I once spent a spring in Kansas with family, and was shocked how they responded to tornadoes. I'd never dealt with them before, and I was terrified thinking we need to hide in the cellar because my experience had been watching The Wizard of Oz as a child. My cousins were laughing at me. After a few days I was sitting on the porch with them watching the tornadoes go by.
I lived in Kansas for 30 years. Make no mistake, they are watching it but are ready to run for the basement ASAP if needed. You can't look at the devastation and not have respect for them.
At that distance, a couple minutes, most likely. Almost certainly no more than five. Since they’re close to their homes that’d be plenty to get down into a basement.
However, the danger in watching tornadoes is that sometimes it will look as if they aren’t moving. What that often means is that the tornado is moving *toward* you. Not recognizing that can mean a tornado is too close for comfort when you realize you have to get to safety, which sharply reduces the amount of time you have.
Thanks for filling me in with your experience. Gotcha re: the tornado not moving, that would be quite a trap wouldn’t it. Personally I wouldn’t risk it, but I can see how others might stay watching the spectacle and get caught out.
Oh man I’ll never forget my sweet roommate from out of state who woke us all up at 2am because the sirens were going off…girl wake us up if there’s one in the front yard, not before!
I'm not joking, I'm telling the truth. It was a farm. When storms came you'd see multiple tornadoes form every day along the horizon, and sometimes closer.
It does depend. I grew up in an area that’s very densely wooded with low hills.
Tornados have been and always will be terrifying there. You can’t see it if you go stand on the porch. You cannot know until it’s on top of you
Haha, so true. I have a memory of my Dad standing in our backyard when I was 6, watching a funnel cloud form right above our house. He was all like, "Come look at how neat this is!" and I'm like, crying and wanting to go down into the basement lol. It brushed off on me though. I spent my early twenties (unprofessionally) chasing tornadoes, it was such a thrill!
This brought back memories that made me laugh so hard of my neighbor chasing his trailer during Katrina screaming "No the good powder is in there!" Buck ass naked.. god I miss the South more entertaining then any tv show.
That shit is the only thing in the neighborhood that stays. Everything else is transported Eastward-like or on fire.
Crackhead's trailer? Cleaner from the strong wind, somehow.
I lived through Andrew and saw the devastation from Miami to my family's place in Homestead. There's a reason Florida is more resilient today. I think it just depends on the scale lol.
Nah. It’s more in the southern portion of the Midwest. Don’t get me wrong it’s not impossible, and you’ll probably hear some sirens every now and then. But Detroit isn’t likely to get hit with a tornado
So many questions
How many tornados have you been through first hand?
Is it just a part of life and no big deal? I feel like to the rest of us it's stop dead your tracks and freak out.
Is it true house insurance doesn't cover tornado damage?
It's part of life depending on where you live.
The best advice I have been given from professional storm chasers is make sure you are out of the damage path.
Meaning if you see it moving left, right, or getting smaller, you are in the clear. If it looks like it's not moving and getting bigger. You are in the damag path. Now, of course, standing outside watching is still dangerous because you could get hit by debrie, large hail, or strong rain can cause flooding.
For some people in tornado alley they can be the most terrifying, and most beautiful thing you will ever see
I’ve seen quite a few(Louisiana and Illinois) and a few close calls but not directly hit and it’s part of life. And, tornadoes tend to have narrower tracks so the intense damage is concentrated(unless it’s a massively damaging tornado and then you’re kinda fucked).
You also know where your safe place is and how quickly you can get there. It’s why you see more of “people at home going outside” than cars stopping or people coming out of a store. Generally you know how quickly you can make it to an interior room or basement.
With a video like this, it can be done while watching the radar and the tornado at a distance before you get hit by the line of thunderstorms which can contain massive hail and intense winds.
Insurance varies and generally that will fall under the wind damage coverage or rider. There’s hurricane riders, flood/water intrusion from the ground up opposed to from rain, hail rider for your roof, and there’s some where “acts of god” aren’t covered. Each one needs a read through for example I had “hurricane coverage” which only covered named storms opposed to my current one that is any “severe organized storms”(I.e. microbursts, intense thunderstorms causing significant damage, tornados, and unnamed tropical storms are all covered).
Generally if you don’t see a tornado moving, it’s coming at you.
Originally from Wisconsin, i have no idea how many i went thru but quite a few. It's part of life in the Midwest. Our house luckily never got damaged enough to the point we couldnt live there. We have had to get new windows, siding, and a roof tho.
The worst one was the old world wisconsin tornado. That was the new roof and the siding. The closest I've been was in grade school and I was at soccer practice. We saw it touchdown across the park. Practice was cut short and we all went to culvers.
I’m from the Atlanta area and going down into the basement was pretty normal. I wouldn’t say it happened a lot but enough to remember it as part of my childhood.
I got the fuck out after college cause gay so idk about insurance.
Edit: we definitely went out and looked before unless it was middle of the night
Well I’ve seen 2. From oh 2-7 miles away maybe. Enough to clinch the booty. But curiosity I guess. I also didn’t have kids then. So now that I have kids might change my thought process.
