Moving to Oklahoma City, where to live, weather, etc. PLEASE HELP!!! (Tulsa: apartments, to rent)

[cgala]

I have been recently accepted to OKC law school. I wil be relocating from New Mexico, with my husband and daughter. I want to find out what areas are the safest to live, and offer really good public schools. Also, my fear of moving is the tornadeos.

In New Mexico we dont have natural diasters or much to worry about, except the occasional fire springing up in the bosque. I am more concerned about tornadoes because I have a 4 year old child (she wil be 5 when we move) and a dog. We will be looking to rent a apartment and want to get familiar with the storms and precautions to take. So far I have decided to get a apartment on the first floor if possible. But I am still terrified and worried to put my child in harms way.

How oftern is OKC impacted by a tornado? if faced with one how should I react and what should I do. My fear is also, what if the storm takes the whole building and we are inside. I have seen pictures of the devestation that tornados can cause and it has made me fear the worst. Please, can any one give me some insight on tornados in OKC, and should i be this scared? it's to the point im having a hard time sleeping, but I do not want the fear of tornados to hold me back from attending law school.

Thank you!

[Bass&Catfish2008]

Originally Posted by cgala

I have been recently accepted to OKC law school. I wil be relocating from New Mexico, with my husband and daughter. I want to find out what areas are the safest to live, and offer really good public schools. Also, my fear of moving is the tornadeos.

In New Mexico we dont have natural diasters or much to worry about, except the occasional fire springing up in the bosque. I am more concerned about tornadoes because I have a 4 year old child (she wil be 5 when we move) and a dog. We will be looking to rent a apartment and want to get familiar with the storms and precautions to take. So far I have decided to get a apartment on the first floor if possible. But I am still terrified and worried to put my child in harms way.

How oftern is OKC impacted by a tornado? if faced with one how should I react and what should I do. My fear is also, what if the storm takes the whole building and we are inside. I have seen pictures of the devestation that tornados can cause and it has made me fear the worst. Please, can any one give me some insight on tornados in OKC, and should i be this scared? it's to the point im having a hard time sleeping, but I do not want the fear of tornados to hold me back from attending law school.

Thank you!

I wouldn't worry so much about tornadoes. Par for the course. Rarely is one as devastating as your intimating.

If I had a family and I were you I'd keep my apartment search to the North and Northwest of OK City. OCU is smack dab in the middle of 23rd street. That area can be dicey. I'd look north and west for your living space.

Blessings and welcome to the GREAT STATE of Oklahoma.

[debzkidz]

The whole tornado thing gets blown way out of proportion. I'm a transplant, but I did come here from Texas which is also prone to tornadoes. Let me assure you that we are blessed here in OKC to have of the best folks in the country here. The National Weather Service has their severe storm center (or whatever its called) located in Norman. When storms come up, there is wall to wall TV coverage. All other programming just comes to a stop. Usually too, the weather people will often warn days in advance that the storms are coming. When there is one in the area, the news people will show on radar, street by street, exactly where it is and where they expect it to go. They don't just suddenly drop from the sky without warning. There are shelters in schools and office buildings. Many homes have shelters built in them. When there is a storm in the area, the weather people will warn you to take your precautions. Office building will have their people all go to their shelter, as will schools. One time one was moving in the general direction of us, and it was just at time for school to be dismissed. Students were not allowed to leave until the threat had passed. Thank goodness. My son was in high school at that time, and all we needed was a bunch of 16 year olds driving into the path of a tornado. And although they can happen at any time of year, there is a tornado season, which is the spring. It's rare for them to happen at other times. If you are concerned usually at the beginning of spring tornado season there will be all kinds of information put out to remind people what to do for safety. Really, you will be fine.

[debzkidz]

Excuse my rude manners above. I forgot to say "welcome to Oklahoma" and congratulations on getting into law school. I have a son that is an L1 right now, so I know how hard you've work to get where you are.

[Rubi3]

Truly, don't waste time worrying about tornadoes in advance. I've lived in Oklahoma all my life except for a couple of years and I've never even seen a funnel. I went through a period when I was about 20, where I experienced great fear every time a thunder cloud came over. I ran for cover to a nearby cellar and finally realized my life was more in danger from being outside in the storm than if I stayed at home and that's what I've done for these many years hence.

However, taking cover is a smart move when the warnings say so. I definitely pay attention. Welcome to OKC and good fortune with your studies. My schooling took place at OSU, OU and UCO, but, OCU Art Dept gave me a one woman show at their art museum which was so nice of them. They have a lovely campus.

[kandydpierce]

I agree with the others, stick to north OKC. You are more likely to get hail damage than hit by a twister. I've had a few close calls but only ended up with wind damage each time. Good luck with law school.

[eddie gein]

Tornados. After you've been here a while you will be more annoyed by the coverage of the weather on TV than the possibilty of tornadoes themselves. Usually there is a bit of overdramitization by the weather guys to keep you watching, but it's obviously important to people who might be in the area of the tornado (the news covers the tornados all over the state except for the are covered by Tulsa TV).

Virtually every tornado that forms moves from southwest to northeast. Unless one forms right in the city area you will have at least an hour's notice that they are headed toward OKC with almost minute by minute coverage on where the storm is and what it's status is at that time.

As people have mentioned, hail is a bigger problem for the most part. Try to find an apartment with covered parking available.

As far as where to live I would strongly recommend looking at Yukon (to the west of OCU) and Edmond (to the north) since your child will be entering school. The other options that to me would be less desirable but better than OKC schools would be Putnam City schools or Bethany.

[cgala]

Thank you everyone for the kind words, and talking me out of possibly turning OKC down because of the tornados. I often hear that oklahoma is one of the countries best kept secrets. I have heard that it is a beautiful and fun state. I will definetely be looking into the Yukon and Edmond area. My concern is the fact that apartments do not have storm shelters. I am thinking of possibly looking for a house to rent with a storm shelter. I am getting pretty excited now to relocate to OKC. I hear its a great school. Thank you all again for the kind words, and honest opinions.

[stiffnecked]

If people say don't worry about tornados it's only because they haven't personally been affected by one. The May 24th 2011 tornado was so devastating in Piedmont I sold my house and moved out. Over 160 houses in that town were destroyed and two young children died. Not a place I'd move back to if I didn't have a storm shelter. All that was left of my friends house............

[debzkidz]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

If people say don't worry about tornados it's only because they haven't personally been affected by one. The May 24th 2011 tornado was so devastating in Piedmont I sold my house and moved out. Over 160 houses in that town were destroyed and two young children died. Not a place I'd move back to if I didn't have a storm shelter. All that was left of my friends house............

Incorrect.

When I was about 11 my home was hit by one, and yes we were at home. Took our roof off. My grandparents lived next door. Their home was hit as well. The entire front of their house was ripped off, including the wall where my grandparents bed was placed, while they were in the bed sleeping. Again, when I was an adult, I was in a shopping mall, with my 2 small children, when it was hit. Luckily no one was injured. They just moved all the customers into the storm shelter areas, where we waited it out. And once a year or so before that, there was a small one which moved through our neighborhood. We only had damage to some trees, but neighbors had more, like roof damage.

By the way, none of these were in Oklahoma. All in Texas.

The point is, you can't let the fear of a possible weather event control where you live. These storms can be deadly, and horrible things can happen, and I would never try to discount nor make light of the horrible losses that these things can cause. The odds of it actually happening to you are still ver slim. You have to be smart, and take all precautions, but you shouldn't let the fear of a possible weather occurrence keep you from accepting this wonderful opportunity.