The month of May has flown by. Unfortunately for Oklahoma and nearby Joplin, May brought a tornado season like nothing we've had in quite some time. I'll admit I'm one of those people that don't think my home will ever get hit by a tornado, but the storm that came through last Tuesday evening had me running for shelter. I don't know if the massive tornado that destroyed 30% of Joplin, MO was an eye opener or if I just get more worried because of my priority to protect my child.
As predicted Tuesday afternoon the 'perfect storm' was brewing with conditions ideal for a major tornado breakout. This time it truly hit close to home. The community I lived in up until my teenage years was hit. My grandmother and her sisters still live in the area and thankfully did not have any damage to their homes. The tornado did pass by closely to their home but destroyed several homes of families I grew up knowing. Oddly enough, I have a recurring dream from time to time of this area and in every dream it involves tornadoes. This may because it's the place where I have ever actually seen a tornado...who knows.
The storms continued east as they always do. A wall cloud with visible circulation was expected to come right over my home so I loaded Bryce and Fara (the dog) and drove to the fire station where Nic was working. Not only was Nic there, but they also have a safe room there. The tornado did not touch down until about 10 miles east of my home, so we were in the clear. After the storm passed, I loaded Bryce back up and went back home and went to bed knowing we were safe and sound.
The next day I found out that a tornado touched down in the RV park where our RV was!! Thankfully no one was there camping but three RV's were destroyed and a few others had damage. Ours was moved about a foot and it twisted one of our scissor jacks. It may have a little bit of hail damage but other than that it is fine for us to continue to use it. I know I have seen tornado damage before, but I still get amazed at the damage that can be caused by a tornado.
I'm sharing some photos below. Incredibly, some one across the lake caught a picture of the tornado as it went over our RV park.
As you enter the park.
Fifth wheel flipped on it's side.
I took this photo to show the distance that this fifth wheel was slid from it's original position.
Travel trailer completely obliterated.
Unfortunately from this tornado breakout, RVs and homes weren't the only losses. Families lost their loved ones, lives that can never be replaced. Our sympathies are with them all.
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