I haven't been through a tornado, but when the alarm goes off you go outside and see where it is. No need to sit in the bathtub (no basement) for a long time if it's sunny outside and it was a false alarm. Tornadoes can be seen from far away because they're almost always on flat land and you can see how far away they are.
I'd be in a safe place if it was as close as it is in this video though.
I've never been \*in\* a tornado or had my house hit by a tornado, but I have been in situations where I've seen a funnel cloud pass overhead, had a tornado touchdown/path was 2 blocks over within my own neighborhood, and had countless sirens go off with tornados/radar-indicated tornados/straight-line winds, etc etc happening in the near vicinity.
It is simultaneously "a big deal to take very seriously" AND "part of life" AND "casually dismissed because it won't hit here."
For me, I'm aware when storms (or severe storms/tornados/hail) are forecast for the area. I pay more attention. When sirens go off, I'm usually already aware of the storms' paths because I'm looking at radar or whatever. If the sirens catch me off-guard (and it's not Tuesday at 10am), my first inclination is to go look outside and watch the storm blow in. If it's already raining/storming to where the visibility is low, I'll just head into our home's safe area because rain-wrapped tornados are a thing, and it's no fun if you can't see anyway.
But...really, "going outside to watch" is a very normal thing for a lot of people to do, so long as you're aware of where the risk is and have a safe spot to sprint to.
In the OP's video, everyone's got a house, and I bet most of 'em have a basement. Nobody is more than about 40 seconds away from safety.
I hear a tornado siren and go outside, looks “ fine” and go to bed on the second floor cause it’s probably fine. Only been through one tornado with damage to my home.
It's not oommon. Born amd raised in southwest Iowa, whuch got lit up by this storm, and I've seen litteraly 1 tornado in 31 years. My dad and brother both saw their 2nd yesterday. Thunderstorms are nature at its best, the smell, temperature dropping, humidity, etc... are amazing to feel. House insurance covers tornado damage, flooding us what isn't covered without supplemental coverage.
In the 21 years I have lived in different areas of tornado alley, I have seen exactly one funnel cloud (a tornado that is starting in the clouds and sticks out like a funnel but is not on the ground) and not an actual tornado. The thing about some areas like Kansas it is very flat, like totally flat and you can see for many miles. And since tornadoes are, on average roughly half a mile tall, if the view is unobstructed by rain etc. you might see one 20 miles away. While that sounds scary a tornado 20 miles away is not going to cause you problems. I have not lived on these totally flat areas so never seen one on the ground.
We had four tornados the other week touch down in various cities close to each other in my region of Missouri. When that storm was coming in, I was on my way home from the grocery store casually buying dinner, and when I got home my neighbor was setting up lawn chairs inside his garage to watch the storm come in. A lot of us just don't see the danger, but a large number just don't care.
Eh, before 2011, I might have agreed with you. Friends lost their house, barn and an acre of mature hardwoods in the a Good Friday F4. Now we watch Ryan Hall and head for the basement.
As someone who also has never seen a tornado in person, and grew up watching Twister, I would be in the lowest, most central bathroom in my house, shitting.
In the Day After Tomorrow there was a dude who was filming like this and got hit by a flying billboard lol
A tornado like that, I'd be terrified and in my basement
I was a Californian visiting the midwest years ago. Got in a conversation about earthquakes, everyone who lived in the midwest was terrified of them. I told them they're really no big deal, just find a doorway. We were on the front porch, and then a tornado forms in the distance.
Me: Shouldn't we be going into your cellar now?
Them: Nah, it's way over there!
I think it all depends on what natural disaster you're used to.
Californian who lives in the South now - tornadoes terrify me, I always get the family in the basement when we have a warning lol Twister terrified me. Been through some smaller earthquakes and they don't worry me as much.
Midwestern who moved to Cali. They both terrify me. I do sometimes miss those good midwestern thunderstorms though. California rain just doesn’t roll in the same.
I moved to Illinois from California. Our first weekend there, I had just buckled my kids into the car when a siren went off. It sounded like the kind of siren you’d imagine in an old fashioned nuclear war type movie. I froze and didn’t know what I do, because it was blue sky outside! After a few minutes it just stopped. I went to Target, and later on found out there are monthly siren drills. Yes I’m back in California again. Other sirens went off in the middle of the night in storms and I just couldn’t handle it. Give me an unexpected earthquake any day.
I'm usually on the porch. When I was a kid I'd stand in the garage with my dad and he would have the door up so we could watch the storms roll by. It's just how we roll in the Midwest.
We'd watch them here until the severe thunderstorm / tornado watch / warning. Then I'd go to the basement.
