Question for OKC dwellers (Oklahoma City, Norman: apartments, to rent, low crime)

[$how Me $tate Bred]

This fall I will be finishing my last semester of college and I am somewhat considering relocating to OKC because my fiance has relatives in the area and she want to attend U of O because of an allied health program at the health center. But I am concerned about the tornados. I was wondering are basements and storm shelters abundant and since we plan to rent an apartment in the city I was wondering do the apartments usually have storm shelters or something to that is safe. I know to you natives this may seem like a dumb question but it is something I am very concerned with since this is potentially a place we may be moving. I would ask her but she has never lived in Oklahoma and her relatives don't seem to worry about tornados so I was wondering can someone give me the deal?

[Tooncy]

but have visited several times, and there must be some procedure for protection from severe storms. I think the percieved threat is greater than the actual one. Personally, I would not go to a basement or shelter, because then you miss all the excitement. If something like that's gonna happen, be brave and take pics of the whole thing. I don't think the threat is worth worrying about, it just doesn't happen that often...

[flintysooner]

I live in Moore and there are no public shelters. I think I read that Norman made some very limited space available. I am unaware of any widely available public shelters in Oklahoma City. There is a page on the OKC web site:
OKC tornado safety

Usually it is entirely an individual responsibility and everyone makes the best plan they can for themselves. Sometimes that means a neighbor's shelter but more often it is somewhere inside the home. The two exceptions are house trailers and being in a car. Then it is pretty important to find better shelter.

It is one of those things that we've learned to really respect but we also don't allow the possibility to disrupt our lives. Tornadoes usually are very narrow in path, brief in duration, and relatively low power. On the other hand we all remember May 3rd 1999, too, and act accordingly.

Advance warning, which you will find in great abundance here, is the most important factor in staying safe. It is pretty easy to mitigate concern about tornadoes through personal research and education.

Best wishes and I hope you enjoy Oklahoma City. The area around the medical center is really becoming such a splendid area - makes me wish I were younger and could live in that area for a while.

[peggydavis]

I don't really worry about tornadoes that much. I have lived in OK for almost 50 years and I have only seen two and they were small ones.

But, I know some people are really worried and want to go to a shelter at the first black cloud. If you think you are that way, you could find an apartment around a big hospital. They all have basements and of course are open 24 hours a day. Many churches and schools have shelter areas, and they are open if the storm is really big. You don't want to drive a long way in severe weather, so you can, if you look, find a place that is near a shelter. Big office buildings often have good shelter areas, but might be closed if after regular hours.

[peggydavis]

After some thought, maybe you should consider living in Harrah, OK. It is in eastern OK County, and convenient to the OU Medical School. I used to live there, and they have a very large storm shelter at an elementary school close to some apartments. It must hold 200 people. There are NO DOGS allowed, because the last big tornado people brought big dogs in and they caused quite a bit of trouble. They have another large shelter that opens in the Baptist church, and another in the football stadium. Harrah is a nice little town, pretty clean and low crime.

[Dale_]

I was concerned about this before I moved here a little over a year ago. After being here for the storm season of 06 and most of 07 now I have very little concern for the possibilty of being "hit" by a Tornado. The advance warning system here is exceptional from my experience. It amazes me how accurate they are with pinpointing where the tornado is and where it is going. When the sirens go off here they mean business they don't sound them unless they want you somewhere safe. Sirens are in abundance here and many are solar powered so they WILL go off.

I would suggest purchasing a NOAA weather radio with SAME technology. This will give you the ability to program an alarm for any weather emergencies in your county. These are nice for the ones that sneak in late at night and you might not hear the sirens.

OKC is a very progressive city in the last ten years and reminds me alot of Indianapolis 15-20 years ago. It will never be a cultural mecca by any standards but the unique history that is Oklahoma and what has been accomplished with the MAPS program already and the fact that it looks as though there will be further MAPS programs the city can only get better.