There is one word for the feelings you experience when you suddenly glimpse a tornado on the horizon: fear and awe.
These powerful storms, that can occur anywhere in the world but are most common in the US, naturally cause fear in even the bravest of people.
And that’s because of their unpredictability and destructiveness: a tornado is capable of tearing up anything and everything in its path.
With approximately 1,000 tornadoes every year in the US though, these rotating windstorms are anything but rare.
So it makes sense that plenty of humans – yes, living humans – have experienced, and even been inside a tornado.
To document these experiences, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently conducted a study where people who had been inside tornadoes were able to tell their stories.
The tales themselves range from terrifying to harrowing, and give a real insight into the realities of what happens when you find yourself caught inside a tornado.
For some of the people, their experiences with tornadoes showed them just how lucky they were to be alive.
This was the case of Jennifer, from Baxter, Tennessee, who was caught in a tornado with her children in 2020.
Though her home was devastated by the power of the tornado, she found herself grateful that she and her family escaped with their lives:
“Early on the morning of March 3, 2020 a EF 4 tornado hit the Cookeville, Baxter, Tennessee area where we live. I heard the siren go off and grabbed my kids and we took shelter in the laundry hallway. The tornado was in our back yard!
The tornado picked us up with the hardwood floor and landed us 250 feet across the street! We lost everything! I could feel my guardian Angel right behind us hovering over us to protect us. We were hollering out to God for help & he helped us!
We had minimum injuries. The scariest night of my life. We’re still trying to figure things out. Our lives have been forever changed since that early morning tornado.”
Tornadoes are so destructive because of the power of their rotating winds. These winds have to be at least 65 mph for it to be considered a tornado.
This sounds fast, but some of the strongest tornadoes reach over 300 mph – a scary speed.
These storms are measured on something called the Enhanced Fujita Scale. This gives a rating based on the speed of a three second gust. The scale ranges from EF 0 (65-85 mph) to EF 5 (2oo+ mph).
The tornado that Jennifer and her family experienced was measured at EF 4, classified as a violent storm of 166 – 200 mph, meaning that it is likely to have devastating impacts, just like those that Jennifer unfortunately experienced.
In the case of Chris, from Dallas, Texas, the tornado he experienced was a little lower on the Enhanced Fujuta Scale. However, this EF 3 rating (a strong storm of 136-165 mph, likely to have severe impacts) still had a shocking – and ongoing – impact:
“I had gone to the local Little Caesar Pizza place at the halftime of the Dallas Cowboy Philadelphia Eagle game to get a pizza.
When I got to the Little Caesar’s they had run out of pizzas. So I had to wait. While I was waiting the Tornado hit the shopping Center and sucked me out of the building.
I was literally standing inside the Tornado.
I found a support column to hold on to at first. Then it spun me off the column and onto a truck that was parked in front of the Little Caesars.
I tried holding on to the hood of the truck but there was nothing to hold on to. I ended up on the ground holding on to the rim of the left front tire until it stopped.
It was dead still and all the lights were off because power had been knocked out. People were screaming and cars alarms were going off all over the place. It was like a war zone.
The Tornado was an EF3 with sustained winds of 140 mph and it was 1300 yards wide at its base.
That is 13 football fields wide. Words cannot describe what it felt like. Beyond horrifying.
I am lucky to be alive for sure. I don’t think you will meet many people in your life who have survived something like this. Someone was definitely watching out for me.
My back, head, and lower legs were hit the hardest. I have debris (rocks, mud, glass) in there to this day. Most of it is out but not all.”
The tornado that Chris experienced was one of many that struck Dallas in the surrounding days.
This is because the storm patterns that create tornadoes often create more than one. This can mean one particular area getting battered by successive tornadoes, causing extreme damage.
While the spinning winds travel through a region, they grow in intensity and also suck debris into the swirling air.
This is what gives the tornado its characteristic appearance, and also causes things called debris balls, which cause even more destruction in an area that a tornado hits.
Debris balls can consist of all the stuff that the tornado picks up from its journey; it can subsequently hurl the debris balls at nearby structures, including homes, along its path.
If a person were to be sucked up by the tornado, they may also find themselves hurled away like a debris ball. This is exactly what happened to William from Smithville, Mississippi in 2011:
“On April 27 2011, a tornado outbreak struck Smithville, Mississippi. After hearing the alert, I had walked outside.
It was partly cloudy and warm but it turned cool so quickly that I thought it was over and I walked back inside my house.
I lived in a apartment in a house with a double wall, a sound proof wall that separated my apartment from my neighbors.
I was watching the news. WTVA Chief Meteorologist Matt Laubhan said the storm was coming to Smithville and I just stood there watching, waiting, looking at the TV and thinking this isn’t gonna happen.
About 30 seconds later, the power went out and the entire house shook for a minute and then stopped and I thought it was over so I was about to get up from my floor when the shaking began again and wouldn’t stop this time.
I felt the pressure drop and as the shaking got louder, I got worried. Then it felt like the house exploded.
I woke up one hour and a half later in a field a 1/4 mile away from the house with cuts to my body and a deep cut to my head and covered in blood dirt and grass.
I was taken to Tupelo, Mississippi, where I spent 2 weeks in recovery.”
The horror of William’s story shows the importance of being safe when it comes to tornadoes, and always taking tornado warnings seriously.
Many of the stories in NOAA’s study describe sheltering in safe, tornado-resistant structures, with many people thanking their quick thinking and proactive behavior for saving their lives.
Through these harrowing stories, the message is clear: tornadoes are not to be disrespected.
If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.