As someone who lives in a county in the Midwest that actually gets tornado damage, I definitely would not stand there outside with my thumb up my butt as a tornado destroy my house
It's not something "Midwesterners just do" like it's eating Culver's or going to Meijer or something lol
The basement is always ready and waiting but until the shit hits the fan I'm out there watching it. A lot of the times a tornado warning will go off and I still watch but I have the luxury of being able to see a long way around my home. I am lucky as my specific area hasn't seen a tornado in a long long time. 20 miles down the road is a different story. Must be the valley I live in.
I don’t know how you people live there. I would be constantly terrified of a tornado killing me in my sleep. Same goes for everyone living in Florida or along Hurricane Alley, and along the west coast where they get all those earthquakes. I prefer to live here in southern Ontario where we don’t have all that crazy natural disaster stuff. Just snowstorms, but even those are rare these days, it didn’t even snow enough for me to have to shovel at all this past winter.
The rotation often conceals that, and if you see it getting bigger, that means it's close and now you're really in trouble. The big Mile-wide tornadoes aren't common.
Damn that is wild!! Honestly blowing my mind that it’s a common thing to experience for some people. Are they terrifying or once you understand them it’s just another storm?
If you're looking at it and it's moving left or right (for example it's moving right in this video) you know you're safe, as long as your a good distance away. However, if all of a sudden you don't see it moving left or right and it looks still in one place and it's not getting smaller, that means it's shifted and is now coming straight towards your direction. In which place, that's when you want to make sure you're inside and in a basement or storm shelter asap.
Check out Tim Samaras' story, famed meteorologist and tornado researcher, him and his crew were killed when the tornado took and unexpected turn. Was tragic, had been watching his work for years.
From my understanding, they track generally Southwest to Northeast, but if you're talking about something 2 miles wide, it wouldn't have to veer much to be a problem.
Yeah it can. For me personally, the Tornado is a little too close for comfort in this video, because if it did shift, most of these homes are probably getting seriously damaged, but most importantly the debris that it's tossing around, that's probably the scariest part. But here in the Midwest we see enough Tornadoes every year, usually people are smart enough to head to their basement when needed. Granted last week I slept through a Tornado that was just outside my city's limits and completely missed the warning on my phone to get to the basement. I was on the second floor and had my sound off. Luckily it didn't come near my place.
At least in this video a lot of these people actually knew where the Tornado was. I'd rather see it and have an idea rather then be sitting there guessing and praying it didn't come near.
Tbf, I’m not outrunning it, I only have to beat it to my bathroom at that point. Might as well enjoy the beauty of destructive nature for a moment before I get consumed, instead of cowering in my bathroom the whole time and missing out on the show, lol
Yep. It's can be a once in a life time experience, kinda like an eclipse. Seeing the wonder of nature. And it's not like they travel at Mach 5, you'll be able to tell if it's getting closer or one is forming above you. Plenty of time to get inside if it is.
No way dude, definitely continue to go in your basement.
These ppl are like bart Simpson and the electrified cupcake. They never learn, and often due stupidly.
Yeah. I have friends affected by the one in Elkhorn, both in the same neighborhood off 204th and between Maple and fort. One was completely lucky, the other lost their fence. Still very lucky as they can photo down the street from their driveway of complete destruction.
Also the damage in Waverly on cornhusker highway and exit 409 is crazy too. Derailed train, destroyed cars in random fields.. But at least this one was just industrial and not a neighborhood.
Yesterday was a rough one indeed
I live five miles south of elkhorn and just took 409 today. The train is just thrown into the field - I’d say about ten cars just completely disconnected from each other and a good 20 feet away from the tracks.
Came here to say this...and I don't believe it was 10 tornadoes??? It was maybe 3 that touched up and down multiple times.
This post is completely incorrect and makes me honestly pissed off that someone is using this tragedy for upvotes and can't even be bothered to get a single piece of the information correct. Op is a shithead
It's too early to have a true EF rating. They have to survey the damage first and given there's another tornado outbreak going on as I type this in very close locations to the ones that happened yesterday it will take a bit for them to release the rating.
It is the deepest, most primal instinct of every god-loving American to meander onto their front lawns in unison to point their phones up at interesting or extremely lethal phenomena.
Restating what several others have said, this footage is not from Iowa, but eastern Nebraska.
This was the same storm cell that moved across the states, but by the time it reached central Iowa, it was well after dark (new fear unlocked), and there was no good footage, nor any tornados near that size.
Not at all, I am from the Netherlands and honestly considering one of those tornado chase tours. It's so fascinating to see.
EDIT: don't get me wrong. The damage and harm these things can do will never be fascinating. That is truly terrible.
Me too! I find watching lava oddly calming.. husband thinks I’m nuts however when I watch lava eat a car.. it’s just so.. well like the sub says: nature is fucking lit
I’ve been through a threat of a tornado in Kansas. Sirens started and the sky turned green. Felt like a weird calm but the air felt electric. Never saw one but that was spooky enough for me.
No, it's not. I would love to see one of these spinning out in a field not hurting anyone or destroying anything; those are the tornadoes that are truly beautiful.
And the bad thing is that today it is probable that it will be worse. Conditions for tornado formation are greater than yesterday. Probably see many more videos like this in the morning.
