Tornados

[rockriver]

additional prayers.
we hope all is well.

a practical matter.
if you have damage...
call your insurance agent and or ins. claims office and report your damage.
be clear. give them an accurate description of your damage.
let them you that you need help with a place to live, until your house is rebuilt.
if you know of a rental that is available and the cost, go ahead and tell them about it.
ask if they can honor a request for 1,000/month for a rental or whatever...
the rentals will get taken quickly...
start taking pictures and inventory lost personal items.
what, cost new, cost new now, when bought, where bought for each item.
buildings... start figuring out what it will take to fix..
if you can fix yourself..
calculate labor and materials and show how you got the numbers..
many ins. companies will make their own calculations. if their numbers are more than yours,
congrats.
if their numbers are less than yours, you will be able to quickly review what you have figured and compare with theirs.
the claims folks will be under pressure from their management to close claims (get them paid)
keep your cool.
don't just shout, that aint enough.
calmly explain that he forgot about your fireplace and to rebuild a fireplace is about 6,000.
show him a picture of the fireplace at christmas, or show the claims person where the fireplace foundation was.... then say, "sir, if you can add the fireplace, we are good to go"
1 you were calm. he may move the calm guys file to the top of the stack.
2. all he's got to do is add the fireplace to his calculations and he can get you payment coming,
3. he can count your claim as one that is closed. and then go on to the next one.

some folks can't stand it and just want to holler... sometimes there is a place for that.
but, that usually doesn't get yours paid quickly....

God bless.

oh yeah, and everyone that didn't get hit... this sounds like a huge hit to the industry, financially.
get ready for higher rates next year!
this is one reason, to resolve this in a calm manner... some companies will be cancelling folks after this mess is resolved. if you can resolve your claim in a positive manner, you increase your chance of retaining your coverage with the same carrier for a reasonable rate.

[1Admin]

Prayers sent ya'lls way. Check in when you can.

[Grand58742]

Waiting for a report from Matt.

I spoke to him earlier. He and his family are okay. Extended family got hit, but they are alive

[All Talk]

Matt,

Came to the forum today specifically to check on you. Glad it seems to have missed your neck of the plains.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

We are all alive, almost wasn't so but God was good to me. Thank you for the thoughts and prayers and please extend them to those lost especially the children. I have lots to share and lots was learned but maybe later, i'm tired.
He is where I was today


found some flags in the debris and put them up to show our spirit


we found an "open house" sign and Sharpshooter put it up to show our sense of humor can't be broken

[MustangGal]

Matt, I know you are exhausted, but I did want to let you know, your attachments aren't showing up.

Our community has already sent several truck loads of stuff and people to the area. I know other local communities are doing the same. What is most needed, from your perspective?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Matt, I know you are exhausted, but I did want to let you know, your attachments aren't showing up.

Our community has already sent several truck loads of stuff and people to the area. I know other local communities are doing the same. What is most needed, from your perspective?

well dunno what happened I'll try again





You can drag the centerline over to see the whole frame

http://www.aerialok.com/MooreTornado/

The outpouring of support is overwhelming. My SILs glasses were replaced for free along with the eye exam and my nieces cochlear device was also replaced for free so last nights conversations were better with everyone seeing and hearing LOL. I don't really know what else is needed. We are doing good, real good but some didn't have insurance of family and I just don't know. Prayer if nothing else.
I want to say thank you to everyone from me and my family.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

A few notes on this disaster. Commo is essential without it more would
be dead. Texting works sometimes when calls don't . This one happened faster
than any other tornado I've ever seen. F1 to f5 in minutes.
Preparations are crucial. Not just for you but others because they will have nothing. Know how much you are willing to give up ahead of time so you don't cut yourself short.
Remain compassionate and provide aid when you can because aid will come to in
odd forms and times if you are faithful. Prayer never hurts not the showy watch
me kind of prayer but the heartfelt in the moment.
Think outside the box and for those who are in shock. If you don't have a go bag with snacks meals or water then shame on you. If you even halfway believe in being prepared then have food water shelter first aid defense in that bag.
Know addresses because we get in the habit of just driving there but when it hits there it is unrecognizable and other means like smart phone GPS etc have to be used. Good boots are needed them flip flops lead to injury. Add medications to your bag and old glasses.
Wear subdued colors to not draw attention but have bright colors like a vest in case
you need attention. Get in shape you will push yourself to the limit.
Make sure as a leader which you are that breaks are taken and good fluids are consumed. Be willing to force the issue.

