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    Official Witch of Los AngelesCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 8:15pm

    Honest to god serious question that is in no way intended to be mean or snarky: Why do people consciously choose to live in places that have seasonal natural disasters?

    Any time there's reports of a city being obliterated by hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards or similar reoccurring events, I always find myself asking this. You know that, at the same time every year, a big ol' hurricane is going to come through and destroy your house, maybe even kill you or your family — so why keep coming back, rebuilding, and hoping it won't happen again? I really do not understand it. It has to be way more expensive to pay insurance on a house in tornado country, and it has to cost an awful lot to rebuild your home/life after an event like this. Why not move somewhere where tornadoes don't happen?

    (I live in California. Lots of people like to use earthquakes as counterarguments to this question — but destructive earthquakes don't happen with seasonal regularity. We also have wildfires, but it's not like wildfires are gonna destroy San Francisco or LA any time soon.)

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      pthalomarieOfficial Witch of Los Angeles
      5/20/13 8:33pm

      Well, where are people supposed to move to? If you want to avoid states that are prone to natural disasters, you're pretty much confined to a tiny bit of real estate (I think I read that Utah is the safest state in terms of natural disasters) . The Midwest and South get tornadoes; the Gulf Coast and Easter Seaboard gets hurricanes. prety much any place near a river periodic floods. If you opt to avoid flood risks, your best options are states prone to wildfires. As you say, the West Coast gets earthquakes, plus California also has mudslides and wildfires.

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      goldenraeOfficial Witch of Los Angeles
      5/20/13 9:20pm

      Because without you wouldn't have much of your modern conveniences. If my hometown did get occasional seasonal flooding it wouldn't be a gigantic fertile valley supplying NYS with dairy, apples, and vegetables.

      Also no one could have predicted that Irene would have wiped my hometown off the map with a 500 year flood. It's hundreds of miles from the ocean FFS.

      I now live in a port city. Yes we get lots of hurricanes and damage but we also get the impact of global import and export.

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    NWCA408Cord Jefferson
    5/20/13 6:27pm

    I think it sucks that the knee jerk reaction of readers tends towards politicizing natural disasters like this. What the fuck ever happened to empathy for human suffering?

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      LiliVonShtuppNWCA408
      5/20/13 6:34pm

      It's dead in the Gawker comments. Nothing can be seen except through the lens of ones own personal political hobbyhorses. Nothing is too terrible that it might cause one to pause before running to post about how it confirms one's beliefs about the world. No human suffering is too great that it would prevent an opportunity for moral preening. Ghouls. The lot of them.

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      f'(AllNeonLike)NWCA408
      5/20/13 6:36pm

      It absolutely does suck. I'm originally from Oklahoma, was there for the May 3 1999 one. This shit is horrific, and is not a time to politicize anything.

      And certainly not a time to label all Oklahomans as dimwit Republicans who somehow deserve it because of climate change/Keystone Pipeline/Jim Inhofe. (Being labeled a dimwit Republican would come as a total shock to my solidly Democratic parents, brother and sister, and all the friends who are blowing up my phone & Facebook right now with updates).

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    99Telep☺dpr☹blemsCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 6:49pm

    I hope all you homosexuals in Oklahoma are happy and gay. You just buttfucked your way to the most powerful F5 God has ever seen fit to scour the earth with.

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      Denver is too damn high99Telep☺dpr☹blems
      5/20/13 7:06pm

      but, the storms are only hitting states they have not legalized gay marriage. explain that one

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      narfhead99Telep☺dpr☹blems
      5/20/13 7:09pm

      So everytime something bad happens to you do you tell yourself to stop being so gay?! Stop being so gay!

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    reggiebushlateralCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 6:00pm

    Again, cue Anderson Cooper.

    Seriously though, I know these people in Oklahoma don't have basements, but why not build a underground storm shelter, too expensive?

    Devastating.

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      pmtbmusicreggiebushlateral
      5/20/13 6:03pm

      A lot of houses in Oklahoma and Texas don't have basements because the soil/ground can't handle them.

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      reggiebushlateralpmtbmusic
      5/20/13 6:03pm

      I know, but what is the alternative?

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    reggiebushlateralCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 7:25pm

    John King from CNN is reporting that they have someone in custody in Oklahoma City.

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      ratchedreggiebushlateral
      5/20/13 7:45pm

      Wait. What? For the tornado? That's gotta be a Samuel L. Jackson kind of motherfucker.

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      reggiebushlateralratched
      5/20/13 8:03pm

      He cited his law enforcement sources.

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    epaddyCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 6:32pm

    I was on I-44 towards Newcastle. I had to Make the decision to find shelter or just floor it in my truck and try to beat the storm. Here's a pic of the Tornado Just as it touched down roughly 400 meters from my truck

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      Dunebuggyepaddy
      5/20/13 6:50pm

      Wow, that is terrifying! I'm so glad you made it out of there safely.

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      99Telep☺dpr☹blemsepaddy
      5/20/13 6:53pm

      Holy shit! Thank god you're okay.

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    ArdenCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 7:18pm

    Didn't Oklahoma Representatives vote AGAINST using federal money for disaster relief because that would just be damned dirty socialism?

    Looks like the Oklahomans have some Bootstrapping to do...

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      bathysphereArden
      5/20/13 7:49pm

      Why don't you go outside and try your trolling out on people to their faces off of the internet? Too scared to leave your mom's basement?

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      Ardenbathysphere
      5/20/13 8:05pm

      It's not trolling. It's the expectation that when people make their bed, they also sleep in it. If those Reps make one peep about getting/needing/wanting federal aid or government help for this, then the hypocrisy deserves to be put on a flag and flown from the tallest building.

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    dinglebushCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 6:25pm

    Defund FEMA!

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      Graby Saucedinglebush
      5/20/13 6:36pm

      I won't begrudge one cent of disaster aid to Oklahoma but I wonder what Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), Steve Chabot (R-OH), and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) say now.

      Republicans Who Voted 'No' on Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds
      Here Are the Republicans Who Voted 'No' on Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds Here Are the Republicans Who Voted 'No' on Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds Here Are the Republicans Who Voted 'No' on…

      Friday, Congress finally approved a $9.7 billion package to pay flood insurance claims from… Read more Read more

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      iElvis is Putting in a Bid for Gawker.comGraby Sauce
      5/20/13 6:55pm

      You realize that OH is the abbreviation for Ohio, yes?

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    ricearonleyCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 7:35pm

    Man. I grew up on the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana and so I've always been kinda like "Pfft. Hurricanes!" But tornadoes scare the ever-loving crap out of me. At least we get days of notice to prepare ourselves. Good luck to these Oklahomans.

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      ratchedricearonley
      5/20/13 7:39pm

      Same here. LA. and SE Texas. My mom and I were just discussing this. AT least we get some warning with hurricanes and get a decision to stay or go. I can't imagine something like a hurricane out of the blue. (Ever been to Ragley, LA?)

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      ricearonleyratched
      5/20/13 7:47pm

      Haven't been to Ragely. I grew up in Port Aransas, Texas, which is a teeny, tiny island. Then I worked in Houma, Louisiana which is basically storm surge central. That place seemed to get whomped every few years. I now live in New Orleans, so I've gotten really good at evacuating.

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    Denver is too damn highCord Jefferson
    5/20/13 7:01pm

    So, that's the school.. or a small part of it. They are walking on walls and roof.

    edit: they just confirmed over 200 mph winds in the mile wide funnel

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