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| As some of you might know, we had a
tornado here in Muskogee on June 1st, 1999. It clobbered the Fansteel Plant,
traveled across a field, hit the bridge over the Arkansas River, then plowed into the
OG&E Power Plant. Since we live pretty close to both the river and the plant,
there was quite a view of the tall twister from our house. In fact, it was the first
tornado my wife and daughter had ever seen. Unfortunately, I missed that particular
view. You see, I was on that bridge at the time. I can be a bit crazy where storms are concerned. So when I heard there was a tornado on the back of the storm just a couple of miles away, I grabbed my camera and headed for the car. There was just a bit of drizzle and small hail when I reached the highway and headed east to Ft. Gibson. I noticed some odd clouds to the north, but according to the news the tornado was well to the north-east. (In retrospect, I realize that I was seeing the rain-wrapped tornado) When I passed OG&E the rain really started to pour, and within a couple of minutes it was blinding. As I slowed, I noticed the hail getting worse and realized that I might drive into an unseen tornado if I kept on. Deciding that this wouldn't be a terribly bright idea, I did a u-turn at the Ft. Gibson exit and headed home. I came out of the rain and figured on a quiet (if you don't count the lightning and thunder) ride back to the house. But the rain returned with a vengeance (ever driven through a car-wash?), which didn't seem right. After all, I had just come out of the storm, which was moving south-east, and I was driving west. By the time I reached the Arkansas River bridge, the wipers could barely keep up. I hesitated for a moment before crossing the bridge, since I had a bad feeling about it. But I was more worried about being rear-ended by another car, so I forged ahead. About halfway across the bridge something flashed across my field of vision. Then I realized that the rain was suddenly horizontal, and that wind had gone from "whistle" to "high-pitched scream". I had made a slight error in judgement. You see, the dang tornado had jumped behind me, and I had just driven directly into it. As the debris field rose up on the right, the three vehicles I had been following slowed to a stop at the end of the bridge. I pulled in behind them, as close to the guardrail as I could, and jammed the car into park. The tornado encompassed us at this point, so I leaned over into the passenger seat and watched the tornado from the inside for what seemed like ten minutes. The car shook and rocked, and the noise was deafening. I was just waiting to be plucked off the bridge and tossed into the river. And that's a long fall. Now I've been trying to find a way to describe what it is like to be inside of a tornado for a week now. It's very hard to explain, as I've never experienced anything like it. But here's the basic idea: Sight: Imagine truly horizontal rain. Not that "almost-horizontal" rain that comes with wind gusts. We're talking perfectly straight, from right to left. Now scatter a bunch of debris into the mix, moving so fast that you can't identify most of it. Sound: Take the "whistle" your car makes at about 80 miles an hour, and multiply that by 1000. (A screech or scream so loud that you can barely hear it) Add to that the sound of rain and trash blasting your car at tremendous speed. Feel: Imagine your car rocking and shaking at the same time. The shaking is the hardest to describe. It was more of a very intense vibration, and reminds me of the view from a camera on an Indy Car. The entire scene outside seemed to "shimmer" slightly. The tornado gave me the impression that I was falling sideways or spinning at a high rate of speed. That really throws off your equilibrium! Oddly, it also reminded me of the old Looney Tunes cartoon, when Wile E. Coyote (only an inch tall, since he had run into a narrowing pipe) finally catches the (still 7 feet tall) Roadrunner. Wile E. asks the audience, "Now that I've caught him, what do you want me to do with him?" I felt pretty Wile E. at the moment. And my car would
definitely qualify as an Acme product. OG&E and Fansteel both took pretty bad hits, but I couldn't get near either to get pictures. But I did find some pictures of the damage at the site of a local ISP, and they are posted on the next two pages with a few of mine. Amazingly, I didn't remember I had a camera when I was in the
tornado. I know I originally said that I was done chasing tornadoes until I figure out what to do when I catch one, or when one catches me. But the initial shock has worn off, and my usual insanity has returned. So it will have to be on a case-to-case basis. If my wife will let me out of the house. |
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