http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqajULQwi90 I've seen one from a distance but I've never been anywhere close to one... Suffice to say, I am terrified of tornadoes...
haven't witnessed one.. but during hurricane alicia, one spun off and peeled the roof off the home i was living in. that was a real treat.
I've lived through several. It happens so fast, there's not much too it. I slept through one when I was five, rode out a few in my grandparents cellar (outdoor-in ground one, like in the movie "Twister") and witnessed a few more. In the Midwest tornadoes are fairly common, I was surprised to find out that Houston had more when I first moved here.
I forgot to mention that my mother lived through and witnessed a tornado that tore up most of my hometown, before I was living of course. I think it happened in 73 but it took out many businesses, homes, and the largest local high school in the area. Weather is always one of those things that can mystify and frighten me at the same time.
I have witnessed a Tornado and its name was Hakeem. It laid waste to millions of people's dreams in Florida and New York.
Heard a tornado during Alicia too, about two miles from my apartment. The tornado sounded like a freight train about a foot away from my ear Me and God had ourself a special moment
Made me think of SNL: Bob Swerski: If I may shift gears for a moment gentleman, coach Ditka vs. The Hurricane, who would win? Todd, Pat, Carl: Ditka, Ditka!! Bob Swerski: Hold on, Hold on, Hold on. The name of the Hurricane is Hurricane Ditka.
My house was hit by a tornado, but I was gone to work. My wife was home, but she hid in the closet and didn't see anything. My neighbor sat at his window (dumbass) and watched the tornado tear through my backyard.
When I was little I was visiting my uncle who lived in the suburbs of OK City and there was a tornado warning. I don't remember if a tornado actually landed but I remember hiding in the basement and looking at the basement window and outside was totally black and there was a loud roaring sound.
When I was very young (I have no memory of this) my mom said we were caught in a tornado that passed very near us in a parking lot. She said all the light poles were bent over and there was damage to the cars it hit directly. Obviously it was pretty small. I've seen several funnel clouds over the years -- the coolest thing I ever saw was a big water spout in in Playa. I was out in a little sailboat heading out to a reef to snokel -- there was a single storm cloud and the spout dropped down in an instant. I was tripped out by how large it was and how much water it was spraying up at the base. It lasted about 3 or 4 minutes and vanished as fast as it formed. We were maybe a half mile from it -- maybe a little less.
I've seen two. One was really minor when I was in elementary school. It touched down right outside our school, ripped a couple of limbs off trees and moved on. The other looked really bad from a distance. I was starting a road trip, and a really bad one looked like it touched down over downtown Beaumont, I heard no news about it, so I assume it really hit across the river (where no one lives).
I call them... nightmares. Always scare the **** out of me (wake up with heart beating about as fast as a humming bird flap's it's wings) and I've only 'experienced' them in "dreams".. as you call them..
I saw a water spout in Port Arthur near the Rainbow bridge- over the Neches river where it flows into Sabine Lake. I'm not sure if a water spout is a tornado that pulls surface water into it's vortex.....Anyway - like fools we watched it and it rained really hard for about 1 minute after it seemed to dissipate. The same year -May '83 I drove my mom to Austin for my brother's graduation. We went through very high winds near Lake Houston, saw emerald colored green sky - followed by a hailstorm-one beautiful sight, followed by destruction. I was driving a 1977 El Camino-could have driven that car through a Volcanic eruption. So much noise.....
was out camping when one tore by about 1/2 a mile down from us...that was super.. we just tried to hold everything down with the winds blowing like crazy (and were told to run to a nearby ditch if we heard it approaching).. luckily it didn't come our way.
A few. I grew up in Kentucky and survived the tornado of 74'. I also saw one in Oklahoma about 10 years ago.
