Hailpocalypse

[Tektronik]

Just got off the roof. Back is killing me.

There was a very destructive storm that came through Oklahoma City and the surrounding areas. I witnessed the worst hailstorm i've ever seen. They were the size of softballs, and some even bigger, maybe the size of grapefruit. Hail was coming down so hard and fast that i'm sure it would of killed someone if they were hit directly by one. Cars that were not parked in garages looked like they were in accidents, windows shattered, mailboxes obliterated.

Other parts of oklahoma city had tornadoes touchdown. A few of my co-workers had small tornadoes knock over chimneys, and remove their sheds. i got lucky, only 18 holes in my roof. I mean I could literally put my arm through the holes. Everyone was rushing to Lowes and Home Depot buying shingles and stuff to temp repair their roofs because more rain is supposed to come tomorrow.

We were in the middle of a base-wide exercise when the storm hit. After my command section called my home to see if my family was alright, I was able to get excused from work tonight so I could do the repairs to my roof. There were roofing contractors everywhere tonight, looking at houses and giving advice. They were saying that there is enough work for every contractor to be backed up with roof work for the next nine months!

Hopefully, anyone here from OK is still safe and doing well. Brandon, how are you doing?

[BirdDog]

So glad your family was okay. I am very sorry about your roof. I hope you and your family do not have any other troubles with the passing storm.

[Jeffb]

Thats just crazy!!!!! I'm glad you are OK.

[Christopher]

what the heck is going on with the weather?! I'm glad you ok!!!

[Schizophretard]

Sorry about the roof and I'm glad you're okay. That must of been an awesome sight! Did anyone save some hail or take a picture?

[Tektronik]

This storm system hit in the late afternoon. I was supposed to go into work at 7pm. i got up around 3:30 to help out with the kids. I had to grill some chicken for dinner. Since it was windy outside, I pulled the gas grill inside of my garage and was grilling with the garage doors open. All of a sudden the skies turned gloomy. The tornado warning sirens went off. I had the news on inside so my wife could tell me if there was a tornado in our immediate area. hail started to come down. I though, OK this is pretty normal. then the big stuff started coming down. I don't know why, but i was amazed by the sheer size of these balls of ice crashing down. they were coming down so fast, you could not see them falling. When they hit the ground, they literally exploded. My yard has large divets where the grass "exploded" and flew off in all directions. There were loud crashing noises everywhere. it was like something out of a disaster movie. my neighbor who was frantically trying to move his cars closer to his house had one of those large softball sized hail balls go right through his back window. That's when I realized these things could kill. I called to him and threw him my kevlar ACH (advanced combat helmet) and told him to put it on. that's when i noticed all of the houses were taking heavy damage. hail was puncturing holes in peoples roofs across the street, causing them to come outside. I yelled to them to get back in the house. the I realized my house was probably taking on damage as well. By this time, my family was all out in the garage and my wife pointed out to me that the chicken on the grill was getting burned. yeah, I was still grilling, but forgot all about it!

When the storm passed, i surveyed the damage to my house. I was like H**y $#17. there were holes in my roof! i went into the attic, and put it this way, I didn't need to turn on the light in the attic. there was enough natural lighting that I could see where I was going, not to mention the sky above through the holes that for some, i could put my hand through.

I still had to go to work, so I got ready, and headed in. Mission First. We were in the middle of an excercise this week. I got a call from my command section on the way to work and told them what happened. They said that the rain would come back tomorrow, so they let me (and probably countless others) be excused from work tonight to try and do some repairs for the second attack wave tomorrow. I decided to go to a Lowe's on the other side of town to pick roofing shingles and caulk because my area was the worst hit and the stores were packed with people.

it was Hail in my area of town. Other had it worse. Small tornadoes ravaged through neighborhood--you could see the path-- its amazing how tornadoes are so indiscriminate. I wen to check on the house we are closing on next month. Luckily, the one was intact, but the house RIGHT NEXT to it had a bunch of shingles taken off, and the house across the street had its chimney knocked over and damaged that roof. Everyone was outside helping clean up and whatever they could do. When I returned to my house, everyone in the neighborhood was on top of their roofs, trying to fix the holes with various things like plastics, tarps, wood and shingles. I was lucky enough to find three packages of discounted shingles because the packaging was torn for 10 bucks. I used what i needed, kept a few for just in case and gave away the rest of it.

For the first time, I'm glad that we are just renting this house. My landlord will have to take care of the real repairs, and the money i spent for temp repairs will get taken out of the rent. made me really think about the house im about to buy, though.

Earthquakes level houses, tornadoes level houses, Hail destroys roofs, flooding, well that's outright scary. Its part of life, i suppose. I'm originally from San Diego, so i'm used to the ground moving, but this is altogether different!

[Schizophretard]

Earthquakes level houses, tornadoes level houses, Hail destroys roofs, flooding, well that's outright scary. Its part of life, i suppose. I'm originally from San Diego, so i'm used to the ground moving, but this is altogether different!

