Wow, not a misrepresenting headline subby.
It was like some disaster movie, only creepier, because it's real.
I wouldn't mind seeing some more of the same guy's footage.

It's remarkable. It moves from his fascination and their tension--and the audio voids where she's probably saying "don't drive the farking car there" to pictures through starred and shattered car windows.

And then turning the camera towards the upside down white car, its alarm blaring and lights blinking. I remember the first time I came on a car wreck, reaching down to make sure the liquid was water and not gasoline and find the driver. A drunk, "No. No. I think I'm OK." They showed a dog, but the car was not empty.

And at the end, so much death they had to leave out, so many lives cracked open that it was almost a collection of still pictures.

/compare with Twister.

That's the most arresting video I've seen related to that tragedy. Thanks for posting, subby.

Uncle Wiggly: They showed a dog, but the car was not empty.

according to the comments the car was empty and the dog was reunited with it's owner.

Wow...that was....very hard to watch during the last couple minutes.

That was unreal. I've only seen tornadoes on video but that one takes the cake. They are so close. It blew my mind to see patches of blue sky as that monster ripped through the town. Whenever I see these videos I am always struck at how many people are driving around. I know it is riskier but I would almost rather be out in a car, able to see the tornado, and drive the fark away rather than wait to be obliterated in a basement.

That was insane. And heartwrenching toward the end of the video. Goddamn.

Two Hearted: I can handle seeing people getting out of their car, shaken up, but just about lost it when he comes around the car and the dog is there with the look on his face like "WHAT THE fark WAS THAT?"

Yeah...same here.

make me some tea: Two Hearted: I can handle seeing people getting out of their car, shaken up, but just about lost it when he comes around the car and the dog is there with the look on his face like "WHAT THE fark WAS THAT?"

Yeah...same here.

Yeah, that was both mine and my wife's reaction. The only time we let out an 'ohhhhh'

make me some tea: Two Hearted: I can handle seeing people getting out of their car, shaken up, but just about lost it when he comes around the car and the dog is there with the look on his face like "WHAT THE fark WAS THAT?"

Yeah...same here.

Ditto.
/ the" do you know where my people are? You can help me, right?" look on the dogs face..

Two Hearted: I can handle seeing people getting out of their car, shaken up, but just about lost it when he comes around the car and the dog is there with the look on his face like "WHAT THE fark WAS THAT?"

short csb...

I was at a hospital when Katrina struck and we were taking in refugees and casualties for three days afterwards. The most emotionally challenging thing was trying to sleep at night (on the roof of the hospital since it was over 100 degrees inside) while listening to the abdoned dogs (who had taken refuge on the roofs of houses as we had fourteen feet of water around us) howling for their owners.

log_jammin: Uncle Wiggly: They showed a dog, but the car was not empty.

according to the comments the car was empty and the dog was reunited with it's owner.

How dare your facts ruin my maudlin observations!

log_jammin: Uncle Wiggly: They showed a dog, but the car was not empty.

according to the comments the car was empty and the dog was reunited with it's owner.

Thank you....now I can sleep tonite.

/bad things should never happen to dogs. Cats and people....yes... dogs never.

Made me think of Timothy Treadwell for some reason.

hippyneil: We don't get much in the way of tornadoes here in the UK and I have always been genuinely puzzled why people who live in such areas continue to build using wood rather than brick/concrete. While no structure can be completely safe without costing stupid amounts of money, I would have thought that brick/concrete would stay structurally sound for longer.
That said and based on your comments, perhaps wood is easier to clean up and fix after such a catastrophic event.

Wood is a hell of a lot cheaper (at least in north America) than brick or concrete. Even houses that have brick on the outside, will usually only have one row of bricks, and a wooden skeleton underneath. In a tornado, the only difference between wood and brick, is that brick will not fly as far as wood.

See, this is why I think storm chasers are self-aggrandizing idiots.

1) The cop doesn't need you yelling at him when he's doing his job. Eff off.

2) Your car on the road during danger could be contributing to the tragedy if you get knocked into something or cause a wreck

3) Just stumbling around a disaster scene without any EMT training or other emergency supplies doesn't really help anyone either. The dog did wag though. I wonder if he got the dog to safety or just left him there.


His wife looks really like she'd rather be someplace else the whole time, keeps saying don't get us in it, etc.


When I grew up in tornado alley, they said stay in your basements or seek shelter. Stay off the roads as you'll impede emergency personnel. We didn't have self-aggrandizing storm chasers yet, no portable cameras other than 8mm film. But we did know enough to not go directly into tornadoes.

Now apparently its something they do regularly. I don't think its smart or helpful.

epoc_tnac: I'd also like to point out that in terms of help, this couple are completely farking useless, but at least they manage to keep the cameras rolling. Fark these idiots.

