.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Reply: Oklahoma Tornado

Anonymous         
 
           Anonymous said...
I respectfully disagree with your recommendation of a biometric safe. I had one, I also had a laptop with fingerprint identification. As a technician, any injury to my fingertips (frequent) would leave me 'locked out'.
Imagine now, the fury of a tornado bearing down on you, and you possibly have just moved glass, wood, whatever, and you have a couple of minor scrapes on your fingertips. You are well and truly screwed at that point!
A battery operated safe with four number coding is far superior, in my book.
Thanks for your blog, it truly is a welcome read everyday. fantastic source of information. Well done! 
                                                 .......................
Anonymous said...
I was in the path of both tornadoes on Sunday and Monday. Fortunately all I sustained was some hail damage.

One thing that is particularly useful is to listen to the police channels on radioreference.com. I keep those bookmarked on my smartphone and home machine, so I
can keep tabs on what is going on.
At while you can get internet connectivity.

I bugged out on Monday when it looked like I was going to be right in the path of the tornado. I did grab my portable TV, but it turned out to be almost useless because the local TV stations I could receive were all focused on the damage in Moore. I needed to know what was going on with the storm. It also turned out I could not get internet access where I went to so I could not get listen to radioreference.com. That problem is now fixed, as I bought a scanner today and also a bug out bag that will have everything I need for a quick evacuation.

For me, the past to days have been a good lesson in being better prepared.
                                           ..............................

  Anonymous said...
I was in the area of the tornado and I'm a regular reader of your blog, so I had to comment. A friendly neighbor came to offer space in her shelter for me and my children (4 and 2). I had not been watching TV because my kids were napping. I got my kids up, threw together the diaper bag, edc bag, and bug out bag and went across the street to go underground. The tornado didn't quite reach my area, but I'm glad I sheltered. It was good practice.

My edc bag was valuable. It had phone numbers of all of my family, a comb to fix my kids' soaking hair, mints to bribe the kids, keys, knife, etc. I didn't have to spend minutes looking for all my pocket stuff. My bug out bag, on the other hand, needs work. It was so heavy, and soaking wet, I thought my elderly neighbor was going to hurt himself as I handed it down the ladder. In the future, I will break it into two bags, with the heavier stuff like food spread out. Also, I'll work to make it more waterproof. I suspect that many disasters come with rain. Hopefully, the small lessons I learned are valuable.
                                           ....................................
Thanks folks for sharing your experiences!
FerFAL

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder if a smartphone app to scan the radio frequencies and weather would be of help in such situations. Was the 3G mobile network still working in the the Moore area?

TIA

GulfGypsy said...

Wherever a person lives, there will likely be some sort of natural disaster they'll need to deal with. Here in Florida our primary problem are hurricanes. Along with the usual generator, home safety, food and evacuation supplies and plans, I've update and keep current a package with copies of all important documents such as insurance information, vet certificates for our dogs, passport, marriage license, military papers and such, in a vacuum sealed bag. The same vacuum sealer we use for food storage is a great way to safely store documents (photos too). It creates a easy to store / carry, waterproof flat pack you can toss in your bag. Also I carry shrunken, laminated photocopies of some documents in my wallet. If the information is needed the item can be placed on a photocopier and sized up to get the needed information.

At the beginning of each 'cane season I make up a vacuum sealed package with a two week supply of my husband's medications, along with copies of the prescriptions and basic information on his health conditions. Small enough to fit in my bag and is ensures he'll have his medications to get over an initial disruption.

Anonymous said...

Hi, one note about electronic combination safes. It appears that many of these safes can be easily opened in less than 30 seconds with simple tools, in some cases no tools at all.

One technique is known as safe bouncing and is accomplished as simply as striking the safe above the knob, and turning the knob at the same time. It seems to take a little practice to perfect, but there are numerous videos of people opening safes.

Example videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyGhEIbZLUU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhWQF14Jb9M

Another technique is to simply remove the faceplate & lock with a hammer and chisel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqC9V7SDKdQ

Or simply cut apart with powertools:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRTnJVwYkJ

The safes may be good against fire and water damage, but they don't provide much in the way of security for valuables. If you are looking for a secure safe, make sure you do your research!

Rastus McGee said...

Looking at the pic from the tornado leftovers I noticed the shlter with the door opening out, in North Georgia I would be afraid to get into one, all of the ones I have seen have doors that open out...pine trees or other "stuff" would have you trapped inside if they fell on the door, leaving you to hope someone noticed or came for you !!

Anonymous said...

This is a great thread. For years I have enjoyed the prepper movement, for a great deal, out of nostalgia. Grew up just west of Moore Oklahoma. Grandmas cellar was full of food that was canned to make it through winter. Spent weeks on the front porch listening to the stories of the dust bowl snapping green beans and shucking peas and corn. Ran from a few twisters in that cellar. So, people think the preppers are crazy. Thats just how we survived. Seemed normal to me. When I hear the weight on my pressure caner, I can hear grandma sing. Its funny, they lived their later lives in our modern world. All they wanted was to go back to that world. I'm starting to get that now. Boomer Sooner.