Althouse: "I'm literally 400 yards in front of it... it's ripping the roof off that building.... debris is everywhere... swirling around...."

June 18, 2009

"I'm literally 400 yards in front of it... it's ripping the roof off that building.... debris is everywhere... swirling around...."

Watch how long it takes before the tornado chaser says "I'm way too close."

23 comments:

kjbe said...: Actually, that is way cool.

Mosquito #1: Larry, no! Don't look at the light!
Mosquito #2: [etranced] I-can't-help-it. It's-so-beautiful.; 6/18/09, 9:08 AM
TJ said...: Moron. His footage gets worse as he kept getting closer.

And his narration is annoying/hilarious: "It's 2:19. 2009!" Yeah, that's right. Hour, minute, year. Perfect.

That said, I bet it was a real rush for him. I can respect that.; 6/18/09, 9:18 AM
rhhardin said...: Tornados are a big budget bonanza for NOAA. Tornado season is fund-raising season.

Get a tornado tote bag.; 6/18/09, 9:26 AM
MadisonMan said...: It sounds like he hasn't slept for about 2 days. And yes to what Trevor says: Wretched Footage and annoying commentary.

My two favorite chasing-related videos are this one and this one, the latter being shot in Dane County (lots of swearing). Wait for the shot at the end of the neighbor's farm.; 6/18/09, 9:30 AM
Beth said...: My favorite tornado footage is in my mind: coming home from church one Sunday, in a hot, drought July in Kansas, and having to hop out of the car and into a roadside ditch as a tornado ripped right in front of us.; 6/18/09, 10:49 AM
Original Mike said...: Is this guy still alive? I guess the existence of the video says he is. Why didn't he film their escape?; 6/18/09, 10:52 AM
MadisonMan said...: Well come ON Beth, why weren't you carrying a camera with you!!!!!!!!

Although I should talk, the one I've seen I didn't photograph either. The equivalent of You, A Law Professor could be tossed my way.; 6/18/09, 10:53 AM
kjbe said...: Yeah, the one I've witnessed (from my front yard), I didn't have a camera, either. There wasn't a lot to see, but swirling clouds and some debris, so I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but knew something was going on. I will say, that yes, it did sound like a freight train. That's when I knew to go inside.; 6/18/09, 11:00 AM
TJ said...: You, a Madison Man!; 6/18/09, 11:11 AM
Elliott A said...: He can't be a legitimate storm chaser. They are NEVER too close.; 6/18/09, 11:33 AM
KCFleming said...: Like Beth, I once had a tornado pass over us as we huddled beneath a bridge.

Nothing like impending doom to sharpen the senses, but adrenaline is useless before the majesty of the Great Wind.

One can neither fight nor flee, but simply stare in awe or cower in fear. Words and pictures, even film, fail to record the proper sensation, that one is a really really small speck of dust, and a mere roll of the dice can determine all.

Some cars never made it as far as the bridge.; 6/18/09, 11:45 AM
Steven said...: He didn't say "It's 2:19. 2009!"

He said "It's June 17th, 2009."; 6/18/09, 11:52 AM
TJ said...: Thanks, Steven. That makes so much more sense. My apologies to Mr. anonymous, and still annoying, storm chaser.; 6/18/09, 12:08 PM
Original Mike said...: Is he a professional storm chaser, or merely a poser?; 6/18/09, 12:09 PM
former law student said...: Trying to find if "A.J. Fable" was still alive led me to an "Andy Fabel" who sold faked tornado footage to the Associated Press last year:

http://cbs2.com/watercooler/Photographer.Tornado.Chaser.2.768252.html; 6/18/09, 12:55 PM
Leland said...: LOL @ 43 seconds you hear a voice (similar to a GPS navigation system warning), "You're approaching a twisting storm."; 6/18/09, 1:31 PM
Kev said...: I was in a tornado the summer before eighth grade. Not physically sucked up into one, mind you, but I was in a car upon which said tornado deposited part of the roof of the building where we'd just been ice skating. Took out the back window of that car. Not fun for a kid that young; I was nervous around thunderstorms for the whole next year, until I got to high school and our military-veteran band director made us march in a few of them.

The same tornado, incidentally, skipped across the shopping center's parking lot and tore the roof off a movie theatre with patrons inside (talk about unexpected special effects!). It then went across the street and snapped one of those huge freeway signs that spelled out TEXACO in individual letters--right on top of the car of a guy who had gone into the Denny's next door not 30 seconds before. Talk about a stroke of luck...; 6/18/09, 4:15 PM
Big Mike said...: This guy is why they invented the Darwin Awards. Though apparently he survived so he doesn't qualify.; 6/18/09, 6:08 PM
Beth said...: Kev, that's a scary story.

A year or so before my experience, parts of the same little town (Emporia, KS) were flattened by a big twister. The store where my sister usually shops was practically pancaked, and we didn't know her fate for several hours. She had, for a whim, gone across town to the new A&P. But her eldest son was about 10 at the time, and he needed a bit of therapy to deal with storms and anxiety after that.; 6/18/09, 6:29 PM
Unknown said...: Anyone know why the video has disappared from CNN?; 6/19/09, 11:56 AM
john said...: fls - think his name had anything to do with what he was selling?; 6/19/09, 1:24 PM
john said...: Original Mike said...
Is he a professional storm chaser, or merely a poser?

Tornadoes are so last year. If you want Discovery Channel stuff now, you need to own a fishing boat and get into lots of fights with your crew.; 6/19/09, 1:28 PM
Robert Burnham said...: I think this is one of those things people do when they feel everyday life has been sanitized and "safed" so thoroughly that all the kick has gone out of existence.

It's pretty ghoulish actually, exulting over the power of nature as it destroys property and (usually) human lives.

And we're not getting any special insights or scientific observations -- just profanity-laden variations on "Wow!"; 6/19/09, 3:47 PM