Norman house owner describes roaring hailstorm, reveals harm left behind
NEWS DESK FOR AN UPDATE. JESSICA: THANK YOU. WE WANT TO GO OUT LIVE TO JAMES RODRIGUEZ, OUR PHOTO JOURNALIST WAS DAMAGED. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US HERE. >> HELLO. HOW ARE YOU? >> I’M JUST FINE, THANKS. JESSICA: CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH AND SHOW US THE DAMAGE THERE TO YOUR HOM >> SURE, WHEN THE STORM STARTED, IT ROARED LIKE A TORNADO. WE ALL THOUGHT IT WAS A TORNADO. ACTUALLY A HAILSTORM AND THE HAIL WAS JUST THE LOUDEST THAT I’VE BEEN I OKLAHOMA. AND AS YOU CAN SEE HERE IT TOTALLY BLEW OUT THESE WEST-FACING WINDOWS. NOT ONLY BLEW THE GLASS IN BUT THE METAL BARS AS WELL. LUCKILY, WE WERE ABLE TO GET NOVER THE HALLWAY AND IN THE INNER HALLWAY AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS. AND MY CAT WAS SMART ENOUGH TO RUN IN A CLOSET. WE WERE FINE. BUT BOY, WAS IT LOUD. I JUST NEVER HAVE HEARD HAIL THAT LOUD BEFORE. >> CATS ARE ALWAYS THE QUICKEST TO REACT IN THOSE SORTS OF SITUATION. TELL ME ABOUT THE SOUND. YOU SAID IT WAS SO LOUD, YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A TORNADO AT FIRST. CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE >> LIKE THAT ROAR. LIKE THE FREIGHT TRAIN YOU HEAR WITH A TORNADO. THAT WAS MY FIRST REACTION. I SAID OH, MY GOD, IT’S A TORNADO. I DIDN’T HEAR THE WARNING. BUT THEN I REALIZED, IT WAS A — HAIL. JESSICA: HAVE YOU LOOKED OUTSIDE TO YOUR NEIGHBOR’ HOMES OR TO ANY VEHICLES? >> I SPOKE TO MY NEIGHBORS. I LIVE IN A CUL-DE-SAC. AND EVERYBODY HAS THEIR WEST-FACING WINDOWS ARE DAMAGED. COURSE, ARE ALL DAMAGED WITH BROKEN WINDSHIELD, BROKEN WINDOWS THAT KIND OF THINGS. THERE ARE TREE LEAFS AND TREE BRANCHES. NOT BEEN A GOOD YEAR FOR TREES BETWEEN THE ICE AND THE COLD WEATHER AND NOW THE HAIL. >> NO, IT HAS NOT. HOW BIG WERE THE HAIL STORMS, BETH? >> THERE WERE SOME THAT WERE REALLY GRAVEL SIZE. BIGGER THAN QUARTERS THAT WERE MAYBE THE SIZE OF OH, SAY A THEY WEREN’T QUITE SOFTBALL OR GRAPEFRUIT. BUT THEY WERE TANGER RINNE SIZE. >> THAT’S INCREDIBLE. THE DAMAGE THAT WE’RE SEEING, WE KNEW THAT THEY WERE LARGER THAN SOME PLACES BUT THE FACT THAT WE WERE SEEING SOME DAMAGE, RELATIVELY SMALL. TELL. JESSICA: BETH, HOW LONG WOULD YOU SAY THIS LASTED? >> YOU KNOW, IT WASN’T MORE THAN SIX, SEVEN MINUTES, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IT’S HARD TO TELL BECAUSE IT’S SO FRIGHTENING. BUT CERTAINLY NOT LONGER THAN 10 MINUTES. BUT IT WAS LONG ENOUGH TO BE VERY SCARY, FOR MY CAT TO BE IN THE CLOSET. FOR ME TO GET IN AN INNER HALLWAY WELL AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS AND TRY TO STAY CLEAR OF THE GLASS THAT WAS FLYING AROUND. JESSICA: I’M GLAD YOU WERE OK AND I’M GLAD YOUR SON WAS THERE TO CHECK ON YOU AS WELL. I UNDERSTAND YOU CAN HEAR US ON YOUR WAY TO YOUR MOM’S. CAN YOU TELL US WHAT DAMAGE YOU MAY HAVE SEEN? >> YEAH, THERE WAS — NOT A LOT OF HAIL LEFT ON THE GROUND. BUT I KNOW AS I WAS GOING DOWN I-35 COMING INTO THE NORMAN AREA, TRAFFIC ALMOST HIT A DEAD STOP ON 35 BECAUSE THERE WERE JUST CARS ON I-35 THAT WERE JUST COMPLETELY DENTED UP, JUST DESTROYED BY THIS HAILSTORM. IT WAS REALLY CRAZY TO SEE, YOU KNOW, THANKFULLY IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A LOT OF FOLKS HAVE LOST POWER. BUT THERE’S — THERE’S BROKEN GLASS ALL TURNOVER PLACE ESPECIALLY GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE SOONER MALL AREA WHERE WE’RE NOW. JESSICA: WE HOPE YOU CAN HELP YOUR MOM GET THOSE WINDOWS BOARDED-UP AFTER AN INTERESTING NIGHT. >> PROBABLY NOT THE TV DEBUT YOU WANTED TO MAKE, BETH, B
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Norman house owner describes roaring hailstorm, reveals harm left behind
A number of folks in Norman have reported residence and automotive harm attributable to the hailstorm that moved by way of the town Wednesday night time.Norman house owner Beth Van Horn, who’s the mom of one in every of KOCO 5’s photojournalists, mentioned the wind roared like a twister, inflicting her and her neighbors to suppose a twister had hit the world. Van Horn mentioned they then realized a tornado didn’t contact down in Norman however as a substitute a hailstorm.She described the hail because the loudest she’s ever heard and confirmed KOCO 5 the place hailstones had crashed by way of her residence’s home windows.Watch the video participant above for the total story.
A number of folks in Norman have reported residence and automotive harm attributable to the hailstorm that moved by way of the town Wednesday night time.
Norman house owner Beth Van Horn, who’s the mom of one in every of KOCO 5’s photojournalists, mentioned the wind roared like a twister, inflicting her and her neighbors to suppose a twister had hit the world. Van Horn mentioned they then realized a tornado didn’t contact down in Norman however as a substitute a hailstorm.
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She described the hail because the loudest she’s ever heard and confirmed KOCO 5 the place hailstones had crashed by way of her residence’s home windows.
Watch the video participant above for the total story.