I'm not going to defend his babbling, since as someone who's allegedly been chasing storms for decades you'd think he would be able to keep his shiat together. But having read this excellent article about him a few days ago, it's pretty douchey and incorrect to say he was useless. It sounds like there's a lot of rather NSFLunch stuff that he saw after he turned the camera off.

epoc_tnac: I'd also like to point out that in terms of help, this couple are completely farking useless, but at least they manage to keep the cameras rolling. Fark these idiots.

Storm spotters are the only way to actually verify a tornado on the ground. Storm chasers also significantly increase public awareness of both the danger and the aftermath (you know, so we are compelled to help).

So I'm not sure what you're getting at.

There'd be no NSFLunch footage if he stayed home instead of inserting himself into a natural disaster for personal glory. If he gets his wife killed or injured doing this, whats he gonna say about it then? I don't respect guys that deliberately roll the dice with their families lives, or with their own ability to keep providing an income for them.

If you don't know a tornado's dangerous growing up in tornado alley you pretty much need your pulse checked anyway. Spotters == guys at home who see something and phone it in. Big ups. Guys out clogging rural roads with their stormchaser cars and possibly adding to the casualty list being asshats? no thanks. But I guess the ships totally sailed, people are idiots with cameras now, and there's no putting it back to where you'd do the right thing (stay home and seek shelter for your family) rather than be out being an effing hero without any training to be one.

Generation_D: But I guess the ships totally sailed, people are idiots with cameras now, and there's no putting it back to where you'd do the right thing (stay home and seek shelter for your family) rather than be out being an effing hero without any training to be one.

Know how I know you didn't read the article I linked to?

It would be great if there were enough spotters that nobody ever had to leave home to verify a tornado/severe weather, but that's just not practical, especially in rural areas. I'm not a storm chaser, but frankly, if someone's going to be out filming a tornado, I'd rather it was somebody like this guy who has a navigator, a live data stream, and (presumably) is educated about storm structure.

Compare this to some of the videos we saw from slack-jawed yokels in Alabama standing on their apartment balconies filming cellphone video as the Tuscaloosa tornado passed a few hundred yards away. Those people never left home, yet they were incredibly more reckless than this guy...one slight change in the storm's path and they'd be dead and their iPhone would be somewhere in Georgia right now.

epoc_tnac: Charlie Freak: Storm spotters are the only way to actually verify a tornado on the ground. Storm chasers also significantly increase public awareness of both the danger and the aftermath (you know, so we are compelled to help).

You could also argue that storm chasers create the idea in people's minds that it's perfectly acceptable to drive around a tornado and film it as opposed to immediately seeking shelter. Not to mention that shows on TV make tornado chasing look so farking cool as opposed to deadly and horrific.

Except that one of those activities is risk-based, the other is part and parcel of life in the Midwest. The risk-based ones deserve whatever Darwin has in store for them.

And I disagree on the deadly and horrific - this year has turned the tables on that. Two, three, and four years ago the shows were pretty benign, but so was the weather - it's one thing when there's a photogenic funnel out in a field in Middle of Nowhere Texas, another when there's a wedge tearing through the woods into cities in the south. Last year's specials were significantly worse on the horror front, this years... I don't even know how they're going to handle it, it's been so bad.

I'm torn because yes, there is the element of congestion to deal with (regarding traffic and emergency services), and like I said, the danger is on them. On the other hand, I'm glad people are taking an interest in a nerdy, scientific topic.

I'm glad people are taking an interest in a nerdy, scientific topic.

by interfering with emergency vehicles, and putting their lives in danger. Awesome way to express that interest. And for what -- a handful of minutes of "ZOMG ITS BIG" footage. Useless.

Storm chasing should be illegal unless you have a role to play, like trained EMT, or search and rescue, or assisting police and fire. Just being a self aggrandizing person out to one-up your buddies on youtube is a recipe for trouble. About the time these guys gets someone killed cause their car flipped.. They aren't adding any value to the scene, possibly are risking others ability to do real work. And if they get hurt doing it, EMT will have to provide emergency assistance to them, which adds to the workload they already have.

Plusses: cool footage we already have seen 1000s times over the last 50 years of storms.

Minuses: numerous.

Verdict: Stormchasing should be outlawed as a pointless risk to emergency workers and police.

The Spoony Bard: last line of video description: "God Bless Joplin"

Please lord, if thou see fit to smash our city to smithereens, will thou at least do us a courtesy and "bless us" afterwards

God welcomes his victims.

The stormchasers help with meteorology by witnessing and documenting storm formation, and help get the word out to meteorologists so that they can warn people about potential danger. They also help inform emergency responders as to where they are needed.

So all of you that do not live in areas where things like this happen can STFU.


/and the guy in the video has won an Emmy for his work

Something tells me they are real storm chasers and just two retards who can afford a Macbook and expensive cameras and trying to cash in.

Generation_D: Verdict: Stormchasing should be outlawed as a pointless risk to emergency workers and police.

Yes, because in a potentially dangerous weather situation, I'd rather the cops made it their priority to be handing out tickets to people who may or may not be storm chasers.