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Tulsa, OK: Top Things to Know About Storage

Lubabah Memon | April 25, 2016 @ 2:35 PM

Great Weather Can Turn Ugly

Tulsa has four distinct seasons that you can enjoy throughout the year, but there are some occasional extremes that the city experiences.  Fall is fairly short because it’s sandwiched between long, hot summers and snowy winters.  Spring and early summer are when things start to get interesting.  It’s very common for severe thunderstorms accompanied by hail to hit during this time.  Damaging winds and tornadoes generally follow, making it a scary time to be outdoors.  There is also a huge potential for flooding, which is why Tulsa is known to have developed one of the best flood control systems in the nation.  With all of this going on, how are you supposed to get to your storage unit?  Will all of your stuff be safe?  Will you be safe when you’re going to grab some wine from your unit?

Let’s talk about what you can do to make your storage experience better.  First of all, store your stuff in a climate controlled unit.  Tulsa’s humidity can take a huge toll on the things you have stored in your unit.  Whether it be your mountain bike, your great grandfather’s old wall clock, or a painting, it’s definitely in danger of being damaged if the temperature is too high.  You should also try to find a facility that has covered loading and unloading zones.  Hopefully you won’t have to go out in bad weather, but if you don’t have a choice, at least you know you won’t get drenched while taking things out of your unit.  If you can’t find a nearby facility that offers this, you can also ask for an indoor unit depending on the type of facility it is.  If you end up having an outdoor unit, you should check to see if the unit is enclosed in a way that prevents water from getting in.  With floods being so common, you don’t want to risk opening your unit to find your own personal lake waiting for you.  And lastly, make sure the belongings in your unit are insured.  Even if your unit is so secure that the weather can’t touch it, there are dozens of things that can go wrong, so be prepared for the worst.

Traffic and Events

It’s sad, but just the word “traffic” tends to increase people's’ stress levels.  Traffic in Tulsa can get pretty bad even though it’s a fairly small city.  Rush hour traffic generally lasts from 6AM to 10AM and 3PM to 7PM.  Those are pretty much most people's’ waking hours, which makes it difficult to get around the city.  Even within rush hour times, there are periods of really bad congestion, which makes things even worse.  When compared to other cities of its size, Tulsa ranks seventh on the worst commutes list for metro areas with less than one million people.

If it were just traffic that’s bad, you could probably still manage to get to your storage unit at a reasonable time.  However, Tulsa is a very busy city that hosts multiple cultural heritage festivals throughout the year.  Some of these festivals include Scottsfest, the Greek Festival, Festival Viva Mexico in September, ShalomFest in October, Dia de Los Muertos Art Festival in November, and the Asian-American Festival in May.  These are just some of the festivals that take place, and they’re not even the biggest ones.

Celebrating Tulsa

The Tulsa State Fair is a ten-day event that takes place in the beginning of October.  This event attracts over one million people over the span of ten days.  The fair entails rides for kids, agricultural exhibits, livestock, entertainment, educational exhibits, food vendors, and shopping.  Overall, there are more than 650 vendors selling food or merchandise at the fair.  There is also a 5K run that takes place during this time.  Needless to say, Tulsa is packed with visitors during the fall.  This will only increase traffic and make it harder for you to get to your storage unit.  You might also find that storage units start to fill up in September in preparation for this event.  In a way, the timing is good because university students will be emptying out their units so they can take their stuff to school for the beginning of the school year.  However, the vendors and guests heavily outweigh the students in the area, so this might not make too much of a difference.  If you need to store your things for the fall and winter, make sure you get to a storage facility quickly so you’re not left without a unit.

What’s the Solution?

Avoiding traffic caused by rush hour and events that take place in the city isn’t hard to do.  You should find a storage facility that allows for 24-hour access so that you can avoid the madness and have a peaceful trip to your unit without having to stress about traffic.  In terms of units filling up because of events, you might want to be more strategic about storing your stuff.  Planning ahead can be difficult, but it will definitely be worth it in these circumstances and will make things a lot easier for you in the long run.

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