El Reno hit by tornado

[Chopper Scott]

I haven't kept up as of late but that's Box Car Okie's home base.

[John316]

That is too bad. Hopefully he is okay.

Don...ya gotta stop by here and let us know.

Praying for all affected.

John

[luvrbus]

I thought Don and Christy Hicks were more south in the Norman area Jefferson Bus Parts is in the El Reno area hope Ed,Jerry and the others are ok

[boxcarOkie]

I thought Don and Christy Hicks were more south in the Norman area Jefferson Bus Parts is in the El Reno area hope Ed,Jerry and the others are ok

Clifford, Jefferson is in south Oklahoma City just off I-40.  Christy is in Mustang, and they got hit, I don't know how much damage or anything, just that Mustang got a dose of it too.  El Reno and Mustang are north of Norman and west of OKC.  Power is just now returning here, it was off for about six and one-half hours.  Storms and lightning are just now abating 1230am.

I lost part of my little barn too a possible small twister or 100 mph winds, gonna be out some serious coin on that, door and a lot of the roof are now gone.  Bus shop appears to be okay, but I have not been out there due to heavy rains.  The El Reno storm that was one mile wide, and killed two, went thru our area about 1 mile north of us.

Too early to tell what is what, but we are okay.  Been a wild ride down the rabbit hole this year, let me tell you, tornado's out the kazoo, open heart surg. and now parts of my place scattered all around our acreage and in the neighbor's backyard.

And there are still two months of spring storm season left.

Thank you all for your concern, we are okay and it is a good day to be above ground.

BCO

[boxcarOkie]

I haven't kept up as of late but that's Box Car Okie's home base.

We are okay Scott, little touch and go for awhile, but it is allright now.

BCO

[boxcarOkie]

That is too bad. Hopefully he is okay.

Don...ya gotta stop by here and let us know.

Praying for all affected.

John

Power is back on, and the storms have moved on down the road to Tulsie now.  90,000 still in the dark.  But we are okay.

Thanks,

BCO

[Van]

Damn Don! That was really close! We just tried to get a call out to you, glad you guys are ok. let us know if you need any help out there.

  V&C

[boxcarOkie]

Damn Don! That was really close! We just tried to get a call out to you, glad you guys are ok. let us know if you need any help out there.

  V&C

Tell me about it!  As I know some of you are concerned about us, I thought I might briefly bring you up to speed on our status.  We are okay and everything although not normal is well.  We are using our phones sporadically as we have power on and off, and the batteries only last so long.

The major twister was within one mile.  This is what the media calls the El Reno storm, it was a mile wide, and we had several multiple vortex, long track smaller tornados that were associated with the storms. We also were included in the Union City storms too.

Something, a small twister or 100 mph straight winds took some of the roof off of our small barn, and collapsed and tore up the front door, damaged one of our trailers, and has denied access to our tractor which we could use. 

Yoko, our parrot, and I, rode it all out in our safe room in the garage.  It was a little nerve wracking to say the least, but we did well, other than it being quite hot and sometimes very noisy (our safe room is solid steel anchored to the garage floor). 

Evacuation was possible early on I suppose, but where do you go, when it is “all around you and bearing down?”  We felt our best chance, was to just hunker down and ride it out, which we did.

We have considerable wind damage to fencing and bird houses down all over the property.  This was kind of sad, after the storm, we had Purple Martin’s flying all over the place crying out for their babies, but 6 out of 9 bird houses were flat on the ground, their poles bent by the high winds.  Then came the rains, and we have bridges out, flooding, and for the most part, are stuck right here, as power lines are across the road, localized flooding and you name it. 

Our power was out for some 6.5 hours yesterday and five hours today, we have no internet, I will post this when it is possible.  I just wanted to put something down and have it ready when things return to normal, if that is possible, in this crazy year.

Thank you for your inquires, prayers, and concern, we appreciated it very much.

Don Smith
BCO

[John316]

Don,

I am really sorry to hear about the damage to your property. However, you all are blessed that you are safe and that the damage wasn't too bad. Do you have a wife? If so, where was she at....somewhere safe, I assume.

We are praying for you all, and all those affected. Even if the damage is "minor" it can still be tough to dig back out and get on your feet again (and that with heart surgery on top of it). Keep on pushing, pal.

God bless,

John

[boxcarOkie]

Don,

Do you have a wife? If so, where was she at....somewhere safe, I assume.

"Yoko, our parrot, and I, rode it all out in our safe room in the garage."

Guess you missed that?

Thanks,

BCO

[Ed Hackenbruch]

If he did not already know about your wife, and depending on how he read that, he may have thought that Yoko is your parrot's name. Re reading it i can see how he thought that. Glad you guys are ok.

[luvrbus]

It's a beautiful morning in north Texas we are leaving Sonnies headed to OK the weather is supposed to be good to the middle of the week by then we will be headed west by northwest

[boxcarOkie]

If he did not already know about your wife, and depending on how he read that, he may have thought that Yoko is your parrot's name. Re reading it i can see how he thought that. Glad you guys are ok.

Yes, I can see what you are saying.  I should have phrased it differently.  My wife and I, and our parrot, Mo, spent the entire event in the safe room in the garage.

My mistake, thanks for pointing that out.

BCO

[robertglines1]

Take it easy! Remember you are recovering!!!!  Tractor might be blocked for a reason.

[Van]

Don it was good to hear your voice! If you need some assistance just say the word, sure there are a few busnuts here that would be willing to help out. Take it easy and don't hurt yourself.

 Get well soon