Sorry I wrote you a novel here, but I do feel this is information I needed when I moved to OK.
I was in the massive May 3rd tornado 20 yrs ago that still gets news coverage now and then. Our home was in Moore (we moved to OK with USAF and nobody said a damn thing about the Moore Tornado Magnet). The experience of not being able to protect our young children as that thing ripped the house from around us was the most traumatic thing I’ve experienced. It still haunts me.
It was also an anomaly.
In the 20 years since, in OKC, we’ve lost one car and a roof to a freakish hailstorm, plus one roof and all appliances in a basement to a storm and associated heavy rainfall. In 20 years, in the middle of Tornado Alley, I think that’s par for the course.
Oklahoma has a comprehensive siren system and the weather center in Norman is on the ball. Local news stations have apps which will give you as many weather updates as you can handle. You DO need a place to go within your home, somewhere small without windows. Basically as many walls as possible between you and outside. Truly try not to live in a mobile home, but if you do, find a park with a shelter and never ever ride out a twister in a trailer.
You need to know where you are located on a map so that you can look at radar or listen to a radio update and assess your risk (this includes when you’re out driving, shopping, working). When you get a house, look especially at what is located southwest of you. They don’t always come from that direction, but it seems real frequent. We would have prepared faster if we’d known the name of the little town southwest of Moore that got slammed just before we did.
Learn what a hook echo looks like. Learn what a wall cloud looks like. Learn what cloud rotation looks like from the ground.
OK gets significant hail damage and straight line winds that take out power lines en masse, so it’s useful to have a battery phone charger, a barbecue, maybe a generator (we don’t have one). Get enough insurance. Try to get a garage or carport for your car.
Our family obviously is extra cautious due to previous experience. But what we do when there is a threat of tornadic storms going past bedtime is we have backpacks with our vital documents and meds. We put sturdy shoes (a direct hit = ground littered with house framing wood and nails) and easy to dress clothing by our beds. When the kids were little they kept their cycle helmets by the bed too. We also have a rigid pet carrier on standby with a couple cans of pet food inside and a harness/leash. Most (not all) tornadoes seem to be late afternoon/evening, with storms weakening as the daytime heat drops in late evening.
Stuff that survives a direct F5 hit: Little Tikes toys, Rubbermaid totes. The rest of it is honestly just random and surreal. We had one wall left standing at the far end of the house and it had a family photo hanging on it. The car was about 8 house further down the street. Our house had 6 cars from a nearby school parking lot on top of our rubble. We walked away physically unhurt. Neighbor across the street died from suffocating trapped under ceiling insulation.
Being prepared is the best way to face spring and fall here. Once you have apps to keep tabs on what’s happening, you can plan around the weather.
TLDR: get weather app notifications, get a sturdy home with an interior closet and garage, do not skimp on insurance, learn the local map, learn what a hook echo looks like.
Also, don’t pay any attention to how hysterical the tv weather presenters get. Learn to assess the weather yourself and pay attention to the official warnings.