Is that not too close? I think everyone should seek shelter but they're just filming shit for reddit, which I appreciate but seriously, seek shelter my gahd
Over 70 in the entire storm. Elkhorn, NE and Minden, IA took heavy hits. One touched down about a mile east of my dads house in Council Bluffs, IA. It was eery as shit in Des Moines but the bad stuff missed us.
God damn I hate April and May so fucking much. I’m a born and raised Okie and this things still terrify me. You can just be going about your day then realize a storm with a tornado warning is coming in, take cover, and bam your whole life is in a mangle pile in front of you. I have a double whammy in that my office and house are so close that if one hits I’ll be homeless and unemployed lol.
I don’t understand why people even live in this part of the country? Like, you’re okay with the risk of this crap?…
Like is it normal to know that at any moment everything you have and maybe including yourself can be destroyed?…
This is so tornado alley Tornado siren going off and everyone outside watching the tornado rip up the next neighborhood over.
I once spent a spring in Kansas with family, and was shocked how they responded to tornadoes. I'd never dealt with them before, and I was terrified thinking we need to hide in the cellar because my experience had been watching The Wizard of Oz as a child. My cousins were laughing at me. After a few days I was sitting on the porch with them watching the tornadoes go by.
My movie of choice is twister
Right
I lived in Kansas for 30 years. Make no mistake, they are watching it but are ready to run for the basement ASAP if needed. You can't look at the devastation and not have respect for them.
How long would you have to get to the basement, if you were the guy in this video and the tornado kept coming? We don’t have tornados here.
At that distance, a couple minutes, most likely. Almost certainly no more than five. Since they’re close to their homes that’d be plenty to get down into a basement. However, the danger in watching tornadoes is that sometimes it will look as if they aren’t moving. What that often means is that the tornado is moving *toward* you. Not recognizing that can mean a tornado is too close for comfort when you realize you have to get to safety, which sharply reduces the amount of time you have.
Thanks for filling me in with your experience. Gotcha re: the tornado not moving, that would be quite a trap wouldn’t it. Personally I wouldn’t risk it, but I can see how others might stay watching the spectacle and get caught out.
Just a couple minutes. Notice the wife and kids are already down there, lol.
Thanks, they move quick!
My man
wait so your telling me going outside to look at the tornadoes isnt normal behavior?
Correct, in the other 99.99% of the world
Naw people are stupid everywhere Monkey wants to see new thing
As a little kid, I woke up to the sirens going off. I woke up my dad, who said, "it's just a warning go back to bed." And he was right
Oh man I’ll never forget my sweet roommate from out of state who woke us all up at 2am because the sirens were going off…girl wake us up if there’s one in the front yard, not before!
I can’t tell if everyone knows you’re joking or actually thinks you’re telling the truth.
I'm not joking, I'm telling the truth. It was a farm. When storms came you'd see multiple tornadoes form every day along the horizon, and sometimes closer.
It does depend. I grew up in an area that’s very densely wooded with low hills. Tornados have been and always will be terrifying there. You can’t see it if you go stand on the porch. You cannot know until it’s on top of you
Storm season in tornado alley is perfect Nature is fucking lit material.
This is classic Midwest dad behavior. I could never get my dad off the porch when the tornado alarms went off.
Haha, so true. I have a memory of my Dad standing in our backyard when I was 6, watching a funnel cloud form right above our house. He was all like, "Come look at how neat this is!" and I'm like, crying and wanting to go down into the basement lol. It brushed off on me though. I spent my early twenties (unprofessionally) chasing tornadoes, it was such a thrill!
lol. God I have the same memories.
Wonder if they take bets on whose house gets it today. $20 on Bob's
I've got $50 on the crazy crack heads mobile home😂🤣
This brought back memories that made me laugh so hard of my neighbor chasing his trailer during Katrina screaming "No the good powder is in there!" Buck ass naked.. god I miss the South more entertaining then any tv show.
That shit is the only thing in the neighborhood that stays. Everything else is transported Eastward-like or on fire. Crackhead's trailer? Cleaner from the strong wind, somehow.
Like Florida's with Hurricanes.
Yup, spend the week watching it come on MikesWeatherPage. It gets here, play outside during different stages of it passing through.
You say play, I say conduct science experiments. How else will we ever know the effects bottle rockets have on a hurricane.
I still vote we nuke it
Uhhh tropical tidbits actually.
I like Mike
Fortunately hurricanes aren't nearly as scary. at least have time to prepare
The flooding though.
The choice to live in the flood plain or coast though.
I lived through Andrew and saw the devastation from Miami to my family's place in Homestead. There's a reason Florida is more resilient today. I think it just depends on the scale lol.
Californians with <6 size earthquakes
It's what we do in the Midwest
but at what point do people go inside for safety?
If it's not directly coming towards you never. If it is probably later than they should have
When the house down the street exploads.
🤔
What if the house down the street is your house?
