Massive Tornado Hits Oklahoma city

[Airhog]

A massive tornado hit parts of southern okc, and the surrounding suburbs just moments ago. Im not sure where cam lives, but I hope he is okay, and I ask everyone to say a prayer.

It is very eerie as this storm too an almost identical path too the may 3rd tornado in 1999

[Kodos]

I'm sure Cam and his loved one's are okay, but, hey, Cam - check in please.

[GrantDawg]

We have three different national news station, not one covering this.

[cmp]

ABCNews.com has a little about it.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20030508_599.html

[sterlingice]

Well, Tornado watches and warnings are cropping up here in Easter Kansas again. Looks like this one will miss Lawrence by about 20 miles- a bit closer than last time.

SI

[Airhog]

And it had just gone through the city when I posted, so naturally the national news wouldnt be covering it.

It wasnt nearly as severe as the May third tornado, but It did hit some pretty heavily populated areas. In spots the damage was as wide as 1/4 of a mile, but mostly just a string of houses. The tornado was on the ground for quite a few miles, my guess would be somewhere around 30 miles.

Im sorry if my title was a bit misleading, at the time it had just happened when I posted, and the storm footage looked worse than the actually storm damage.

[Craptacular]

From CNN:
At least 125 injured in Oklahoma tornado (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WEATHER/05/08/tornadoes/index.html)

No mentions of fatalities ... let's hope it stays that way.

[Airhog]

From what I have gathered, there has been 1 unconfirmed report of a fatality.

there were about 130 people taken to the hospital. 8 of those people were in critical condition, 7 were in serious condition and 10 or so were in stable condition.

[Ben E Lou]

Looking forward to hearing from Cam.

[Anrhydeddu]

Ben, he already had in the UAE thread, right after your post at 9pm your time.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Anrhydeddu
Ben, he already had in the UAE thread, right after your post at 9pm your time. oh yeah! duhhhhh....I read and responded to that too. Obviously I wasn't paying attention to who posted it?

[mrskippy]

They had tornado warnings and the like issued today .... in Sacramento, Calif. OK ... when therer is a tornado out here its usually low grade stuff.

You should have seen the clouds though. The TV guys were talking about how it was classic tornado weather.

It's supposed to be warming up and sunny right now. But we've pretty much had storms going for weeks now and no let up in sight.

[kcchief19]

The tornado sterlingice referred to did indeed hit western Lawrence and took out some apartment buildings and duplexes where some students live. Hopefully he will be able to check in and let us know he is OK. Power just came back in some parts of Lawrence and the phone system is jacked, so if he is on dial-up he might not be able to get in.

The Lawrence tornado wasn't as bad as the one that hit KC Sunday. My county is currently estimating damages at more than $90 million, with the William Jewell College campus checking it at maybe $30 million or more alone.

I used to work at The Disney Store in college and two of the people who work there suffered serious damage to their homes. A friend who still works there told my girlfriend that the company's home base called to check on everyone and got the names of the two people who suffered damage. The next day, the company had each of them delivered a check for $5,000 to help cover damages. Parts of the Magic Kingdom may be evil, but that's pretty classy.

[Ben E Lou]

Cam has posted on his web site about the tornado, so I reckon that not only is he ok, but he has electricity too. :)

[Balldog]

I got some pictures of a customer's plant if you guys want me to post them let me know.

[Airhog]

Well just to give everyone a final update....

133 injured, 1 still in critical care

No deaths being reported.

The average warning time was 21 minutes

The tornado was on the ground for 17 miles

[CamEdwards]

sorry fellas, I completely missed this post.

Yeah, we're fine. I ended up back at the radio station last night, and then broadcast live from the police and fire command post they set up near the damage areas.

It's not as widespread as the F5 tornado back in 1999, but what it hit took a pounding.

1500 buildings damaged (including 300 homes leveled), more than 100 injured (but no fatals, thank God). It did hit the GM plant, which could be bad news for OKC's economy if they're not able to get up and running again soon.

Keep your eyes on the news out of here, we could have more tornados this afternoon.

[Airhog]

Hey cam, how close were you to the damaged area? I live over by the fairgrounds and was never in any real danger, but I wasnt sure wether you lived in the moore area or not...

[Balldog]

Here's a picture of the GM plant

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by kcchief19
The tornado sterlingice referred to did indeed hit western Lawrence and took out some apartment buildings and duplexes where some students live. Hopefully he will be able to check in and let us know he is OK. Power just came back in some parts of Lawrence and the phone system is jacked, so if he is on dial-up he might not be able to get in.

The Lawrence tornado wasn't as bad as the one that hit KC Sunday. My county is currently estimating damages at more than $90 million, with the William Jewell College campus checking it at maybe $30 million or more alone.

I used to work at The Disney Store in college and two of the people who work there suffered serious damage to their homes. A friend who still works there told my girlfriend that the company's home base called to check on everyone and got the names of the two people who suffered damage. The next day, the company had each of them delivered a check for $5,000 to help cover damages. Parts of the Magic Kingdom may be evil, but that's pretty classy.

Nah, I was fine. I went and grabbed something to eat about 15 minutes before it was expected to hit. I figured I was as safe in an empty restaurant which I knew the layout of as I was in the third story of my apartment. We (myself and girlfriend) were one of only two groups at the restaurant and all the cooks and wait staff were watching weather updates on the tv. Thankfully they just grazed town, hitting the far south part of town and the far west part of town. A couple of expensive homes were hit and an apartment building or two but I'm pretty sure no one was seriously injured and no one died.

SI

[sooner333]

I'm sure you guys know I'm okay, but I just thought I'd let you know...Norman is about, oh...10 miles south of where the tornado went for those of you out of state.

Looks like some more stormy weather today. It doesn't "feel" like it outside as much as yesterday, as its hotter and slightly less humid, but I wouldn't be surprised...that humidity has been getting higher as they day's gone on. Hopefully Norman will continue its no tornado streak...it seems that since we moved here 4.5 years ago, Moore has been hit 3 or 4 times, and Norman zero (at least the real Norman, not the far northern stretches).

[CamEdwards]

airhog,

I live over by Penn Square Mall, so we were fine. A little bit of hail, but nothing serious. I keep hoping duckman will check in though... he lives in Midwest City.