You think that is scary. Check this out! Watch all of it because it shows from different cameras. It looks like a nuke!Huge Meteor Explosion

[Tektronik]

That's insane! I wonder if homeowner's insurance covers random meteor strikes?

[Christopher]

Uploaded about 6 hours ago....Wow.

and another

[nana]

Glad you are all safe Tektronik. I wondered about our Oklahoma members when I heard about the tornado's last night. I know what that kind of hail is like. It can be awful. Luckily we've never had that kind of damage, but it's been very close before.

Has anyone heard from Brandon yet?

[FTJoe]

Same here, glad you're safe. And Brandon was on 7:23 this morning, hopefully a good sign.

[NeRo9k]

Wow, that's terrible. Glad to hear your ok. Spring showers bring may flowers, they shouldn't bring snow and hail.

[Tektronik]

The Hail in the videos were plentiful, whereas the larger hail my area got hit with were not as plentiful, but were larger. Here's a picture of my neighbors house from my backyard. Every house on my block looks like this....Those are holes.

[FTJoe]

The Hail in the videos were plentiful, whereas the larger hail my area got hit with were not as plentiful, but were larger. Here's a picture of my neighbors house from my backyard. Every house on my block looks like this....Those are holes.

That is scary...

[Tektronik]

Here is a picture of one of MY holes. I patched it up last night, but you could of seen right through it. There were a total of 19 holes last night.

For ICE to punch right through shingle, and wood, imagine the size and force behind it. It could kill.

Edited May 11, 2010 by Tektronik

[Bigjim]

Here is a picture of one of MY holes. I patched it up last night, but you could of seen right through it. There were a total of 19 holes last night.

For ICE to punch right through shingle, and wood, imagine the size and force behind it. It could kill.

That's incredible man! I've never seen such a thing! Hope your vehicle was in the garage!

[stormchas3r]

Wow, dude. Nothing like seeing it up close and personal. I am sorry to hear about your house, but atleast no one was hurt or killed over that. I know there are a few fatalities from the twisters it spun up. The dry line collided with that moist air from the gulf, which exploded those storms. I would love to live there and see all that but I am happy to be hear in philly.

I just watched 2012 today, and wow, everything going on in the world is happening just like it should.

Stay safe bro,

God Speed!

Here is something I caught a few years ago, but nothing like what you get down there.

[Brian]

Heard about that on the news... glad you're okay and hope Brandon is too.

[Schizophretard]

That's insane! I wonder if homeowner's insurance covers random meteor strikes?

I don't know but if a meteor like the one in that video hit your house then you should probably be more worried about your health and life insurance.

[snubber]

That's just awesome...glad you're ok.

[Brandon]

I'm so backed up on my reading. Sorry Tektronic, and sorry folks.

Dang man, that's some major hail damage there. Glad you and your fam are safe! But sorry you had so much repair to do. My wife's Civic got totalled in 06 from that stuff and we had some major repairs to do on the house. But, nothing like what you got.

Nobody down in my area was seriously injured, though a house about 3 miles north from me was pretty much demolished. The lady inside was banged and battered, but nothing too major (one of the deputy's mother). Few other houses in a nearby town about 30 miles away destroyed, but again nobody seriously injured. Also one touched down about 5 miles south of us, fortunately it was out in a field so nothing got damaged but some trees and fences. We've dodged a bullet 2yrs in a row now. Last year was the worst of course, with 8 deaths just under a mile to the east of me. Crazy times.

But you folks up in northern and central OK got the worst of it this year. We watched the news out of OKC all night long, and it was horrible. Some folks got very lucky though, we watched some rescue footage of a family when their garage got destroyed and landed on top of their storm shelter. Neighbors were able to dig them out and nobody was hurt, so that's great.

Storm season hitting a little late this year.... I really thought we'd get away with having no tornadoes this time

Again, glad you and your family are safe sir!

[nana]

And we're glad to hear that you're safe, too, Brandon. Haven't heard from you in awhile and I was concerned. I saw a lot of that damage on the news. Kept my on it and hoped for the best for you and yours.

We haven't had much for tornados here yet this year, but it's still been fairly cool.

[Brandon]

Thanks Nana. I'll be back in full swing soon on the forums, hopefully by the end of this week. Mother's Day this year was even busier than expected (which is a good thing) and now I'm drowning in paperwork. Once I get caught up on that and orient my new employees, I'll be golden.

Freaking storm season... We're projected to have another bad day today like the one that destroyed Tektronik's roof. I only hope it's not as destructive and deadly as the last.

But I'm slowly working my way through unread topics now...

Tektronik: watch the weather again today man!

[Tektronik]

Yup, 3rd attack wave scheduled for sometime tonight and tommorow. Batten down the hatches once again. Before this season is over, my roof is going to look like the Battlestar Galactica at the end of the fourth season!

[Brandon]

Dude, I'm watching Mike on Channel 4 weather out of OKC. Not exactly sure where you're at, but dayum you guys are getting slammed again! My grandmother and 9 of my aunts and uncles live in Stillwater. So far they're safe, but Jesus Christ this is just insane.

Check in with us, let us know you're safe.

Edited May 20, 2010 by Brandon