Something else that came up is traffic. Traffic had to reroute 25-30 lies to get to outlying towns and burbs. You wanna see if you are far enough for the "hoard" from a major city this was a good test



the "back road"

Tetanus shot, get updated. Lots of injuries from nails in the foot to jagged edges catching you to glass cuts having to kick out windows and in doors. And yes i know glass doesn't give it to you but everything is covered in debris of all kinds.

Carry the best medical kit YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO USE. No sense in having the xps1000 superduper coolios if you don't know how to use them or if its too heavy and gets left behind. I took in a blowout kit, IFAK and a small 6x8 inch pelican case with extras to leave room for trash bags for property recovery and extra water for immediate drinking along with a filter.

http://jrhenterprises.com/product.sc?productId=24&categoryId=8

Turned out the volunteers took care of us but you don't know.

Have enough fuel in the car because without power you are hosed otherwise and lots of vehicles didn't have enough fuel and got left roadside. Turn off the AC in traffic so the car doesn't overheat too

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Round 3 coming in starting now don't let your guard down! Stay safe, touch base when its over for a check in

[Matt In Oklahoma]

it appears we are all alive, dunno damage yet, got 8inches and almost drown in flush fit lid storm shelter. some folks i know died, many coworkers hit, tried to get to them last night but couldnt from flooding and debris, waitin on light

[Matt In Oklahoma]

You know what worse than being in your flush to the ground fitted door tornado shelter while 3 pass within a mile of you?

Having 10inches of rain dumped in an hour and half while you can’t come out and the lip of the door only being an inch tall LOL

[Matt In Oklahoma]

#2

[Grand58742]

Some lessons learned already. While I didn't get hit straight on by the tornadoes, I got the massive rains and high winds. And was without power for at least 8-10 hours. Not sure as I was asleep when it came back on.

If out and about and a tornado warning goes out. Get home or to a place of shelter immediately. I was out doing clean up from Round 1 of the tornadoes and decided to get done with what we were doing right then when the tornado warning went out. Mistake as while I was heading home the alert sirens went off and the first of Round 3 hit the western edge of OKC where Matt is and downtown. I was still about 15 minutes away from home and traffic started getting backed up already even out where I live.

When the power goes out, have a back up way of communicating and keeping a weather eye out. I have two weather radios, one for the basement and one for the upstairs. Eton makes a good tough model although a little expensive. WeatherX is the other model I have although the tuning adjustment is really sensitive and hard to adjust sometimes. Between the two, the WeatherX has awesome battery life, a built in lantern (although I've never used it) and good reception. Eton has the solar charging capability, slightly better reception based on the antennae and the newer models have a USB charging port for phones and other electronics. A couple of links:

http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032069&sr=1&origkw=weather%20radio

http://www.weather-x.com/store/c/16-Weather-X.aspx

While weather alert radios are good for keeping up with the NOAA alerts going out, I found our local broadcasting to have better coverage and up to date spotting than the weather channels. Of course our local stations are used to doing it by now and end up sharing reports most of the time. But overall, I turned off the weather band and went strictly to the local reports which were on all the FM channels. Learn what channel works best for you during a time of emergency.

Also, keeping up to date on the weather situations keeps others alive. First, the tornadoes turned south. Most track east to northeast. But these Okie tornadoes danced to their own tunes. Had a troop that was caught in the middle of the initial storm and asked if he could come to my place. While normally I would have obliged without hesitation, but he would have been directly in the path of one of the tornadoes. So keeping up with where the storms are at has implications above and beyond just yourself.

