Moore, Oklahoma

Yesterday I posted about the tornado that ripped through Shawnee. Oklahoma. What I didn't know, what I couldn't know, was that within a few hours another EF 4 or EF 5 tornado was going to hit Moore, Oklahoma and tear it apart.

For those of you, like the most of the world, that do not know the geography of Oklahoma, Moore is less than 10 miles from where I live in Norman. Yesterday's storm rocked the heartland. The devastation from the storm is shocking and violent. The needs of the community are so heavy.

But Oklahomans will rise to the occasion and prove why disaster relief  is judged by the "Oklahoma Standard". You mess with one of us, you're going to get all of us. It is no less true today than it was during the May 3rd, 1999 tornado that hit Moore, or the April 19th, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building.

It's tornado season in Oklahoma

This is the tornado that ripped through Shawnee, Oklahoma yesterday afternoon. Today is apt to bring storms of a similar degree this afternoon. Parts of Shawnee were destroyed.

Norman typically finds a way to make it through the storms unscathed. Some say it's American Indian lore, others explain that it's simply a factor tied to Norman sitting in a valley. Either way, we usually get lucky. The storm that hit Shawnee hit us first. I was hanging in the basement of one of the residence halls for a good chunk of time, but there were none that touched down here. There were several funnel clouds with lowering and all that scary Twister type stuff, but we came out ok.

That tornado from the picture was a half mile to a mile wide. That's not a hide in your interior closet or bathroom and be ok kind of storm. That's one of the you must underground to make it through if it hits you head on kind of storms.

Give me a hurricane over a tornado any time. I grew up in Houston, so I've had my share of experience with both. Hurricanes probably do more wide spread damage, but you've got a week of warning to hunker down or get the hell out. Tornados... You might know there's an escalated risk for bad storms, but you're lucky if you've got 14 minutes of lead time to get underground IF you've got an underground place to go. They're no joke. No joke.

Welcome to life as an Okie. Stay safe people. Stay safe.

damn nature you scary

Since most of you are not from Oklahoma, I can understand why you aren't so sure about this whole weather thing here. I mean, it can't be that bad, right? 

Well, unlike hurricanes where you have a week or longer worth of notice, you might have 5 minutes of warning with tornados. I mean, it's probably a sign that there are some crazy weather happenings in the area when the NATIONAL WEATHER CENTER has their government agency located in Norman, the number one meteorology program in the country is at the University of Oklahoma, and you have to have government clearance to take the classes and be in the building permanently... You know, no big deal. 

So, when I woke up to the loudest thunderstorm with hail on Easter morning at 3:30, I was also listening for the tornado sirens. It's not quite tornado season just yet, but hail is an indicator, and there was plenty of wind and hail happening. 

I didn't take this photo, I stole it from one of the news stations. 

Luckily, I didn't hear the sirens going off and my trusty iphone confirmed that there was no active tornado watches or warnings. That said, here is a picture of my friend, Alex, and me in the back room shoe storage area at Dillard's during an active tornado warning during the spring of 2010.

We were having fun, but the people stuck with us were slightly freaked out. We got yelled at by some lady because we had some tunes working. We also were shopping around in the store room area until some guy from Dillard's cut that short. Lame.

The best laid plans...

Campus closed today at 1:30. Both tonight and tomorrow's performances of The Vagina Monologues were moved to next week. My reaction to this news is utterly mixed.

Next week - Sunday evening to be exact - I leave to go to Las Vegas for ACPA. I am thrilled about this. I had a really good meeting with Dr. Q. today. She's such a badass. Really. I want to be her best friend, know her entire life story, and geek out over the awesome research she does. I mean this in the most positive, least creepy way possible.

That said, because of the weather the show has been moved to the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week I'm going to be in Las Vegas. On a scale of important things in my life ACPA is significantly more important than performing in TVM. I would pick going and presenting over being in the show every time. This doesn't mean that I didn't put a lot of work and effort into memorizing, getting excited about the show, and planning a lot of things surrounding the show. It just means that I'm bummed. It would have been fun to put up on the stage for everyone to see.

Part of me thinks this is probably a really good thing though. I need to do some research for practicum with D. tomorrow. Now, I have some spare time to get on it. I'm not really in the mood to buckle down right this second though. Oh motivation, where have you gone? I think it's hiding. *sigh*

I am going to hit the researching at 4:30. I've got 45 minutes to find the illustrious motivation to work. That will work. Hopefully. :)

Snow day

Tomorrow we're supposed to get between 6 and 8 inches of snow dumped on us. I am utterly torn about this.

I hate snow. Ok, hate is a little strong, but I am extremely cold sensitive. I am ALWAYS cold. This summer over the 4th of July when it was in the high 90s and over 100 degrees, I had goosebumps all over my body sitting outside that evening when it was in the mid eighties. So snow is really intense and really cold for me.

That said, with that amount of snow we could get campus would possibly shut down. That would be amazing in terms of giving me time to work on all the things I need to get done. Then again, my mom came up from Houston specifically to see the Vagina Monologues. If campus is closed, we won't have the show tomorrow night. We will still perform Tuesday (as long as campus is open), but mom won't be there for that one. We also probably can't reschedule the Monday performance...

So, I'm torn. I suppose it's not a bad thing that I have absolutely no control over it. For once I think that's a good thing :).