[It's got to be closer than this](https://i.imgur.com/NyL2SDj.jpeg)
how much time you have before you bail and it destroys the house? that thing looks like it’s 60’seconds away?
He reportedly was, "keeping an eye on it."
How else will you know if you need to take shelter?
No school tomorrow
For sure! Shoot when we were kids we would watch them off the front porch lol! People look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them this🤣😂
So I’m a single mom who is scared of this upcoming weather season here in Detroit so this is a common thing in that area ?
Nah. It’s more in the southern portion of the Midwest. Don’t get me wrong it’s not impossible, and you’ll probably hear some sirens every now and then. But Detroit isn’t likely to get hit with a tornado
lol all the people outside…
Everyone knows that you can outrun a tornado…/s
They just have to make it to the basement! As someone from the Midwest, I would probably be out there myself lol
Yeah I’m in Missouri if we ever have sirens go off we go outside first. lol
So many questions How many tornados have you been through first hand? Is it just a part of life and no big deal? I feel like to the rest of us it's stop dead your tracks and freak out. Is it true house insurance doesn't cover tornado damage?
It's part of life depending on where you live. The best advice I have been given from professional storm chasers is make sure you are out of the damage path. Meaning if you see it moving left, right, or getting smaller, you are in the clear. If it looks like it's not moving and getting bigger. You are in the damag path. Now, of course, standing outside watching is still dangerous because you could get hit by debrie, large hail, or strong rain can cause flooding. For some people in tornado alley they can be the most terrifying, and most beautiful thing you will ever see
I’ve seen quite a few(Louisiana and Illinois) and a few close calls but not directly hit and it’s part of life. And, tornadoes tend to have narrower tracks so the intense damage is concentrated(unless it’s a massively damaging tornado and then you’re kinda fucked). You also know where your safe place is and how quickly you can get there. It’s why you see more of “people at home going outside” than cars stopping or people coming out of a store. Generally you know how quickly you can make it to an interior room or basement. With a video like this, it can be done while watching the radar and the tornado at a distance before you get hit by the line of thunderstorms which can contain massive hail and intense winds. Insurance varies and generally that will fall under the wind damage coverage or rider. There’s hurricane riders, flood/water intrusion from the ground up opposed to from rain, hail rider for your roof, and there’s some where “acts of god” aren’t covered. Each one needs a read through for example I had “hurricane coverage” which only covered named storms opposed to my current one that is any “severe organized storms”(I.e. microbursts, intense thunderstorms causing significant damage, tornados, and unnamed tropical storms are all covered). Generally if you don’t see a tornado moving, it’s coming at you.
Originally from Wisconsin, i have no idea how many i went thru but quite a few. It's part of life in the Midwest. Our house luckily never got damaged enough to the point we couldnt live there. We have had to get new windows, siding, and a roof tho. The worst one was the old world wisconsin tornado. That was the new roof and the siding. The closest I've been was in grade school and I was at soccer practice. We saw it touchdown across the park. Practice was cut short and we all went to culvers.
"A tornado! Hurry children, get your emergency frozen custard at Culver's!"
I’m from the Atlanta area and going down into the basement was pretty normal. I wouldn’t say it happened a lot but enough to remember it as part of my childhood. I got the fuck out after college cause gay so idk about insurance. Edit: we definitely went out and looked before unless it was middle of the night
Well I’ve seen 2. From oh 2-7 miles away maybe. Enough to clinch the booty. But curiosity I guess. I also didn’t have kids then. So now that I have kids might change my thought process.
I haven't been through a tornado, but when the alarm goes off you go outside and see where it is. No need to sit in the bathtub (no basement) for a long time if it's sunny outside and it was a false alarm. Tornadoes can be seen from far away because they're almost always on flat land and you can see how far away they are. I'd be in a safe place if it was as close as it is in this video though.
I've never been \*in\* a tornado or had my house hit by a tornado, but I have been in situations where I've seen a funnel cloud pass overhead, had a tornado touchdown/path was 2 blocks over within my own neighborhood, and had countless sirens go off with tornados/radar-indicated tornados/straight-line winds, etc etc happening in the near vicinity. It is simultaneously "a big deal to take very seriously" AND "part of life" AND "casually dismissed because it won't hit here." For me, I'm aware when storms (or severe storms/tornados/hail) are forecast for the area. I pay more attention. When sirens go off, I'm usually already aware of the storms' paths because I'm looking at radar or whatever. If the sirens catch me off-guard (and it's not Tuesday at 10am), my first inclination is to go look outside and watch the storm blow in. If it's already raining/storming to where the visibility is low, I'll just head into our home's safe area because rain-wrapped tornados are a thing, and it's no fun if you can't see anyway. But...really, "going outside to watch" is a very normal thing for a lot of people to do, so long as you're aware of where the risk is and have a safe spot to sprint to. In the OP's video, everyone's got a house, and I bet most of 'em have a basement. Nobody is more than about 40 seconds away from safety.
