The worst storm to hit Tulsa since 2007 leaves 200,000 without power, thousands of downed trees, and 2000 relief workers flying in. Is it big news if no one says it is?
I learned as a reporter at The Oregonian newspaper in the 1980s-1990s that if it wasn’t in The NY Times or The Washington Post it didn’t happen. Still true today, I guess.
It’s been that way for a long time with the media Nancy. I grew up in East Texas and we had deadly tornados and floods etc that never made a blip on the national news. Then a tree falls over in NYC and they cover it for a week. There are exceptions of course if they can pummel the right politician with it like they did Pres Bush over Katrina. The media had no questions for the mayor of New Orleans or the Governor of Louisiana. They suddenly decided the President of the United States should have been on top of local flooding and waterways in a terribly run and notoriously corrupt city. A bunch of those people wound up in prison btw. We in Texas were busy rounding up donations and heading down there in fishing boats to help while the media howled about Pres Bush not landing for a photo op. My eyes roll any harder and I’ll pass out. I’m still sore about that one. And they wonder why we hate them so much.
I've lived in Oklahoma for nearly half a century and never seen anything like this. Tornados are bad for sure but even the big ones cut a distinct path, this was wholesale destruction across most of the town. I heard they literally called this event a 'ground hurricane.' Even so my father-in-law said it isn't even being covered much on local north Texas news. Odd how siloed everything seems these days.
From 1966 to 69 I lived in Lawton, Oklahoma. Even now I can still remember how absolutely still everything became just before the massive thunder and lightning and hail and wind started for every storm.
Spooky stuff as a kid to watch the lightning and storm build in the sky miles away and advance...
There were few trees where we lived just south of Fort Sill and a couple miles east of Cache and it was absolutely flat there, aside from “mount” Scott.
I know exactly what you’ve written about and you’ve taken me back.
Don’t forget that pre-storm smell in the stillness. My mom could always tell how bad the lightening would be by the smell. We spent many hours huddled in the central hallway under old mattresses listening to storms roll by. The occasional tornado too. This story brought me back too.
born and raised in Tulsa, left when I was 19 - I definitely do not miss this weather! I remember many times watching tornadoes moving past our house, and those January ice storms!
I’m told there’s a rule of thumb about where you should go in basement when there’s a tornado. It’s been explained to me a dozen times, but I always forget, being spatially challenged. However, I’ve finally memorized which corner of the basement to go to, even if I don’t know why
Still haven’t heard much about this at all. Glad y’all are okay. It’s always so surreal to get out after the bad weather passes and survey the damage. Thanks for sharing your pictures!
Glad you are all okay and it's nice to hear about local people helping each other out. We have, unsurprisingly, the same problem with "big news" in the UK, especially with weather events. There is often terrible flooding in the North of England, and storms a couple of years back left people in the North East without power for a long time. It never gets a lot of attention (or enough clean up money) beyond perhaps the first day. The usual - a politician will head there for the photo op, stand around for some media shots in their wellington boots, and then head back to London.
Although Sam Anderson's "Boomtown" is about OKC (and a really fun read too), the chapters on the extreme weather in Oklahoma show how much Oklahomans put up with, seemingly without much notice from the rest of the US. The Art Deco architecture in downtown Tulsa is really remarkable too, and again, a bit under-publicized.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo paid a visit to Charlotte, NC. Although Charleston, SC featured the most dramatic photos from Hugo, Charlotte did make the news because a hurricane traveling so far inland was unexpected. Additionally Charlotte still hosted the Hornets and its mascot was named Hugo.
Like Nancy, I remember darkened grocery stores--cash or check only--where aisles of canned goods were cleaned out. However, the most vivid memory is waking up the morning after the hurricane not yet knowing the extent of damage and, like Nancy, going in search of coffee. Everything nearby was closed, even the 24/7 convenience store.
Thinking only my neighborhood was affected, my husband and I drove to my parents. Surely they’d have coffee! We made it as far as two blocks to their house. Their street, a four lane road, was completely blocked by downed trees. We wove our way down the street to find a darkened house with two trees on the roof. Inside, we were greeted as saviors. Years afterward, my mom would brag that the first thing we did after the hurricane was to check on them. Alas, about a decade later, she heard my account of looking for coffee and said, accurately, “So THAT’S why you came over!” Mea culpa
Postscript. It took about two weeks for power to be restored and I sorely missed coffee. A few years before, I’d been living in Hartford, CT when Gloria came through and wiped out power for about a week, but I HAD A GAS RANGE and could boil water.
In Charlotte, most of the ranges weee electric. Thankfully there was a Chinese restaurant near my parents. They opened within a day or two and we ate (by candlelight ) the food cooked on their gas range. It was wonderful to have hot food but the best part was drinking cups of strong jasmine tea.
I learned as a reporter at The Oregonian newspaper in the 1980s-1990s that if it wasn’t in The NY Times or The Washington Post it didn’t happen. Still true today, I guess.
