Survived Another Round Of Tornadoes!

Hello and happy peaceful Wednesday!

Last Thursday night Oklahoma was hit hard by about 25 tornadoes.  Southern Oklahoma suffered serious damage and at least two deaths in the small town of Tushka.  Tushka is about 20 miles east of my mother's house, and I sweated out several hours of watching the Oklahoma radar and talking occasionally to my mother on the phone.  Being two hours away from her town, I am at the mercy of our television meteorologists to know what's going on and when things are all clear. 

This is normal in the state of Oklahoma, and it seems to be happening more and more frequently in the states east and northeast of us as well.  Global climate changes are resulting in changes for all of us.  Extreme weather is becoming commonplace, but that doesn't make it any easier.

As I write this on Friday, the storms that blasted Oklahoma last night have moved through Arkansas, killing several, Mississippi, Alabama and are now menacing Georgia.  Not sure when this monster is finally going to run out of steam, but I hope it's soon.

Here is my plea - Don't live in constant fear of tornadoes, but give them a healthy respect if they are threatening.  As I told my mom last night, the odds of being hit by a tornado are very slim, but it definately does happen.  I have ridden out two major tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma, one being the largest tornado ever recorded (May 3, 1999) and the other one I watched coming right at me from the top step of my storm shelter (May 9, 2003). Neither one directly hit my home, but both were killers and cut a huge swath out of my city of 50,000 people.  Both scared the dickens out of me, and I will never take a tornado lightly again.  I will confess to being nervous and edgy in April and May, to the point of dreading those two beautiful months now.  So don't be like me - the odds of losing your life, or even your home, in a natural disaster are low - don't let those fears control any part of your life!