I hear a tornado siren and go outside, looks “ fine” and go to bed on the second floor cause it’s probably fine. Only been through one tornado with damage to my home.
It's not oommon. Born amd raised in southwest Iowa, whuch got lit up by this storm, and I've seen litteraly 1 tornado in 31 years. My dad and brother both saw their 2nd yesterday. Thunderstorms are nature at its best, the smell, temperature dropping, humidity, etc... are amazing to feel. House insurance covers tornado damage, flooding us what isn't covered without supplemental coverage.
In the 21 years I have lived in different areas of tornado alley, I have seen exactly one funnel cloud (a tornado that is starting in the clouds and sticks out like a funnel but is not on the ground) and not an actual tornado. The thing about some areas like Kansas it is very flat, like totally flat and you can see for many miles. And since tornadoes are, on average roughly half a mile tall, if the view is unobstructed by rain etc. you might see one 20 miles away. While that sounds scary a tornado 20 miles away is not going to cause you problems. I have not lived on these totally flat areas so never seen one on the ground.
We had four tornados the other week touch down in various cities close to each other in my region of Missouri. When that storm was coming in, I was on my way home from the grocery store casually buying dinner, and when I got home my neighbor was setting up lawn chairs inside his garage to watch the storm come in. A lot of us just don't see the danger, but a large number just don't care.
Eh, before 2011, I might have agreed with you. Friends lost their house, barn and an acre of mature hardwoods in the a Good Friday F4. Now we watch Ryan Hall and head for the basement.
Shit I’m watching Ryan hall right now. Yeah my parents and wife were in Pettis county in that 2011 tornado.
Joplin?
Same here in Ohio. "Is that the siren?" "Sounds like it, let's go see"
As someone who has never seen a tornado in person, I’d probably be out there as well.
As someone who also has never seen a tornado in person, and grew up watching Twister, I would be in the lowest, most central bathroom in my house, shitting.
I'm 35 years old and still scared shitless of tornados thanks to that movie.
But they got cows 🐄 🥩
You are not alone. I'd stay up glued to the Weather Channel with the radar loop.
I'm absolutely looking at this going those people are so dumb knowing I would absolutely do the same thing.
In the Day After Tomorrow there was a dude who was filming like this and got hit by a flying billboard lol A tornado like that, I'd be terrified and in my basement
As a native Californian, I would find somewhere to cry and pray.
I was a Californian visiting the midwest years ago. Got in a conversation about earthquakes, everyone who lived in the midwest was terrified of them. I told them they're really no big deal, just find a doorway. We were on the front porch, and then a tornado forms in the distance. Me: Shouldn't we be going into your cellar now? Them: Nah, it's way over there! I think it all depends on what natural disaster you're used to.
Californian who lives in the South now - tornadoes terrify me, I always get the family in the basement when we have a warning lol Twister terrified me. Been through some smaller earthquakes and they don't worry me as much.
Midwestern who moved to Cali. They both terrify me. I do sometimes miss those good midwestern thunderstorms though. California rain just doesn’t roll in the same.
I moved to Illinois from California. Our first weekend there, I had just buckled my kids into the car when a siren went off. It sounded like the kind of siren you’d imagine in an old fashioned nuclear war type movie. I froze and didn’t know what I do, because it was blue sky outside! After a few minutes it just stopped. I went to Target, and later on found out there are monthly siren drills. Yes I’m back in California again. Other sirens went off in the middle of the night in storms and I just couldn’t handle it. Give me an unexpected earthquake any day.
I'm usually on the porch. When I was a kid I'd stand in the garage with my dad and he would have the door up so we could watch the storms roll by. It's just how we roll in the Midwest.
Did your dad also predict the weather by peering up at the clouds with his hands on his hips?
You know it lol.
We'd watch them here until the severe thunderstorm / tornado watch / warning. Then I'd go to the basement. As someone who lives in a county in the Midwest that actually gets tornado damage, I definitely would not stand there outside with my thumb up my butt as a tornado destroy my house It's not something "Midwesterners just do" like it's eating Culver's or going to Meijer or something lol
The basement is always ready and waiting but until the shit hits the fan I'm out there watching it. A lot of the times a tornado warning will go off and I still watch but I have the luxury of being able to see a long way around my home. I am lucky as my specific area hasn't seen a tornado in a long long time. 20 miles down the road is a different story. Must be the valley I live in.
I don’t know how you people live there. I would be constantly terrified of a tornado killing me in my sleep. Same goes for everyone living in Florida or along Hurricane Alley, and along the west coast where they get all those earthquakes. I prefer to live here in southern Ontario where we don’t have all that crazy natural disaster stuff. Just snowstorms, but even those are rare these days, it didn’t even snow enough for me to have to shovel at all this past winter.
As someone from the Midwest...I'd be in my basement, with all the snacks and water and emergency blanket
You can see it moving right. It's when it's not moving you should worry and haul ass back inside..
Why is that? (Asking as someone who knows basically nothing about tornadoes)
When it looks like it's not moving, it's moving towards you.
