That area is historically prime for hellacious tornados... I used to travel to Lawton often... first time was after a particularly destructive tornado (1979) and as I was on my way from hotel to the plant, I passed a long stretch of sidewalks that led to nothing.. houses were gone... homes are built on slabs.. then another time the minute I landed and got in the rental, the news was blaring that 5 tornados were spotted in the Lawton/Norman area... and I realized I never paid attention to what I was supposed to do... so I drove to the hotel as fast as I could and got into the shelter... while looking at 3 of them in my site path
I've been in way too many tornadoes.. then I get out here in Jersey and have been thru four hurricanes... the thing with hurricanes is... they go on for hours and hours... two went on for over a day... Sandy went on for over 30 hours.... very stressful... cuz once they hit, no help is coming.. everyone is locked down... including emergency help and crews
Factoid: On April 10, 1979 Lawton was hit by ELEVEN tornados.. five level 4s... one killed 42 and injured 1740, another killed 11 and injured 68