Natural Disasters

Growing up in Southern California, I rarely experienced the full force of Mother Nature. We had the occasional earthquake and once in a while the El Nino winds paid a visit, but for the most part, the weather was pretty idyllic. And now that I live in Arizona, I still don't really experience much bad weather. We get some pretty intense thunderstorms, but they typically don't last for too long - hours at most. So when I bought Rental #1 in Oklahoma, I mentally prepared myself for the fact that a tornado could destroy the house. After all, isn't the Midwest a swirling dustbowl of bad weather? Isn't that where Dorothy got blown away to Oz?

Of course, I know my weather stereotypes are not true, but some preconceptions persist. The bottom line is I have never lived in a an area that experiences extreme weather and so I have no idea how much it may affect buildings. I know if you live in areas that have really cold winters, you need to winterize your house. Apart from making sure your pipes don't freeze and burst, I have no idea what else winterizing your house entails. Nor do I know what can happen if you don't do something that you should have.

Hence, I am mentally prepared for my rental property in Tulsa to get blown away in a tornado. I have insurance, after all. But I wasn't prepared for flooding. This weekend, I saw images of the flooding going on in Oklahoma City and other parts of the state and was a bit worried. Flooding is not usually covered under normal homeowner's insurance, so I don't think my property would be covered in the event of a flood. Luckily, it turns out Tulsa is getting lots of rain, but experiencing no flooding, so I appear to be safe. But this weekend did serve as a wake up call.

This weekend also was my birthday! Woo-hoo!