Well, my plans changed. As I ate dinner, I watched the weather on TV and radar indicated heavy storms moving towards the metro area. I had about an hour or so to mow before the rain was to come in. So, at 6:30 pm, I headed over to Glynda’s house to mow. I did have one minor problem. By the time I arrived to mow the lawn, I had realized that I had forgotten to bring my mowing shoes. The only shoes I had were my brand new ones….and I wasn’t about to wear them. I didn’t have time to run back by the house, so I just mowed with my socks on and no shoes. It would not have been that bad, but the ground was dry and the grass was crunchy, that some of the crunchy grass went through my socks, making me feel like I was walking in a sticker patch. It took me about 45 minutes to mow and I headed home.
As I got back in my truck, I turned on my REACT radio and learned the storms were entering the metro. I quickly went home, dropped off my lawn equipment and headed out to meet the storm as it was coming into the metro. I drove north on I-35 so I could meet up with the storm. As I headed west on E. I-44, I came upon a motorcycle club that were out riding their cycles…in the rain. The rain was blinding and they could barely keep their bikes up because the wind was blowing so hard. As I approached the bikers, the wind blew one of the bikers over. I activated my emergency lights and stopped to check on the biker. She was ok, so I sat in the right-hand lane, with my emergency lights and waited until the worst part of the storm had passed over. As I sat there, the wind really picked up and my truck started shaking like crazy. I didn’t know how much wind my truck could withstand, but there was nowhere to go, so I just sat there and waited. An officer with the OCPD pulled up behind me and started talking to one of the bikers. Since he was there with his emergency lights on, I decided to move on.
These pictures were taken as the storm was moving into the metro area.
The roof had blown off this building on N. MacArthur Blvd, just south of Britton Rd.
I drove back east on I-44 and took I-35 south to the downtown area. Since there was no damage downtown, I headed to the north west side of the city, where there were reports of major damage and power outages. It was around 8:45 pm and I was really tired. I finally made it to my destination, took a few pictures and met with a few of my REACT team members. Once we all met, we realized that OCPD and OCFD had everything under control, so our assistance was not needed. I left the scene at 9:40 pm and headed home for the night.
We are still extremely busy at work, but this week, I have other more important things on my mind. This Thursday, Karla goes in to get a hysterectomy. Today, I am leaving at noon and taking her to her doctor’s appointments. These appointments are in preparation for her surgery. Tomorrow, I will work all day and it will be a normal day. I am off Thursday and Friday, so I can be with her during her surgery and get her home afterwards for her recovery.
Fortunately, we had a couple of teenage girls from church come by our house Sunday afternoon and do some major cleaning for us. We just have not had time to do it. Gayla has been working lots of hours and has not been home much and I have been putting in lots of overtime, so I have not been home. Karla has been too tired to do anything, so our only other option was to hire someone. I wanted it done before Karla had her surgery, because once she is at home, I will be doing all the housework.
http://www.centralokreact.org/
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
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