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00:08There's a tornado!
00:10Where? Oh my god!
00:11Oh f***!
00:18Major tornado outbreak here in eastern Nebraska.
00:31Every single storm has a tornado warning on it.
00:38I got a 12-year-old in this car with me!
00:42This is absolutely unreal.
01:21My name is John Edwards. I'm from White Lake, Michigan.
01:26Our daughter, Brooke, is a student at University of Nebraska.
01:29Lincoln. She was signing up for some classes over the summer to where she was going to need some transportation.
01:37So we came up with a plan to bring a car to her, and it happened to be that day,
01:43April 26th.
01:48The one mistake I made was not giving my wife a kiss before I left in the morning.
01:54I hadn't said goodbye or see you later.
02:00For Friday, 2 to 6 p.m. in particular, that's the time frame we're really watching.
02:06Not only a hail and wind threat, but also the concern for tornado development.
02:12I'm Emily Roller. I'm the chief meteorologist at First Alert 6 in Omaha.
02:18Looking at the data for this storm situation, we have a front that moves through the area,
02:23and along this line, supercell thunderstorms are forming.
02:29These supercells have the potential to form multiple very strong tornadoes, and we're looking at the threat across Nebraska and
02:38Iowa.
02:42My name's Freddie McKinney. I'm a storm chaser that is based out of Nebraska.
02:47Well, on April 26th, you could tell that this day was going to be a significant tornado event.
02:52I just had to be there.
02:54We could be dealing with a tornado, a strong tornado in eastern Nebraska.
02:59Today, we have that threat for rotation.
03:02Right now, I would say our main area is of concern, of course, with this storm out near Lincoln.
03:16My name's Greg Johnson. I'm a photographer from Canada.
03:20My specialty is photographing tornadoes.
03:24We're driving along just south of Lincoln, and a storm starts to develop, so we head straight for it, literally
03:31as fast as we can go.
03:33I have a girlfriend. We've been together for a few years.
03:39We spent a lot of time chasing storms, and I would hear Greg say, this could be it, this could
03:45be the one, and it never was.
03:48So I started to tease him, he maybe made these tornado things up.
03:55Very quickly, we realized that this is the storm.
04:09I am terrified, and I am in awe of this thing that has formed in front of us.
04:21Oh, it hit something.
04:23Oh, wow, look at the debris flying up in there.
04:27Big debris starts being lofted into the sky.
04:31It's going from ground level to 300 meters in just a few seconds.
04:41That is when reality kind of hit.
04:45This tornado is killing people right in front of our eyes.
04:51Oh, sh-
04:52Sh-
04:53Oh!
04:54What was this?
04:58Holy heavens!
04:59Ok.
05:01Sh-
05:02Keep going, now.
05:03Go.
05:06Oh, my God!
05:28I'm driving, listening to some music, then our daughter Brooke calls.
05:37Dad, there's a tornado.
05:41I thought I need to get off the interstate.
05:44I turn on the radio to a local station.
05:46We've got a violent tornado on the ground.
05:49The Weather Service is calling a particularly dangerous situation.
05:53Please rush to your tornado safe spot right now.
05:56I wonder what's really happening where it's at.
05:59Are people involved?
06:02This is serious business.
06:18I don't want to get any closer to it, so I'm stopping right here.
06:23They need to get out of this car now and seek somewhere else to stay protected.
06:36Goddamn.
06:38Holy .
06:40Oh, man.
06:43Wow.
06:44Oh, this is getting serious.
06:54Holy .
06:57My God.
06:58Wow.
06:59Oh .
07:21The people that I'm standing next to, I've never met before, but we had something in common,
07:26knowing that we were all watching this storm happen right in front of us.
07:35Oh, yeah.
07:37All these people.
07:38Shit.
07:48Right now, we have a storm tracker on the scene so we can see a live picture of that tornado
07:55happening.
07:59We got tornado on the east side of Lincoln.
08:02Violent vortex right there.
08:05Oh, my gosh.
08:07This thing's violent.
08:08It's my job to relay what's happening on the ground.
08:12Take cover.
08:13Take cover.
08:14Northeast side of Lincoln needs to be underground.
08:17It's going to cause some big problems.
08:19It's coming directly at us.
08:22It's very critical to get those warnings out there to alert people that these tornadoes are headed their way.
08:28Major tornado outbreak here in eastern Nebraska.
08:31This is very bad, guys.
08:36This tornado is now moving at about 35 to 40 miles per hour.
08:41Depending on how close you are, you may not have much of a heads up that this storm is moving
08:46to you.
08:49We don't want to mess with that.
08:53We got to go.
08:54We don't want to mess with that.
09:02It's coming right at us.
09:04Oh, my gosh.
09:05Big violent tornado here.
09:07Nebraska, take cover.
09:10We can see from a storm tracker that a train line is in the path of this tornado.
09:17My name is Eric D. Carlisle.
09:19I've been a train conductor for 28 years.
09:22That day, we get the red signal, and we end up sitting there in the motor.
09:27The only warning we got was from the engineer that was on the eastbound train saying there was a tornado
09:33coming.
09:35We look to the south, and we see the tornado, and we're like, oh, .
09:45Dad just took that building out.
09:48I did.
09:50Should we get away from the windows?
10:11It's coming up the railroad tracks towards me.
10:15I yell as loud as I can that we need to get down and get low.
10:24Holy .
10:26Holy .
10:27.
10:27.
10:28.
10:28.
10:29.
10:30.
10:30.
10:30.
