re: 25 Years Ago, May 3, 1999 F5 OK Tornado

When I hear or read about huge tornadoes, I always imagine what it must have been like long ago as an Indian out in Kansas, Oklahoma or the like, sitting on horseback up on a bluff, far away with a safe distance, just watching a humongous twister rip through the country side.

No radar, no warning, no shelter, nowhere to run...just watching something you have no chance to be prepared for come destroy the land around you. Makes sense that they built shelters that could be packed up in an instant and moved.

Part of me knows that they were so in touch with the natural world, with senses almost like when animals can feel danger coming, that they were aware that SOMETHING is coming, and it is bringing death with it.

Tornadoes are awesome and viscious.

Those trees tell the story. Those are trees after an (E)F5. When you see it, there's no doubt it was a violent tornado.

One thing you notice it was on a beeline for TAFB and veered north last minute. Then new tornadoes set down NE of Tinker in MWC and Choctaw. It was flat out craziness my kids still remember to this day.

My neighbor was an old man and he stayed, said he was too old to worry about it. Said both our houses got saved and the tornado lifted just as approached in our back yards (we had 2 acre lots). Said he watched it take out some trees in my yard and his sat dish and part of his garage along with our fences. I had some roof damage and needed a new fence plus trees. Plus some missing kids things like trampoline and swing set. I had no phone for 8 days it took out the city telephone HQ.