cdcollura
EF5
Good day all,
I have always kept a distance from tornadoes for safety reasons. On May 28 in Kansas (near Benington) I never got less than a mile and a half away, but that one was a (mere) 1.4 miles wide EF-4 that was pretty much stationary for an hour!
I kept the 1-2 mile "buffer" zone on the El Reno day, and still - I wound up running for my life at the edge of the circulation on Highway 81. Had I been closer, maybe I would have not been here to write this. I will consider such a storm and setup from now on.
Most importantly, and in lieu of avoiding chasing the May 20 Moore storm and staying south simply to avoid a "metro" / city chasing nightmare, I made the mistake of heading east on 152 off Highway 81 into Mustang, OK after the tornado (the large EF-5 one) weakened to my north and another developing storm was movong in.
I got stuck in gridlock, no one moving, jamming all the eastbound and southbound roads. I opted to turn around and head back west towards Highway 81 and was in the middle turning lane getting ready to turn around (in the first "safe" place to do so).
With the right two lanes jammed, and me to the left fixing to turn into a gas station and turn back west, some black car pulls right in front of me (I did not realize until I reviewed my streaming dashcam). My front right tire was blown out, wheel damaged, and passenger door torn apart.
Upon stopping, I looked back and saw no one who may have hit me (just the traffic jam). I pulled into the gas station, and that's when I saw people driving on the LEFT side of the road, pacnicking, still looking for the car that pulled in front of me, sirens now wailing and a butt-dragging rotating wall cloud to my WNW!
Now I was in an emergency situation, and the priority was to TRY to get out of there and / or leave the car and seek shelter somehow. Mustang was going to be hit with a tornado, and there was NO WAY out of it (for me).
I pulled out of the gas station and parked between a church and the backside of the building, and did the fastest spare-tire change I ever did in my life, while being pelted with hail and 70 MPH winds, and keeping a wary eye to the rotating greenish skies above me.
In 5-10 minutes, I had the spare on and jack put away, only to drive and still have the car undrivable - Confirming the wheel was broken (the full spare was on tight and secure with no effect - the wheel was simply broken). I could go no faster than 15-20 MPH, and got to see a tornadic circulation (luckily of only EF-1 80 MPH strength) go right over the (now empty) road and knock down powelines with a debris swirl and flying sheet metal.
After that, it was a 20-30 minute limp slowly east in 80 MPH winds and golfball-hail to the parking garage at Will Rogers airport to wait out the rest of it and pack my stuff out the of vehicle. No one there could help me at the car rental place (it was a franchise and power was ofcourse out).
Yet, the only "people" WITH power was the idiots at the parking garage exit "pay hut" - Nailing me with a $15 fee for a lost ticket - Are you kidding me? About an hour later, picking my way through tree-blocked roads and flash floods (yes, I saw some cars in OKC were floating), I eventually made it to a motel with power on the NE side of town off I-44. The next day my rental company sent me a vehicle exchange (from Tulsa) and picked up the damaged vehicle.
The moral of this and 5/31 was very simple - STAY the 'eff AWAY from metro / traffic prone areas during tornadoes (or ANY severe weather) - And also make sure you pay the $$$ for LDW as well ... What if Mustang's tornado (like the small one that passed over me and my 'jack' after changing the tire) was another EF-4 or higher? Then what?
I have always kept a distance from tornadoes for safety reasons. On May 28 in Kansas (near Benington) I never got less than a mile and a half away, but that one was a (mere) 1.4 miles wide EF-4 that was pretty much stationary for an hour!
I kept the 1-2 mile "buffer" zone on the El Reno day, and still - I wound up running for my life at the edge of the circulation on Highway 81. Had I been closer, maybe I would have not been here to write this. I will consider such a storm and setup from now on.
Most importantly, and in lieu of avoiding chasing the May 20 Moore storm and staying south simply to avoid a "metro" / city chasing nightmare, I made the mistake of heading east on 152 off Highway 81 into Mustang, OK after the tornado (the large EF-5 one) weakened to my north and another developing storm was movong in.
I got stuck in gridlock, no one moving, jamming all the eastbound and southbound roads. I opted to turn around and head back west towards Highway 81 and was in the middle turning lane getting ready to turn around (in the first "safe" place to do so).
With the right two lanes jammed, and me to the left fixing to turn into a gas station and turn back west, some black car pulls right in front of me (I did not realize until I reviewed my streaming dashcam). My front right tire was blown out, wheel damaged, and passenger door torn apart.
Upon stopping, I looked back and saw no one who may have hit me (just the traffic jam). I pulled into the gas station, and that's when I saw people driving on the LEFT side of the road, pacnicking, still looking for the car that pulled in front of me, sirens now wailing and a butt-dragging rotating wall cloud to my WNW!
Now I was in an emergency situation, and the priority was to TRY to get out of there and / or leave the car and seek shelter somehow. Mustang was going to be hit with a tornado, and there was NO WAY out of it (for me).
I pulled out of the gas station and parked between a church and the backside of the building, and did the fastest spare-tire change I ever did in my life, while being pelted with hail and 70 MPH winds, and keeping a wary eye to the rotating greenish skies above me.
In 5-10 minutes, I had the spare on and jack put away, only to drive and still have the car undrivable - Confirming the wheel was broken (the full spare was on tight and secure with no effect - the wheel was simply broken). I could go no faster than 15-20 MPH, and got to see a tornadic circulation (luckily of only EF-1 80 MPH strength) go right over the (now empty) road and knock down powelines with a debris swirl and flying sheet metal.
After that, it was a 20-30 minute limp slowly east in 80 MPH winds and golfball-hail to the parking garage at Will Rogers airport to wait out the rest of it and pack my stuff out the of vehicle. No one there could help me at the car rental place (it was a franchise and power was ofcourse out).
Yet, the only "people" WITH power was the idiots at the parking garage exit "pay hut" - Nailing me with a $15 fee for a lost ticket - Are you kidding me? About an hour later, picking my way through tree-blocked roads and flash floods (yes, I saw some cars in OKC were floating), I eventually made it to a motel with power on the NE side of town off I-44. The next day my rental company sent me a vehicle exchange (from Tulsa) and picked up the damaged vehicle.
The moral of this and 5/31 was very simple - STAY the 'eff AWAY from metro / traffic prone areas during tornadoes (or ANY severe weather) - And also make sure you pay the $$$ for LDW as well ... What if Mustang's tornado (like the small one that passed over me and my 'jack' after changing the tire) was another EF-4 or higher? Then what?
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