That’s definitely accurate but it was a gradient up to that point. At first it was just hard rain and small hail that had already been falling. Then it got louder and we heard larger hail hitting my friend’s car that was just outside the garage. Then louder and louder, I was just feeling bad for her because of her car at that point. Then it was just banging and crashing sounds and I was just hoping that through sheer wishing and force of will that it was just my garage door that broke and all I was hearing was stuff blowing into my garage. Then it got louder and louder with a fairly distinct single crash.

It did not ramp down the way it ramped up, or the adrenaline masked it but I feel like after the last hit it was back to quiet pretty quickly. Ears popped once during the ramp up and like crazy during the eye, which went directly over my house.

The shelter is a steel box with a sliding and locking roof/lid. It is fully enclosed on all sides but there are air vents that lead to chambers to keep ventilation, but all with hollow spaces around it and nothing that allows any direct intrusion. The moment the house fell a cloud of dirt dust and just generic debris particles blew straight in all around us.

Nope

I was in a purpose built shelter. I do not believe I would be alive if I was anywhere else.

Catastrophic, but the weird quirk of where stuff landed for me is that nothing that was in the actual house left the property. I got absolutely everything that I wouldn’t be able to replace and lost zero sentimental items.

We heard them but to be honest, they go off from time to time and we rarely go to the shelter. I know the official position is to run for shelter the second you hear them but most people treat them as an alert to check the detailed warnings, look at the radar and go look outside. I did all of the above and the combination made me decide to go into the shelter for the first time in like 3 years. We were down in plenty of time.

Air Force, I didn’t pick it.

I would have had better stuff in my shelter. I would have taken reference photos of my entire house and all my possessions regularly. I would have had a collectibles policy for my legos, and I would have taken real shoes and my wallet with me. Also my dogs ashes and a few more things on the way. Definitely game plan it and have the important stuff accessible and know the fastest route to grab it all on the way.

I didn’t think it was going to touch down on us and left the TV paused and dinner half made on the counter. We had plenty of time and I walked miles barefoot through the debris because my flip flops tore. I had the clothes in my back and my phone and nothing else.

I don’t think too many. There wasn’t much livestock farming on its path.

It was woefully inadequate. It was always just an after thought that was a bonus that was already installed and not something I was really concerned about when house hunting. I liked having it as a small peace of mind but like most people assumed I would never actually need it.

I had a flashlight. Case of water. Bucket with dogfood, some snacks and a desalination survival pump that I already owned in there. In my mind I thought of it like a SERE kit for survival. What it should have been was a go bag. Change of clothes, phone chargers and copy of drivers license.

I wore flip flops down because I genuinely didn’t think it was touching down anywhere near my house. They ripped climbing over the rubble and I walked miles barefoot to get around the downed power lines to where the roadblock was set up.

Also, whenever you get your house set up the way you like it, new furniture, rearrange your gaming desk, clean for company etc, take reference photos. Have current-ish photos of every room at all times. I have most of my stuff documented in one way or another, but usually because my dog did something cute and it doesn’t quite show the full picture of the room.

Coincidentally enough I am a pilot…

Yeah, I was also wondered whether the house had been hit by a plance crash or something, since I have no idea what a F4 tornado is in this context. But scary stuff either way.

This is my living room and kitchen, taken standing on top of my bedroom wall which was laying on my bed.

It got loud and a cloud of dirt and dust flew through the air when the house fell. I never had any doubts that it would hold, but I also never thought I was actually going to be hit.

I was scheduled to move later this summer anyway. I’ll be in an Airbnb until then. I have insurance coverage for the structure, my stuff and alternate lodging. Very likely will not cover everything completely but will be in the ballpark. I’m pretty sure mortgage payments get suspended but I haven’t gotten to call my bank yet so I’m not sure.

Yeah, made it through just fine in the shelter.

No time to take a breather. Too much to do. It’s been rough but we’re holding in there. Yesterday was the day that it really hit me and I was struggling but I got through it and I’m feeling way more normal now. Wife is holding up too, I’m not sure what she was like the night of, I can’t imagine the fear she felt being so far away and alone in her parents’ house for the night.

Little bit of both.

The support and resources on hand have been outstanding. We’ve had everything we asked for show up, more able bodies than we can utilize and are saving way more than I ever imagined. Insurance is gonna be a bitch but we’re meticulously documenting everything and devising a spreadsheet product to counter their low offer right off the bat.

No no no no nooooooooo

Thanks. I really wanted to make lemmy work when I first tried to rage quit Reddit but the amount of content and the… echo chamber makes it hard to stick around. I’ve mostly ended back on Reddit and only pop into lemmy on occasion anymore. I still haven’t made a post on Reddit since the mass exodus #FuckYouSpez but I’ve been commenting. This was the first post that made me want to break my boycott so I came here instead.

No, I tripped on rubble as I took it. I was in flip flops that were not up to the task.

It is smack dab in tornado alley, both Twisters movies were filmed around here. The town itself rarely gets hit. There’s some geographical features to our west that generally split the storms around us, we even joke that there’s the old “Enid forcefield” keeping us safe. My neighborhood was on the outskirts town to the south and the storm hit us while just barely skipping below the town proper.

Wooden frame, brick exterior. As the other guy said that’s standard although the brick is an extra. Full masonry is stronger but depending on the stresses from the storm, having a bit of flex in the wood can actually help slightly more than being fully solid with no give. My neighborhood was generally nicer houses, the damage looked like standard F3 level except the structures were all extremely tough and made it through a high level F4 without being leveled. If it had hit any other neighborhood there would have been mass fatalities.

effectively all houses and most apartment buildings in the US are framed in pine wood covered in plywood. Some have a decorative layer of bricks outside the plywood.

My new place is going to be on the east coast. I already had a move planned this summer.