Andy Rieger for The Transcript May 2, 2021 May 2, 2021 As my young family huddled behind a sofa in front of a large plate glass window in our southwest Norman home, we all looked out to the south to see if we could catch a glimpse of a tornado that was headed our way. We had a box of crackers, the babies had bottles and Dad had his pipe and the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera. It wasnât the safest situation more than 60 years ago but, like most homes in Norman, there was no basement. The theory has always been Norman is somehow protected from twisters. The Canadian River was supposed to divert storms as they passed our way. Native American spirits supposedly helped too.