First Person: Taking shelter as tornadoes hit Oklahoma City area

FIRST PERSON | BRIDGE CREEK, Okla. -- It was 1:55 this afternoon when I took my children and dogs down to our storm shelter in this town just southwest of Oklahoma City.

I had just phoned my neighbors to warn them about the imminent tornado threat, and no sooner had we reached the storm shelter, a tornado formed right in front of our eyes over in the town of Newcastle. I had no clue just how bad this tornado would become.

The tornado touched down in Newcastle, just about 20 minutes east, and it quickly grew into a F4/F5 tornado heading for my old town of Moore.

The immediate threat in Bridge Creek diminished, and I was able to step out of my storm shelter. I made sure my children and pets stayed in the shelter, and as I climbed out, all I could see were wall clouds all around me, each of them ready to drop a tornado at anytime. I knew we were OK at that point, and I walked over to my neighbor's storm shelter and started to talk with them.

Tammy, my neighbor, and her children were glad we made it to the shelters when we did, but we're upset our neighboring towns were torn apart by a monster tornado. For the next two hours we talked, and listened to reports on the radio about the massive destruction in Moore.

Monday's two-mile wide tornado tore down the street I lived on 12 months ago in Moore. My heart was heavy, as many of my friends still lived there. My heart sank even more when I found out that two elementary schools were hit; one of them is Plaza Towers, the school my son used to attend. Unfortunately, some of those children did not make it. Those third-graders would have been my son's classmates. This evening, it has really started to sink in just how bad this weather is.

Still, the destruction from today has still not registered fully with my wife and me. I am fortunate and am so thankful the storms that were rotating over our heads missed us, but I am so sad that so many of my fellow Oklahomans were caught in it.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-person-taking-shelter-tornadoes-twist-oklahoma-city-002300032.html

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