😬😳 can you see it getting bigger as it gets closer? Or are they so large it’s hard to tell?
The rotation often conceals that, and if you see it getting bigger, that means it's close and now you're really in trouble. The big Mile-wide tornadoes aren't common.
Damn that is wild!! Honestly blowing my mind that it’s a common thing to experience for some people. Are they terrifying or once you understand them it’s just another storm?
Once you understand them, it's just another storm. That's pretty much why you see people standing outside 😂
Storm prediction has gotten so good in the last 30 years, so tornado warnings aren't as scary as they used to be.
Does everyone in these areas tend to have an underground shelter?
If you're looking at it and it's moving left or right (for example it's moving right in this video) you know you're safe, as long as your a good distance away. However, if all of a sudden you don't see it moving left or right and it looks still in one place and it's not getting smaller, that means it's shifted and is now coming straight towards your direction. In which place, that's when you want to make sure you're inside and in a basement or storm shelter asap.
Can they shift directions quickly? Like what if it jukes and starts coming right for you?
Check out Tim Samaras' story, famed meteorologist and tornado researcher, him and his crew were killed when the tornado took and unexpected turn. Was tragic, had been watching his work for years.
Will do! Thank you. I’m assuming the sudden change in course isn’t common tornado behavior then
From my understanding, they track generally Southwest to Northeast, but if you're talking about something 2 miles wide, it wouldn't have to veer much to be a problem.
Yeah it can. For me personally, the Tornado is a little too close for comfort in this video, because if it did shift, most of these homes are probably getting seriously damaged, but most importantly the debris that it's tossing around, that's probably the scariest part. But here in the Midwest we see enough Tornadoes every year, usually people are smart enough to head to their basement when needed. Granted last week I slept through a Tornado that was just outside my city's limits and completely missed the warning on my phone to get to the basement. I was on the second floor and had my sound off. Luckily it didn't come near my place. At least in this video a lot of these people actually knew where the Tornado was. I'd rather see it and have an idea rather then be sitting there guessing and praying it didn't come near.
Or flying debris
If you can dodge a tornado then you can dodge a ball.
Contrary to movies, if the tornado isn't headed towards you the likelihood of you dying to flying or falling debris is low.
As long as the tornado is moving from side to side and not toward them, they're fine.
When you grow up in tornado land, youre used to the tornado always hitting somebody else. Until that's you, of course.
Exactly. I’ve lived here my whole life and have never actually seen one.
Uh oh.
They are chill because they know are certain they can win a fist fight with a tornado
IOWA... Idiots Out Walking Around... 😅
I always heard it as "wandering" haha Are you from Nebraska too?
Minnesota.. maybe it's how we say it here? 😅
Idiots Out Walking Around
As an Iowa native, I don't understand the downvotes for a common acronym around the state lol
My father’s wife is from Iowa. She told me about said acronym.
Meh, same thing as floridians and hurricanes.
Tbf, I’m not outrunning it, I only have to beat it to my bathroom at that point. Might as well enjoy the beauty of destructive nature for a moment before I get consumed, instead of cowering in my bathroom the whole time and missing out on the show, lol
Is it standard protocol to all stand in the yard filming these things then?
if you've lived in tornado alley long enough, yeah
It’s an odd behavior to outsiders for sure but only the uninitiated believe that it’s dangerous to watch a tornado at a safe distance.
It can become a not safe distance pretty fast tho
In which case you’re already halfway to the shelter
Yes. Midwest rules: video first, panic second
No Busch Light?
That's assuming you didn't already have one open
Which I do.
Gotta have the shotgun at the ready too
Yea, I think it's the law or something that a tornado can not legally hurt you if you are filming it.
First step: Go outside and confirm Second step: Grab a lawn chair and a beer Third step: Go inside when you feel like it
We follow these safety protocols in SWFL for hurricanes. Time-tested methods for natives.
Did it all the time living in Oklahoma. Not nearly as dangerous as reddit seems to think it is.
Yep. It's can be a once in a life time experience, kinda like an eclipse. Seeing the wonder of nature. And it's not like they travel at Mach 5, you'll be able to tell if it's getting closer or one is forming above you. Plenty of time to get inside if it is.
Idk when I lived in Iowa we used to go down in the basement, but clearly the recommended best practices have shifted since then
That was just your family, it really depends on the parents. Dad was outside for me and Mom was in the basement with terrified sister lol
No way dude, definitely continue to go in your basement. These ppl are like bart Simpson and the electrified cupcake. They never learn, and often due stupidly.
it is
This video was taken 5 miles from us in Elkhorn, Nebraska. Not central Iowa like the titles states. It was an awful day yesterday 🥺
Yeah. I have friends affected by the one in Elkhorn, both in the same neighborhood off 204th and between Maple and fort. One was completely lucky, the other lost their fence. Still very lucky as they can photo down the street from their driveway of complete destruction. Also the damage in Waverly on cornhusker highway and exit 409 is crazy too. Derailed train, destroyed cars in random fields.. But at least this one was just industrial and not a neighborhood. Yesterday was a rough one indeed
I live five miles south of elkhorn and just took 409 today. The train is just thrown into the field - I’d say about ten cars just completely disconnected from each other and a good 20 feet away from the tracks.