Head lamps are invaluable. I ended up having to change the lantern mantles after the power went out. Trying to do that while holding a flashlight... I had a cheap one I bought off SteepandCheap some years ago that crapped the bed after I dug it out of the storage container last night. But grabbed the Coleman from my pack and had instant light. They do save a lot of hassle when trying to get things done in a no light situation. Here's the specific model I have and it's been good so far.

http://www.coleman.com/product/multi-color-led-headlamp/2000002662?contextCategory=1116#.UapElkBln0c

Got a tad worried I didn't have spare mantles for the lantern. I ended up finding a pack in my carry case for the lantern. Check into your smaller, often overlooked preps and see what you might be missing.

Tea candle lanterns only put out so much light. Made great nightlights, but illumination? Not so much.

The emergency candles listed by Coleman and Coughlans work as advertised. Just best to get a votive for them as the bases that come with the candles are worthless.

http://www.coleman.com/product/emergency-candles/2000003265#.UapGnUBln0c

But also, regular table, votive and tea light candles work and are generally cheaper. Just don't expect full illumination.

Be aware of all emergencies in your area. As Matt posted above, the tornadic threat had passed, but then flooding was a concern. So when you get two disasters at the same time? Flooding and tornadoes? Or electrical storms and flooding? Sometimes you need to evaluate your preparedness actions to take into account multiple disasters at the same time. What situations will cause you to bug out after bugging in? And can you get to the new bug out location without getting into more trouble? As the old saying goes, Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

[Grand58742]

Part 2:

Have a spare set of work/bug out clothing in a waterproof container in your shelter or designated area. As Matt can probably tell you getting wet sucks and having a spare set of dry clothing is invaluable. So really the lesson learned is his to tell, but it has prompted me to getting what I need to have set aside since my basement had some good leakage last night. Mine will/does include: work pants (old set of cargo pants in my case), synthetic t-shirt, wool socks, waterproof boots, long sleeve work shirt, spare rain jacket, gloves and hat. And I will be putting them in a waterproof container for storage. Either way, I tend to dress up in my get out of Dodge clothing during a storm, so this puts it all in one place and one less thing I need to worry about when taking shelter.

Also included in my attire last night and carried on my person was my wallet, keys, cell phone charger, lighter, EDC flashlight as well as one of my Surefires, bandanna and multitool in addition to the headlamp hanging around the hat. Also, even with my little town being fairly quiet, I went ahead and open carried a pistol and spare magazine. While I doubt very seriously there would have been looting in my neck of the woods (since most of the folks out here will shoot first then call the cops when the storm is over) I didn't want to take that chance. So the Sig got placed on my side since I wasn't straying from home last night.

Texts work great for communications since it doesn't take as much to send through already jammed phone lines. Although last night I kept on getting texts that were several hours old. Unless it's a voice call, do not expect real time texts to be coming in. Actually got two texts from Matt this morning that were probably sent last night as one said "you take cover!" with blue skies out this morning lol. And last night got a text from Sharpshooter that was several hours old. You cannot expect real time communications during a disaster. Sometimes just telling friends and family you are okay and will contact them later can be good enough for the moment. I had to wait on a signal most of the time last night but my messages were in que waiting to be sent out when the towers picked back up.

But having said that, don't rely on cell phones as your primary source of communications. I have the option to put in a hard line here at the house, but never did. Unfortunately the cell towers went down and the only way I could get a basic signal was to go outside and out of the basement during the height of the storm...yeah, not the brightest idea. So having a landline in addition to your cell phone isn't a bad idea and something I'll be talking to my carrier about.

And for crying out loud...when an alert goes out for flooding or tornadoes, don't be like the others and go out just to gawk and look at the damage path. My guess is some, if not a lot, of the people that got caught in their vehicles during the flooding were probably out rubber necking and trying to see what was going on. If you are out driving into disaster areas just trying to get pictures for Tweety-bird or Myfaceplace and get caught by the aftermath of a storm, it puts the strain on first responders that are already stretched thin trying to get into disaster areas for rescue operations. The only people that should be out in the immediate aftermath of a disaster should be trained first responders or storm chasers until the area is cleared of rescue operations. So for crying out loud, don't become part of the problem and stay home until the areas are declared safe by first responders.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Glad to here both of you guys are okay. My nephew was working in Moore when the first one came through. He was a half mile north of its path. He and his wife live in Norman.


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