The maniacal dance

In 1974, Paula and I lived just west of the Broadway Ext., and Britton Road in some apartments called the 'Apollo Apartments'. They were nice back then...('not so much now', as Glenn Beck would say). Paula was finishing up her degree at OCC, and I was selling insurance. One day when she was in class and I was in the apartment, the weather changed....abruptly! The sky became dark and not a leaf was stirring out the 2nd floor window of our apartment. I turned on the black and white rabbit-eared television and immediately noticed the weatherman warning people who were southwest of OKC to get out of the path of a tornado. I perked up at the warnings because I love storms (while hating the death and destruction that often accompany them). As I watched, it became apparent to me that the storm was ambling in a direction that was generally toward the Apollo Apartments. Not yet alarmed, I got dressed -- sort of-- in cutoffs and a t-shirt and flip-flops (yes, Gena -- yes, Paula, I have now quit calling them 'thongs' :). Then it became apparent to me that I needed to leave the apartment at once. I grabbed the keys to my car, opened the door and ran down the stairs in a blinding rain. It was raining so hard I could not see well and I got into the wrong car! I found my car, started the engine and headed out east on Britton Road. By now the gray green swirling clouds were hanging low over the television station on the south side of Britton Road. Then I saw it! The tornado was moving up and down, like the horses on a merry-go-round, as the tornado headed in a generally northeast direction. My hair felt like it was standing on end (yes, I still had hair then!...sort of) and I headed east on Britton Road. Then I turned north for a mile and then east and then north and then east -- you get the picture. I was trying to follow the tornado. Every now and then I came close to intersecting the tornado, so I slowed down a little -- wanting to follow it and get as close as possible, but, safely-- behind the tornado! The tornado continued in this generally northeast direction until, out east of Edmond, as I raced eastward along a rain-washed road, rife with potholes, I found myself looking over my left shoulder, directly at the tornado! I was so close to the tornado at this moment that the rain, which had been obscuring my vision stopped! I could see clearly. As I flew down that muddy road, looking ahead on the road and then stealing a glance out the driver's side window, I watched in fascination as the tornado continued its wobbly dance, up and down, looking like a child's 'Slinky' on steroids!

All at once the tornado touched down on a barn that was directly in its path. I glanced at the barn -- then looked at the road ahead, dodging tree limbs and trying to dodge potholes. An instant later I looked back and the barn was gone--completely! Like it had never been there! The ground was scraped clean! The tornado continued toward the old 2-story white clapboard farmhouse. Like a giant meat cleaver, it neatly hacked off about a third of the house! The tornado continued to the east edge of the property and there it ripped a huge cottonwood tree out of the ground and send it sprawling across the road that ran north and south along the east side of the property. I wanted to turn north and run a mile north before again heading east to try to intersect the tornado once more before it ran its course. I could not get past the cottonwood tree, as it completely blocked the road. I got out of my car and stood there, where, moments before, the tornado had passed. I could still see the tornado, receding in the distance, still dancing the maniacal monster dance. It disappeared over the hill, leaving me in the middle of the road, with not a sound around me. I could hear my breathing, from the excitement of the moment. I smelled the smell of ozone. I was shivering and tingling with excitement. Suddenly, things began to happen --- I heard a crash...then another crash, and another.

Momentarily puzzled, I finally looked up, looking for the source of all the noise and saw that the sky was full of fence posts, barbed wire, boards, hay, and sheets of corrugated metal roofing! Then the rain started again. I jumped back into my gold Ford Torino and beat a hasty retreat, hoping that my car wouldn't be decimated by the large objects raining from the sky! As I backtracked down the road I had just traveled, I passed the farm house and looked closely at what was left. There were pictures still hanging on the walls of the upstairs room that was left intact! Amazing!

I stopped to see if anyone was home at the partially destroyed farm house. There were no cars there and no one was home. I hoped that no one had BEEN home when the tornado struck. When I got back to OKC, I found a pay phone and called to report the damage. I watched the newspapers and fortunately, no one was killed or injured.

This is the closest I have ever been to a tornado...ON PURPOSE! (More later on two more tornado 'episodes'--- in Dallas during the famous 1957 tornado in Oak Cliff, and on the Gulf Coast, during Hurricane Carla).

Chasing storms is crazy, but it definitely raises the adrenalin! I will never forget the awesome power of a tornado -- when it is up close and personal. God's power in this physical world is a sight to behold!