Last week there were storms and a tornado in Grandbury, TX were the Holmes Bordie Collies farm is located. I checked in with these friends and the farm came through the storms fine. On Sunday there were tornadoes in Oklahoma. Mom's former neighbor Val Castor with his wife Amy and current neighbor Chris were out chasing the storms. Mom worries about their safety when the weather produces the huge hail and horrid straight line winds. Val and Amy's footage of their Sunday storm chase is posted here. Again, I checked with friends for storm damage. A Weimaraner owner and friend of a mutual friend had her roof lift and displace 6" - their family is fine but relocated to the in-laws house. Everyone else checked in with no property damage.
Weather conditions continued to support tornado formation on Monday. Monday afternoon a very large and deadly tornado formed near Newcastle and traveled 20 miles to the northeast. At one point the storm was reported as 2 miles wide. The storm leveled several business including daycare facilities, two elementary schools, and numerous residential neighborhoods. As I type the death toll is officially at 51 and rising as search and rescue efforts continue.
Mom lives southeast of Norman as does my sister's family. My family is fine and their property is undamaged. I am sure, however, that we will know several folks that did not fair as well. There are reports of hurricane season type hording in the stores, numerous cell phone towers are damaged causing communication system overloading, and parents/kids/pets are trying to get reunited since the storm with during school and work hours. Please send warm wishes and prayers as the folks in Moore and Oklahoma City areas face the challenges of storm recovery.
My eldest niece's Norman High School commencement ceremony is scheduled for Thursday evening. I was planning to attend the commencement ceremony. I'm waiting to see about my travel plans now. There are more bad storms forecast for today. I don't want to drive through tornado weather if I can avoid it.
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| Map graphic of storm path |
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| Very visible storm path |
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| Another aerial showing the storm path |
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| Tuesday's Tornado Probability Map |
