits would say.  My chances of being anywhere near an actual tornado let alone being struck by one during my brief passage through the area are vanishingly slim.  But there are precautions I can take.  I’ve watched enough Storm Chasers and assorted other torn porn on the Interwebs to know what severe thunderstorms look like, so the first line of defense is to keep an eye on the sky.  But I’ll also have AM, FM and NOAA weather radio, as well as mobile Internet connectivity and the ability to see the radar and read the watches and warnings for the whole country.  My NOAA radio can be listened to at any time for immediate weather conditions and lists of all the weather alerts for the area I’ll be in.  The great plains are well covered by NOAA transmitters which all broadcast alerts and information specific to the area they are serving.  I can also set the radio to alert mode.  If any warnings come through, the alert tone will sound and the radio will come on so that wherever I am, even while I’m driving, I’ll be warned about dangerous conditions.  From there it’s pretty simple to check the Doppler radar to see exactly where the cells are that could potentially produce a tornado.  This allows one to route around them or wait until they pass before driving through the affected area.  There’s also hail, lightening, torrential rains, downbursts and high straight line winds to consider with severe thunderstorms.  All good reasons for staying out from underneath them, especially while towing a trailer!  You can bet I’ll be paying attention to all aspects of the weather while driving through Tornado Alley.  Maybe I’ll even see a famous storm chaser or two on the road!