OKC Strong

[Albany Rifles]

A month ago the WAB weighed in on being Boston Strong.

We need to stand by Oklahoma City today and tonight.....and in the days ahead.

And Z, if you are heading that way, God Bless.

[Parihaka]

My God, I've been away from news feeds all day, that looks horrendous

[YellowFever]

An EF5 or higher on some reports.

God bless to those deceased and God speed to those rushing to help....

[tuna]

Prayers of comfort to those affected.

[Chogy]

I cannot imagine the horror that went on in those schools. Those poor little souls...

One rancher reported his livestock being launched into the funnel and getting lofted and spit out possibly hundreds of feet in the air... like the cow in the movie "Twister."

This latest tornado cut a swath almost identical to one just a few years ago. Almost as if the terrain was a factor in generating the tornado as the T-storm moved overhead.

For whatever reason, the thunderstorms in the plains States of the USA are just tremendously strong. They are towering monsters packing immense energy. Even further South, down by the equator, where you'd think the T-storms would be even more energetic, they simply pale in comparison. In Europe, the storms rarely top out much above 35,000', while U.S. storms crack 50,000'+ and are 4 to 5 times as large. A pretty dubious honor...

[YellowFever]

Good news for a change.
The death toll has been revised down to 24.

[zraver]

Sitting in Moore now waiting on dispatch. Y1 married up with the Velma VFD. Things are really confusing right now.

[zraver]

just got a mission, rolling out, later.

[Minskaya]

My prayers to all who have been rendered and torn by this tragedy.

[Officer of Engineers]

God Bless.

just got a mission, rolling out, later.

Good show, Jason

[Albany Rifles]

Stay safe, Jason.

[doppelganger]

Condolences and prayers for the dead. Poor kids. Really sad. Mst have been terrifying. You guys must have seen tornadoes. We have only seen them in movies, so have really no frame of reference even when we hear numbers like 200 mph winds.

[tankie]

Watching on the BBC , just horrendous , RIP the deceased .

[zraver]

Search and Rescue Operations are over. Back home for now, to get clean and get my go kit. I only carry my rescue gear in my truck. Was out chasing a tornadic cell north of Tulsa OK when the all-call went out. Dropped off the storm chase and beat feet to Moore. Saw definite signs of EF-5 damage. We found a mazda car that had been picked up from the parking lot of the movie theater and thrown across I-35 to land in the remains of a persons house 1 mile away.

The neighborhood we were working saw TN-TF-1 show up so we (Velma FD and Yankee 1= Division 4) folded our efforts into supporting their dog teams. It was really neat to get to work with the heavy rescue guys. In all there were 4 heavy rescue teams deployed, OK-TF-1 (Tulsa/OKC), Tx-TF-1 (TEEX), TN-TF-1 (Memphis), and I think MO-TF-1 (Boone co)

Getting ready to head back to Moore to assist in relief efforts now that I have a change of clothes.

Picture of a Mammutus field (post-storm clouds) over the devastation in Moore.

[zraver]

Storm slams your home town leaving you with nothing what do you do. Find Old Glory, put her on display- that's OKC strong.