Have you ever been in a tornado?

Question

If so, I'd love to hear you story! Give as much detail as possible! If it isn't your story be sure to say so! Thanks!

Tyler D.........THAT'S HORRIBLE! I'M SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS!

I have been in a F2, while not totally been in it...but it went right over my school and it was really scary! Everybody was screaming and yelling and crying.....and we had to duck under desks......and the sky was black......and there was actually 2 of them.......Another couple of ones came right over my house.....I live south of Denver which you wouldn't think would have bad weather like this! If you could state what area you're around that's be good too! but if you don't want to....THAT'S ALRIGHT!

Answer 1

Yep. April 10, 1979, Wichita Falls, Texas (aka. the big one).

To understand the first part of my story you have to understand that Wichita Falls is directly in the middle of "tornado ally". The tornado warning sirens would go off all of the time. After awhile living there you begin not to take them too seriously. It's the type of place where you would get 6 pack and drive out of the city a couple of miles to watch the funnel clouds touch down in the fields for entertainment (literally).

I was working in a music store at the time. I got a frantic call from my mom telling be to get my @$$ home immediately because this was not a false alarm. I immediately headed home (about a mile away), fortunately most of the streets were abandoned by then. On my way I looked to the west and saw what I then believed was a huge dark cloud. I only found out in retrospect that it was, in fact, the tornado (actually a conglomerate of 4-5 tornados) but was so large I wasn’t able to recognize it as a funnel cloud! Just as I made it home some very large hail stones began falling (we’re talking softball size here…) I ran to the “basement” (actually little more than a crawl space under the house) which was our usual place to wait out such events. After a few minutes things quieted down.

It turns out that I was *extremely* lucky as I had driven directly across the path of the killer beast and just missed becoming another statistic. The outer edge of destruction to the south was the music store where I was working. To the north it was just a few blocks shy of my home.

The next few days were kind of surreal. Being the son of a man in the medical profession (a dentist) as well as a “medical explorer” (an offshoot of the Boy Scouts) I spent that evening in the hospital emergency room helping where I could. There was no electricity in the city for 3 days (even in the hospital during the first night). Most of my usefulness was limited to holding flashlights so the doctors could see to work and carrying in people on stretchers. If you have ever seen M*A*S*H, it seemed pretty similar minus the army stuff.

The next couple of days I spent most of my time driving around in my truck helping people move whatever belongings they wanted to salvage. This was particularly hard because one of the most effected neighborhoods was the one where most of my high school friends lived. It was kind of sobering to see the very nice neighborhood where you hung out reduced to a large pile of rubble and realize that it happened in a matter of minutes.

Sometime during the first afternoon while we were helping load up some stuff a Red Cross truck happened by and stopped to ask if we were hungry. They handed us each a Bologna sandwich. I can still taste that sandwich today.

What really sticks out in my mind from that experience was not the destruction, but the incredible resilience of the human spirit. There was, of course, the initial shock. However, this was quickly followed by folks simply rolling up their sleeves and cleaning up the mess. Most of them even found a sense of ironic humor amidst the chaos.

Detailed enough for you?

Answer 2

Once upon a time I drove through a tornado. It's true, at least I think it was a tornado. Maybe it was a gust-nado. What it was, was a large rotating column of dirt and air along the side of the road. Big, as in 100 yards wide and the dust went up at least 500 feet, maybe higher. It was during a storm, well, right at the end of a line of storms passing through the area. I saw other cars driving through the part that was over the road, the edge of rotation. So I did too. Good thing I had a firm grip or else I might have ended up in the ditch. I think the wind was around 50-70mph. If it was a tornado, it was probably only an F0, since there was hardly any damage at all to the nearby trees.

I almost got to go on a storm chase for a tv station, but had to fly to Phoenix for a conference. Turned out they never saw one anyways, but the flight passed over some severe storms and I got pictures of those instead.

Answer 3

I live where tornadoes aren't very frequent and aren't very strong when they happen (New Jersey)...2 years ago I was on my way to work in the morning and as I was driving the sky turned black...as I turned down the street my job is on it started pouring...by the time I parked my car it was too windy and dangerous to get out so I sat there...the wind shook my car and tree branches were flying past me...one branch crashed through the windshield of the car next to mine and another dented the roof of the car behind me...after a minute it was over...The damage wasn't bad like what I see on Storm Stories on TWC, but there were a lot of downed trees and damaged businesses...the only house that was destroyed was an abandoned one on the street that I used to live on...I was absolutely scared sh*tless!!! I once saw a picture of tornado aftermath that showed a tree that had chicken feathers stuck into it...the tornado actually plucked the chicken and blew the feathers hard enough to embed them into a tree...after seeing that I would never move to tornado alley...ever...even if you paid me...even if you paid me alot...

Answer 4

No I never have been in a tornado but I have seen quite a few of them. I live in Oklahoma and I've seen 2 while I was driving it was at different times but still kinda freaky. And I have seen 1 about a quarter of a mile from my house. The most amazing 1 I have ever seen was in the sky it went from cloud to cloud.

Answer 5

Yeah I was in a tornado back in June. First one that ever hit the city I live in. Basically me and my family were unprepared and when the siren went off me and my family ran down into our basement. We could hear electricity from wires falling down or whatever you wanna call that sound. Then 3 trees fell on top of our house. I was the only one who survived it at my house. My parents and sister along with 2 dogs and 1 cat died. I now currently live with my grandpa and I hate tornados with a passion.

Answer 6

only once on May 20, 1983 I was living in a double wide mobile home at the time. It started at 2:00 am My parents and I went into my bathroom until it passed. Then we had to climb out the window because our house was picked off its blocks the set back down again. We had to go and get my great aunt and great grandmother out of their house they had a single wide mobile home right behind us. We had to stay with family and house sit for freinds until our was ready to move back into which was sometime in July.

Answer 7

Yes, I was driving dads truck and it was storming pretty bad, and I looked in the rear view mirror and seen one dropping down...

that's one....

another one I was outside of my house and look down the road like way down the road I seen one in a field...

and there are 2 more that i have seen/been in

I was riding around with some friends and it was night time and it was storming bad (again) and when it lightened I see one
(my friends did too)

and I was in a storm shelter and looked out and seen a tiny weak one it was b00ring

Answer 8

no but i have been in a hurricane. i was 5 years old and we lived in mobile alabama on 35 acres. we had horses and dogs. we took all of the outdoor furniture into the hallyway and it was a wall of swings and everything. we all stayed inside for a long time. i was to little to be scared but i knew something wasn't right. all i knew is that it was hailing and the wind was terrible. the next day we went out and our favorite tree( the umbrella tree) had been struck by lightning! right in half. that is all i have to say about that. laura-

Answer 9

While traveling to college one year, with my aunt driving...a storm brewed, wind blew, rain fell...all of a sudden the sirens blew while we were passing through a small town and my aunt freaked. Instantly we pulled over to a house and luckily the couple let us take shelter in their home (as opposed to letting us be blown away!). Luckily when all was clear, no damage was evident around us. We dried off, got our thoughts in order, THANKED the couple and off I went to college...what a way to begin a school year. Whew!!

Answer 10

Nope, but the tornado in NY a few weeks ago. It was only a few miles from me. And I could hear like weird, loud train noises. It was crazy sounds!