It’s been that way for a long time with the media Nancy. I grew up in East Texas and we had deadly tornados and floods etc that never made a blip on the national news. Then a tree falls over in NYC and they cover it for a week. There are exceptions of course if they can pummel the right politician with it like they did Pres Bush over Katrina. The media had no questions for the mayor of New Orleans or the Governor of Louisiana. They suddenly decided the President of the United States should have been on top of local flooding and waterways in a terribly run and notoriously corrupt city. A bunch of those people wound up in prison btw. We in Texas were busy rounding up donations and heading down there in fishing boats to help while the media howled about Pres Bush not landing for a photo op. My eyes roll any harder and I’ll pass out. I’m still sore about that one. And they wonder why we hate them so much.
I’m glad everyone is okay so far! 🤞🏻
I've lived in Oklahoma for nearly half a century and never seen anything like this. Tornados are bad for sure but even the big ones cut a distinct path, this was wholesale destruction across most of the town. I heard they literally called this event a 'ground hurricane.' Even so my father-in-law said it isn't even being covered much on local north Texas news. Odd how siloed everything seems these days.
From 1966 to 69 I lived in Lawton, Oklahoma. Even now I can still remember how absolutely still everything became just before the massive thunder and lightning and hail and wind started for every storm.
Spooky stuff as a kid to watch the lightning and storm build in the sky miles away and advance...
There were few trees where we lived just south of Fort Sill and a couple miles east of Cache and it was absolutely flat there, aside from “mount” Scott.
I know exactly what you’ve written about and you’ve taken me back.
Thanks.
Don’t forget that pre-storm smell in the stillness. My mom could always tell how bad the lightening would be by the smell. We spent many hours huddled in the central hallway under old mattresses listening to storms roll by. The occasional tornado too. This story brought me back too.
born and raised in Tulsa, left when I was 19 - I definitely do not miss this weather! I remember many times watching tornadoes moving past our house, and those January ice storms!
Glad you’re ok
We were idiot girls from NY, never occurred to us to get in basement (which we don’t have) or bathtub. We are lucky
I’m in Virginia, no basement here either and we just had a huge hailstorm Friday night that took tons of limbs down. 😊
I’m told there’s a rule of thumb about where you should go in basement when there’s a tornado. It’s been explained to me a dozen times, but I always forget, being spatially challenged. However, I’ve finally memorized which corner of the basement to go to, even if I don’t know why
Still haven’t heard much about this at all. Glad y’all are okay. It’s always so surreal to get out after the bad weather passes and survey the damage. Thanks for sharing your pictures!
Glad you are all okay and it's nice to hear about local people helping each other out. We have, unsurprisingly, the same problem with "big news" in the UK, especially with weather events. There is often terrible flooding in the North of England, and storms a couple of years back left people in the North East without power for a long time. It never gets a lot of attention (or enough clean up money) beyond perhaps the first day. The usual - a politician will head there for the photo op, stand around for some media shots in their wellington boots, and then head back to London.
Hope your power is back soon.
I think I’d be less annoyed if the politicians just stayed home.
Oh my gosh. So massive. Glad you two are okay. Write it up for Reason if there's an appropriate angle?
Although Sam Anderson's "Boomtown" is about OKC (and a really fun read too), the chapters on the extreme weather in Oklahoma show how much Oklahomans put up with, seemingly without much notice from the rest of the US. The Art Deco architecture in downtown Tulsa is really remarkable too, and again, a bit under-publicized.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo paid a visit to Charlotte, NC. Although Charleston, SC featured the most dramatic photos from Hugo, Charlotte did make the news because a hurricane traveling so far inland was unexpected. Additionally Charlotte still hosted the Hornets and its mascot was named Hugo.
Like Nancy, I remember darkened grocery stores--cash or check only--where aisles of canned goods were cleaned out. However, the most vivid memory is waking up the morning after the hurricane not yet knowing the extent of damage and, like Nancy, going in search of coffee. Everything nearby was closed, even the 24/7 convenience store.
Thinking only my neighborhood was affected, my husband and I drove to my parents. Surely they’d have coffee! We made it as far as two blocks to their house. Their street, a four lane road, was completely blocked by downed trees. We wove our way down the street to find a darkened house with two trees on the roof. Inside, we were greeted as saviors. Years afterward, my mom would brag that the first thing we did after the hurricane was to check on them. Alas, about a decade later, she heard my account of looking for coffee and said, accurately, “So THAT’S why you came over!” Mea culpa
Postscript. It took about two weeks for power to be restored and I sorely missed coffee. A few years before, I’d been living in Hartford, CT when Gloria came through and wiped out power for about a week, but I HAD A GAS RANGE and could boil water.
In Charlotte, most of the ranges weee electric. Thankfully there was a Chinese restaurant near my parents. They opened within a day or two and we ate (by candlelight ) the food cooked on their gas range. It was wonderful to have hot food but the best part was drinking cups of strong jasmine tea.