False Alarm!

Another false alarm….or at least that what I like to call it.

The forecast called for severe weather and flash flooding for central Oklahoma after 3 pm yesterday. I figured our REACT team storm spotters/trackers would be activated because of the threat of severe weather. I had all my equipment needed for storm spotting and was ready when I got off work. It was raining when I got off work, but not hard. Normally, when we have flash flooding, it pours down rain for an extended period of time. It did rain for an extended period of time, but very few downpours. Since the rain was steady and not heavy, the drainage system was working properly. There was water standing in the right hand lanes of the street, but that’s normal after a rain. Once again, the forecasters were wrong.

I stayed on the north side of the city until around 5:30 and realized that nothing severe was coming, so I headed back to the south east part of the city. I drove by Lightning Creek, which usually floods during heavy rains. It was not even close to flooding and everything looked fine. Even though we were getting lots of rain, it was moderate, so there was no flooding. That’s good because I hate to see people lose possessions because of flooding. It was kind of a downer to me, though, because I was excited and the adrenalin was flowing….I was ready for some action and it never happened. I decided to head home and do some relaxing.

Nobody was home when I got there, so I folded and hung some laundry, dried off two very wet dogs and watched TV (while I logged on to my computer). I was really tired and relaxing in my chair when Stephen came in. He was emotionally hurt…..his girlfriend had just broken up with him. We talked for a few minutes, but he assured me that they were still good friends, they were just not dating anymore. His work van was still at his apartment, so she dropped him off at our house. Little did I know he would need a ride back to his apartment. By the time I found out, I had already taken some sinus medicine that knocks me out. So, I went to bed and decided to take him back to his apartment first thing this morning.

I was up at 5:30 and we pulled out of the driveway at 5:55 am and headed to his apartment. I dropped him off, stopped by 7-11 for some donuts and then headed to work. I made good timing and was in a parking place by 6:35.

Today has been a steady day so far. My boss woke up sick this morning, so he did not make it in. This evening class #15 of the Citizen’s Fire Academy starts. Since I am president of the alumni association, I have to give a presentation to the class about the CFAAA and what we do. I am pretty excited about it and have a powerpoint presentation to show.

http://www.okcentralreact.org/