Tornado on ground near OKC.. all you okies check in

[justme23]

Our ABC affiliate just reported a tornado had touched down in Okie.

Just wanna hear from you guys. Let us know you're ok if you have power!

[fleabones3]

I'm here..got power.
I am about 1 hr or so south of OKC. We are under tornado watch til 8 pm. Wind has picked up considerably the past 30 mins or so. T-storm is going to hit soon.. ohhhh just heard thunder. What fun

[justme23]

Stay safe, fleabones... they're saying this system is gonna continue to stay bad. We are under the same tornado watch until midnight tonight so I'll be hiding from it w/ yall soon.. lol

[fleabones3]

I have a cellar.. but I aint going down there LOL.. spiders down there

[CLARKS4]

You all stay safe. Praying that everybody will be ok.

[speedygirl]

Stay safe and suck it up and say "spiders are my friends" and get your butt to a safe area. Prayers that all is well.

[stresseater]

We are about 45 min east of OKC and so faar so good the touchdowns were in the Edmond and Guthrie area. Now I am going to go off on a tear about that stupid digital tv. If this had happened in another week we would have been screwed for tv coverage and information. The digital tv signals went off line about 45 min into the event. Fortunately they haven't turned off the analog signal yet so we switched over to that. But damn this crap is going to cost lives in the end. Ok I'm off the soap box now.

[fleabones3]

We are in the all clear now. Had a pretty good hail storm, but too dark to see if it dented my car or not. I know they were good sized hail. A friend of ours was leaving the job site, and said his hard has was on and as he was going to his truck he heard tink tink tink on his helmet LOL..
Yard is flooded bad, the wind is still going, but the thunder and lightning have stopped. hope everyone else is ok and stayed safe.

[buttrfli]

We are about 45 min east of OKC and so faar so good the touchdowns were in the Edmond and Guthrie area. Now I am going to go off on a tear about that stupid digital tv. If this had happened in another week we would have been screwed for tv coverage and information. The digital tv signals went off line about 45 min into the event. Fortunately they haven't turned off the analog signal yet so we switched over to that. But damn this crap is going to cost lives in the end. Ok I'm off the soap box now.

See... that was my main concern. What do we do when the power goes out? We can't turn our battery powered TVs to see the news, and during a storm (and we are getting ready for storm season) our radio reception sucks.

[stresseater]

See... that was my main concern. What do we do when the power goes out? We can't turn our battery powered TVs to see the news, and during a storm (and we are getting ready for storm season) our radio reception sucks.

We never even lost power. The storms were centered around the same area that the stations all are located. The analog signal was ok but digital crapped out. When we had the ice storms a couple of years ago we were out of power and only link was a radio that played tv channels. if that happens this year we will be screwed.

[CLARKS4]

Saw on the news this morning that 8 were killed as a result of the storm. I hope everybody here is ok.
:hug and prayers for those that lost family.

[magickay]

We had hail and rain in Central Texas (near Austin), very intense, but didn't last longer than 20 minutes. The high winds, however, lasted into the wee hours of the morning.

[okie]

Channel 5 isn't switching to digital until June. All the other stations are switching next week. I wonder why all the other channels are switching but they aren't. I may just have to break down and get cable.

[janelle]

Channel 5 isn't switching to digital until June. All the other stations are switching next week. I wonder why all the other channels are switching but they aren't. I may just have to break down and get cable.

If you don't have cable you better get the digital boxes so you can still see TV.

[whatever]

I saw on the news where it just wiped out part of a town. Wow I hate to see stuff like that!!! I hope everyone made it out okay. I know they said they are still missing like 30 people. Its one thing to have to think of a tornado in the summer but you sure don't expect them in Febuary.

[jasmine]

I live here in oklahoma also, I submitted a couple of comments to the local channel 6 here in Tulsa, here is what I submitted as question/ and then their reply also~~~

USER PROFILE INFORMATION
First Name: ******
Last Name: *******
Email Address: ************
Wireless Email Address:
City: terlton
Zip Code: 74081

FORM QUESTIONS
Phone number::
What is your question?:

I was online tonight and ran across people talking about the storms tonight, this person made alot of sense. This is there quote, not mine

We are about 45 min east of OKC and so faar so good the touchdowns were in the Edmond and Guthrie area. Now I am going to go off on a tear about that stupid digital tv. If this had happened in another week we would have been screwed for tv coverage and information. The digital tv signals went off line about 45 min into the event. Fortunately they haven't turned off the analog signal yet so we switched over to that. But damn this crap is going to cost lives in the end. Ok I'm off the soap box now.

See... that was my main concern. What do we do when the power goes out? We can't turn our battery powered TVs to see the news, and during a storm (and we are getting ready for storm season) our radio reception sucks.


This is the reply that I got:


-----Original Message-----
From: Meyer, Travis
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 10:40 PM
To: **********
Cc: Quesnel, John
Subject: RE: Viewer Question For Travis Meyer

Sharon,

Thanks for the email... I am forwarding this to our Production Manager as he will have more "info" on this than I can provide.

Thanks so much for watching and I hope you can keep on!

Travis Meyer
The News On 6



Date: 2/17/2009 8:00:57 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: john.quesnel@newson6.net
Reply To:
To: ***********
CC: travis.meyer@newson6.net
BCC:
Sent on:


Sent from the Internet (Details

Sharon,

We are efforting to have our severe weather coverage broadcast by various radio stations in our viewing area. I am not part of the team working on that project, so I do not have any information for you at this time. However, I have asked someone who is to reply to your email.

As far as DTV signals going off the air during the recent event, I can't speak to why that happened. There is nothing about how DTV signals work that would make them any more or less susceptible to failure during severe weather.

As far as battery operated digital TV's, I believe one foreign manufacturer, the name escapes me, is efforting such a product; however I do not have any information on when it might come to market. I would suggest touching base with Radio Shack, WalMart, and Best Buy on a regular basis, since they would be the most likely retailers to carry such a product.

Unfortunately, manufacturers have not ramped up production on portable DTV capable TV's because of their belief in development of small handheld devices like the i-Phone, i-Touch, and Blackberry as the next generation of portable, DTV capable "television". Also there are technical issues, some resolved and some not resolved, with DTV signals reaching devices which are in motion. Working prototypes were shown last spring, but a full rollout is another 6 to 12 months away.

I wish I could be of more assistance, but unfortunately the role of portable, DTV capable television has been overlooked by those in charge of the entire DTV transition. Thank you.

John Quesnel
Production Manager

[jasmine]

just got this email also:


Subject: reply
Date: 2/17/2009 11:54:16 A.M. Central Standard Time
From: ron.harig@newson6.net
Reply To:
To: **********
CC: susan.gould@newson6.net
BCC:
Sent on:


Sent from the Internet (Details)
Thanks for your comments and concern, Sharon. We're not happy about it either, but this is a government mandated change so we have no choice. The fact that you can hear our analog signal on the 87.7 FM is a convenient fluke of the channel 6 frequency. Unfortunately, there's no good digital substitute. We're still in conversations with potential radio partners about carrying our signal during severe weather coverage. If we are able to secure a partnership, we will let our viewers know. In the meantime, we do have a close working relationship with KRMG, the AM news/talk station in Tulsa. They carry forecasts from our Chief Meteorologist, Travis Meyer and tap into his severe weather coverage as well. There are also some portable, battery operated digital TV's beginning to appear on the market. We're doing a story about that today. Thanks again for your comments and thanks for watching The News On 6.

Ron Harig
News Director
KOTV, The News On 6