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Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Sit back and talk with friends. Same rules as before. Rule #1-Relax with friends on the front or back porch.
Rule #2-No Politics, religion or anything above a G level.
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BrokenolMarine
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Location: South Central Oklahoma in the mountains
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Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Post by BrokenolMarine » Mon Apr 21, 2025 12:14 pm

Sunday Night....

We had been saying we needed a bit of rain, and every time it splits and goes around. They were calling for rain the last couple weeks and then the NOAA Radio alert tones squalled, and we got severe Tstorm warnings, with a threat of hail, high winds and then upgraded to Tornado Watch. Okay, okay, we can deal. ;) We can use the rain and we keep loose items secure, It's Oklahoma, you know... "Where the Winds Come Sweeping Down the Plains?" (At 100mph.) :o

Miss T gathered the shelter bag from the laundry room just in case. Fiona growled at the NOAA radio, she doesn't like the shelter.

About a half hour later we got the tones and then the warning... The National Weather Service in Norman has issued a Tornado Warning for the Following Counties. Immediately Seek Shelter, do not pass Go... Do not collect $200...
Off we went. We were in the shelter about twenty to thirty minutes and they cancelled the Warning and downgraded to a Watch....

Going to the shelter means trekking thru the driving rain... that SEVERE Thunderstorm, but better safe than sorry. Grateful to have it. So, back in the house, and dry off. Dog dances around, happy to be out. Not in the house ten minutes, and the alert goes off again. They are saying it's for the North East section of our county, and Miss T is debating going back in when they say there is a Tornado on the ground in ADA, twenty minutes away. :shock: Back we went... through the driving rain and heavy winds. This time we stayed about an hour... and a half.

It was a long night, again, grateful... No more Tornados that night, but there was damage in town the next morning. We had, some flooding in the lower areas but the creeks held the runoff and handled it well. The pond, which had been down about eight to ten feet, isn't anymore, it's full and running off into the overflow.

05a pond has filled.jpg
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A long view of the pond shows it's up to the banks and looks great. At it's peak it had run around the berm on the left side and down the road, through the barn and into the creek to the road. :twisted: Yup, Mom Nature said, "You want water for the pond, here's some water."

I said, "Thanks Mom, we can use it."

06a wide view of pond full.jpg
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Last year we had the Excavator guy open up the crossing inside our fence at the orchard. He did a great job. Made it easy to cross with the UTV or the Tractor and Bush Hog. Looked Great.

07 nice job.jpg
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This is what it looked like after the heavy rains.

01a crossing.jpg
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That water flows into the huge culvert that runs under the road. Before we widened that crossing, the power of the water focused on the culvet and had undercut that culvert and endangered the roadway. Like a nozzle on the waterhose. Widening the crossing took away a LOT of the power of the flow.

03a culvert flow.jpg
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So much water was flowing it diverted around the culvert on my range, couldn't handle the flow... normally that culvert is fine.

04a range culvert flow.jpg
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Not only do we get the water from the rain, but the acreage around us drains down into the three creeks and they all flow into the main creek then into the creek that runs thru the main culvert under the road. The first year we were here, that water was over the road and halfway across the orchard. House is safe, sits high enough the water doesn't reach it.

Predicting Severe Tstorms again Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Always use the rain. Makes the grass grow.
;)
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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BrokenolMarine
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Location: South Central Oklahoma in the mountains
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Re: Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Post by BrokenolMarine » Mon Apr 21, 2025 12:16 pm

After we dry a bit, think I'll get a load of rock and add to the range culvert crossing, then more dirt on top of that. Lock that in. Bring that up another foot or so, level it out. Tractor does the work, I just sit.
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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CT_Shooter
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Re: Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Post by CT_Shooter » Mon Apr 21, 2025 1:34 pm

BrokenolMarine wrote:
Mon Apr 21, 2025 12:14 pm
Sunday Night....

The National Weather Service in Norman has issued a Tornado Warning for the Following Counties. Immediately Seek Shelter, do not pass Go... Do not collect $200...
Off we went. We were in the shelter about twenty to thirty minutes and they cancelled the Warning and downgraded to a Watch....

...Not only do we get the water from the rain, but the acreage around us drains down into the three creeks and they all flow into the main creek then into the creek that runs thru the main culvert under the road. The first year we were here, that water was over the road and halfway across the orchard. House is safe, sits high enough the water doesn't reach it.

Predicting Severe Tstorms again Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Always use the rain. Makes the grass grow.
;)
You guys are having quite an adventure. Glad you have the Shelter and NOAA to tell you when to go there. Thankfully, widening the culvert was some great planning that really paid off. You're getting it done. Very cool.

Good luck in the coming week.
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BrokenolMarine
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Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 8:28 am
Location: South Central Oklahoma in the mountains
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Re: Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Post by BrokenolMarine » Mon Apr 21, 2025 2:25 pm

:D Thanks, we try to stay on top of things. I told Miss T I’m going to paint the inside of the tornado shelter to look like a seascape so it looks like we are kayaking fishing off the FL coast when we are stuck out there. :D

Might brighten up the time just a bit.
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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Hatchdog
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Location: Deer Park, WA
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Re: Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Post by Hatchdog » Tue Apr 22, 2025 10:32 am

After seeing the tornado on the news my wife made a comment on Oklahoma. I told her your and Miss Tina’s story about moving there and one of the items high on your priority list was to install a storm shelter. Your place is looking great with all the work you guys have done.

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cooperhawk
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Location: 20 miles south of the twin cities.
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Re: Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Post by cooperhawk » Mon Apr 28, 2025 3:54 pm

Looks like we're going to see some really severe weather. T-Storms are predicted with tornadoes as well.
I'm watching the line approach on radar and we don't have a storm cellar, but we do have basements here
as the water table is much lower. Sometime after a tornado passes the folks look up and the house is gone,
but they are safe in their basement.

I have to go to the gun club this afternoon for a briefing and I'm going to have to keep a close eye on the
weather and get home if it looks too bad. I don't want to leave Carol by herself in a tornado warning.

BTW, I have served on the board of the American Legion Post that owned the gun club and my goal was to save
the GC as the legion went bankrupt. Success! We were able for the GC itself, along with some investors, to buy
the GC and even start improvements. Larry Satterfield and his group are helping with the updates.
My job is done and I am now out of work. Finally.

https://vogunclub.com
Retired FAA Air Traffic Control Supervisor
VFW (Life Member), VVA (Life Member)
Legion (Life Member), NRA (Life Member)
U S Army Aviation 64-67, Vietnam MACV 65-66

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BrokenolMarine
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Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 8:28 am
Location: South Central Oklahoma in the mountains
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Re: Mother Nature Shows Her Butt

Post by BrokenolMarine » Mon Apr 28, 2025 4:58 pm

Congratulations, good job.
You can tell a lot about the character of a man...
by the way he treats those who can do nothing for him.

I don't look back at the things I can no longer do, I just look forward to the things I still can.

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