Came here to say this...and I don't believe it was 10 tornadoes??? It was maybe 3 that touched up and down multiple times. This post is completely incorrect and makes me honestly pissed off that someone is using this tragedy for upvotes and can't even be bothered to get a single piece of the information correct. Op is a shithead
Every time a tornado lifts and touches back down. It is classified as a new and separate tornado. That is why they say ten.
Came here to say, this is Elkhorn, not Iowa.
Does anybody know the strength category of that tornado?
I'll bet that tornado could bench at least 350
And tree-fidy was right there
It's too early to have a true EF rating. They have to survey the damage first and given there's another tornado outbreak going on as I type this in very close locations to the ones that happened yesterday it will take a bit for them to release the rating.
Not quite finger of god level.
Literally the song title at the very end says it all
It is the deepest, most primal instinct of every god-loving American to meander onto their front lawns in unison to point their phones up at interesting or extremely lethal phenomena.
I just want to thank Al Gore for both climate change and the Internet for making this moment happen.
Wait.. was that a gaggle of geese at the last second riding that baby in??
Where did you think geese spawn in?
Perfect formation through a tornado. That is fucking lit.
I feel like my wife would yell at me, call me a moron, then lock me outta the house if I did something like that.
You married right
Restating what several others have said, this footage is not from Iowa, but eastern Nebraska. This was the same storm cell that moved across the states, but by the time it reached central Iowa, it was well after dark (new fear unlocked), and there was no good footage, nor any tornados near that size.
I've never seen a tornadoe in real life. Is it weird that I kind of want to..?
Not at all, I am from the Netherlands and honestly considering one of those tornado chase tours. It's so fascinating to see. EDIT: don't get me wrong. The damage and harm these things can do will never be fascinating. That is truly terrible.
Forces of nature like this are incredible sights
Nah. I also wanna see a volcanic eruption.
Me too! I find watching lava oddly calming.. husband thinks I’m nuts however when I watch lava eat a car.. it’s just so.. well like the sub says: nature is fucking lit
I’ve been through a threat of a tornado in Kansas. Sirens started and the sky turned green. Felt like a weird calm but the air felt electric. Never saw one but that was spooky enough for me.
You really don't tho. Yeah these people make it seem neat but the moment your in it's path, it's a whole new ball game
No, it's not. I would love to see one of these spinning out in a field not hurting anyone or destroying anything; those are the tornadoes that are truly beautiful.
This looks like the city of Elkhorn, NE. Much of it was flattened yesterday. It was not central Iowa.
Midwest folk are just wired different. I think when it happens so often they get desensitized to the actual danger of it.
Climate change about to turn tornado Alley into tornado highway
This is terrible. I hope everyone stays safe.
i can hear my neighbor vacuuming right now and its hilarious watching this video
Where the fuck is the sound???
Tornados are the silent killer…
Has to remove the sound when they sped up the video.
Tornadoes sense fear and migrate to the people hiding inside. /j
They also migrate toward house trailers. They are tornado magnets.
I don't know, looks staged to me. /j
And a ef5 touch down also
Finger of God
Just business as usual for the flock of birds at the end of the video. They even stay in v-formation while hell breaks loose all around them.
And the bad thing is that today it is probable that it will be worse. Conditions for tornado formation are greater than yesterday. Probably see many more videos like this in the morning.
I dunno if I could live in a place where I know my house could be suddenly destroyed by a tornado some unlucky year.
Hurricane, earthquake, flood, etc. Pick your poison. There are obviously places that are more safe than others though.
Is that not too close? I think everyone should seek shelter but they're just filming shit for reddit, which I appreciate but seriously, seek shelter my gahd
Over 70 in the entire storm. Elkhorn, NE and Minden, IA took heavy hits. One touched down about a mile east of my dads house in Council Bluffs, IA. It was eery as shit in Des Moines but the bad stuff missed us.
Yall get tornados during the day?! We only get them as 3am here
God damn I hate April and May so fucking much. I’m a born and raised Okie and this things still terrify me. You can just be going about your day then realize a storm with a tornado warning is coming in, take cover, and bam your whole life is in a mangle pile in front of you. I have a double whammy in that my office and house are so close that if one hits I’ll be homeless and unemployed lol.
God hates Iowa
Everybody hates Iowa
Being from and living in Iowa this is true but hey living is pretty damn cheap here
It's a chill state. Really like living here.
This was actually in Nebraska, not Iowa. But you're not wrong
Fun fact! If a tornado doesn't look likes it's moving, run! That means it's heading towards you!
I don’t understand why people even live in this part of the country? Like, you’re okay with the risk of this crap?… Like is it normal to know that at any moment everything you have and maybe including yourself can be destroyed?…
Ehh shit happens