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I’m so psyched for Sean, finally getting his shot for his IMAX film. I haven’t been sucked in like this, rooting for somebody to get what they’re after for a while now.
Anybody else been watching this series?
Now you’re speaking my language! 😀 Yes, I’ve been a storm chaser for a very long time. I can’t imagine doing anything else when it comes to my favorite hobby! I’m an NOAA/Skywarn volunteer and licensed Amateur Radio Op. My call sign is KCØSPN, so if you’re listening in and hear that number, chances are there’s a tornado in your area!
All excitement aside, I don’t just do it for the thrills! The moment we identify a wall cloud, funnel or actual tornado, we notify NOAA to help get the warning out faster for those in the affected area. We’ve seen some incredible things, many of which left us speechless. For example, during one of our chases in May of 2003, we followed and watched as an F5 tore through a subdivision, leveling 4 houses and severely damaging dozens of others. Several minutes after it moved out of the area, we drove into the neighborhood with firefighters to help anyone that might be in trouble.
When we first arrived on the scene it was complete pandemonium, as you can imagine! One man was sitting inside his van, the windshield completely shattered. He was just sitting there, trying to cope with his losses and what had just happened. We ran to the houses that were leveled, and as we got there a family was just coming out of their basement, the only thing that was left. I will never forget what they looked like. There was a mom and 4 young children, the youngest was about 4, the oldest looked about 9 or 10. The mom was wearing a business outfit, and all of them were caked with mud. She was in hysterics, crying one second and laughing the next. The kids seemed to be handling it well, except for the 4 year old. He was crying because he had lost his pet turtle and didn’t have time to grab him before the tornado hit.
The firefighters told us to help look for people that might need help, so we ran to each house yelling loudly to see if anyone was still inside, or if they needed help getting out. A little girl came up to me crying, asking if I knew where her sister was. I asked where she last saw her, and she said that her sister was spending the night with a friend south of the neighborhood. I reassured her that the tornado did not affect that area and that her sister was safe.
Thankfully no one was injured in that storm. To this day that storm is still the worst we have witnessed where damage factor is concerned. As we prepared to leave the neighborhood, we checked on the mom and 4 kids one more time to see how they were doing. The 4 year old was crying with a big smile, clutching his pet turtle that he had found near the debris of their leveled home. I don’t know how he found it, but there it was, safe & sound in his little hands. 🙂
As for the Storm Chasers series, we had the chance to meet these guys earlier this year on one of our chases. 🙂 We got everything on video, including the entire chase of that day, with a bunch of shots of both TIVs (Mostly the red Tornado Videos.net TIV) and at the end of the night, got some awesome video shots of the inside of the TIV with the guys discussing fall velocities of the hailstones in the cell we chased.
I saw that one, and I’m so glad Sean finally got the shot he was after! 😀 Scott & I have been waiting with baited breath for that IMAX film… CANT. WAIT! 😆
I wish I had the time to chase. And MG, I once saw a video similar to your story. Was just a single house, but the storm chasers were in the right place at the right time to help the family out of their house. It was heart-pounding.
WOW MG, what a story! 😮 It’s good that you have a hobby that also helps people. I don’t think most of us would know what to do if in an instant we lost everything we had. I especially liked that the 4 year old found his pet turtle! What a bitter sweet ending–think of it, he found something that meant a lot to him. I guess it’s the little things that count! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I know what you mean! It truly is amazing how much serendipity can come from such tragedies. My heart goes out to these people!
It was definitely overwhelming! There were several times where I had to walk off by myself and cry. 🙁
eaglefeather831 wrote:That’s an amazing story MG!
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