Between May 5, 2015, and May 10, 2015, 127 confirmed tornadoes - ranging from EF0s and EF3s - raged through Oklahoma and surrounding states. The tornadoes were accompanied by flash floods, severe thunder storms, and a few minor earthquakes. The death toll was 7 (5 from the tornadoes and 2 from the flooding). Grady County, Oklahoma, experienced four of these tornadoes on May 6. One of the EF3 tornadoes grazed over Tiger Safari located in Tuttle, Oklahoma. Due to this, Grady County was under strict warnings about the possibility that the tigers, and other creatures, might have gotten out of their habitats. This spurred the creation of the term "Tigernado."
"Tigernado" is a mash up of "tiger" and "tornado" as "shark" and "tornado" form "Sharknado." There tends to be word mashing in this region of the United States. "Oklahoma itself is a portmanteau: "Okla" and "Humma" mean "Red" and "People" in the Choctaw Indian language. There are the cities in Oklahoma that are portmanteaus of "Oklahoma" and the bordering state nearest the city: Arkoma (Arkansas) and Texoma (Texas), and also regions: Arklatex (The region where Texas and Arkansas border Oklahoma) and Indiahoma (Region in central Oklahoma honoring native tribes).
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Tigernado T-shirt Fundraiser
Bo Wright, a web designer from Oklahoma, heard of the storms and possibly free-roaming predators, and thought instantly, of the movie Sharknado and decided to design a false movie poster and T-shirt as a joke. People all over the world went crazy and "Tigernado" became a well-known term, and memes began to circulate the internet. Seeing this popularity, Wright decided to sell the T-shirts for $20 each and donate the money directly to Serve Moore, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping victims of natural disasters.
Park damage
The park director, Bill Meadows, estimated the total damages, including those from the wind, flooding, and debris, to be around $50,000. This total also includes the damage to Smokey's habitat. Smokey's habitat was severely destroyed in the storm, and the bear had to be transferred to the Garold Wayne Zoo during the rebuilding of his enclosure. Though his fences were damaged, his fear of the storms kept him hunkered down like the other creatures. Neither he, nor any of the others, were actually roaming loose.