Don't Mess With Taxes

My thoughts and prayers go out to Oklahomans who today are literally digging out from the deadly May 9 tornado outbreak that savaged their state.

This photo by University of Oklahoma meteorologist JR Hehnly, shared on his @stormchasing Twitter feed, freaks me out. It's not just the massive twister outside Wynnewood, Oklahoma, the afternoon of May 9. It's also the line of cars there at the bottom right speeding away from the danger. What must be going through those folks' minds?

I am grateful that the friends I have north of the Red River border are safe. But sadly, such destructive spring weather is nothing new for the Sooner State. It has been hit over the years by horrific tornadoes.

In fact, the city of Moore was the bulls-eye for an angry Mother Nature twice. The suburban community just south of Oklahoma City was devastated by a tornado on May 3, 1999, and again on May 20, 2013. Both were classified as the most deadly of twisters, category 5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

More May tornadoes across the country: And Oklahoma is not the only state that has to be on guard for twisters in May.

In addition to the Oklahoma storms yesterday, in which two lives were lost, The Weather Channel counted more than two dozen tornado reports in five states on May 9. More such storms are forecast for the rest of this week.

And we likely have more to come. These two graphics from The Weather Channel show the enhanced tornado danger in May across the United States.

Prepare, recover, help: Dangerous storm activity also was the lead topic in my May Tax Moves feature.

As I noted in that May 2  blog post, there could be some tax help available for folks who sustain storm damage, particularly in the case a major, presidentially declared disaster.

You can find more tax details on preparing for, recovering from and even helping out storm victims on the ol' blog's special Natural Disasters Resources page. I hope you don't need it, but it never hurts to be ready just in case. Stay safe!