10:53as it's getting closer and closer it just becomes more and more real until it's oh crap
11:18oh my god
11:19all these people
11:33you're sitting there in the dirt wondering if you can see your wife again your kids again
11:41that's the first time that i really wonder if we're going to make it through
11:51so
11:58so
12:17thank you trevor i'm holding on for dear life fear kicked in like holy smoke
12:27right over us
12:53let me see
13:07lucky we're in that motor but not in the cars that got knocked over
13:12we feel lucky to actually live through it
13:20as we're getting up and gathering our feelings together
13:27and look behind us and i can see the train cars are flipped over on their side and you wonder
13:36how
13:36how did it not throw me too
13:45we just took a look at that confirmed tornado
13:49we're watching that track of that storm now continue
13:52out to the northeast this is about a quarter mile north of waverly road
13:58we continue to track this tornado toward raverly and moving into the suburbs
14:03this is an area that is home to about 300 000 people
14:08our biggest concern is that it could cause destruction to people's homes and threaten their lives as well
14:20as well
14:20i need to get on this tornado so i can provide live updates and uh help warn the people in
14:25the path
14:29holy cow
14:31this is this is very bad guys
14:34that's gonna go just behind us
14:42guys
14:43guys let's get across right in front of us big violent tornado here
14:51we're in the debris cloud
14:54this is absolutely unreal
15:00extreme false range we're about to be in the out
15:02outside the tornado here it's crossing
15:04gosh it's right there going right over the interstate
15:12here comes debris
15:13oh shoot
15:15we gotta go
15:17circulating around the tornado
15:21we gotta get to that waverly road
15:23we gotta get to that waverly road
15:25we're in the debris cloud
15:27we gotta watch our windows i just had a piece of debris hit my side window
15:31violent tornado here waverly nebraska
15:34gosh
15:35pieces of insulation coming in
15:37feeling pretty nervous
15:39it's impacting an area that has a lot of people that i care about
15:46still it's still going strong still going strong
15:50i really hope everybody's okay
15:52it's like dodge city
15:54this is unbelievable
15:55this is going to go just north of waverly nebraska
15:59there has to be people that are going to be seriously injured by this tornado
16:18oh that's oh my gosh it's going to hit those buildings
16:26as this tornado is moving toward waverly it's moving through a very industrial area and we have a lot of
16:32warehouses in these areas and this is where people work
16:36take cover right now
16:43my name is nate hutchison i'm a former plc programmer at an industrial plant
16:52i didn't get any kind of notification on my phone about the tornado happening
17:05i'm in the break room and then the power just went out and so
17:11we're all like okay
17:13and then you know a couple seconds later you know the air pressure starts changing and then i'm like oh
17:20oh
17:31oh
17:32oh
17:32oh
17:41oh
17:43oh
17:43oh
17:43oh
17:43oh
17:43oh
17:43oh
17:43oh
17:43oh
18:00oh
18:08oh
18:12oh
18:13oh
18:17yeah we need to get out of here-
18:18We need to f***ing leave.
18:24What are we going to do?
18:25We need to get out of here.
18:27Sheer luck.
18:28Hand of God.
18:29Now I have no idea what really saved me from getting crushed.
18:33But, um, I'm glad to be here, so, yeah.
18:41State troopers en route to a tornado versus building in the Waverly area.
18:49This is moving northeast at 40 miles per hour.
18:52And I would say, if you're in the path of this storm, at this point, if you haven't already gone
18:57into your safe place, if you're in this tornado warning, you need to do that right now.
19:06We're tracking this tornado as it moves in a more rural area.
19:11There's homes, there's farms, people's lives are at risk.
19:17I'm Stephen Jones.
19:18I've been storm chasing for about 15 years.
19:23That April 26th, 2024.
19:26I'm seeing this tornado right in front of us.
19:30My jaws completely drop.
19:34There are farmsteads in the path of these storms.
19:38Ghost train.
19:40Ghost train coming in.
19:43Oh, it's just taking stuff over there.
19:46Hold down window.
19:47Yep.
19:59Hold down window.
20:00Yep.
20:09It is a just awful pit of the stomach feeling when you are witnessing people's lives change before your eyes.
20:32The very next moment, we see the tornado lift.
20:39This tornado has traveled a little less than 10 miles, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
20:4933 minutes after this tornado has lifted, we get confirmation that another tornado is on the ground.
20:57We're watching it develop on radar.
20:59We're tracking a confirmed tornado right now, moving out toward Elkhorn.
21:04You need to get into your safe place now.
21:13My name is Adam Lucio, and I've been chasing storms for 20 years.
21:18My girlfriend, Chelsea, and I are taking Highway 31 up towards the Elkhorn area, and I see this developing storm.
21:26Big wedge tornado crossing right in front of us right now.
21:29I am.
21:30I'm ready.
21:31Okay.
21:34Oh, my gosh.
21:35Oh, my gosh.
21:36It's right there.
21:37I know.
21:38I know.
21:39This big tornado is changing its shape and size dramatically.
21:46This looks like it could be one of those worst-case scenarios where there are dozens of deaths and lots
21:52of destruction.
21:55Elkhorn, Nebraska.
21:56Ledge tornado moving through right now.
22:12We got some reports coming in out of Elkhorn.
22:15This is moving north pretty fast.
22:17So, again, get to your safe place if you are in this tornado warning.
22:26My name is Jason Sunday.
22:28I live with my wife, Emily, and our daughter, Kenzie.
22:33We just decided to settle down in Elkhorn.
22:41We're really excited about the opportunity to start our new life there.
22:47But what I thought was going to be just an ordinary, awesome spring Friday turned into a hellish nightmare.
22:55When I arrived home, the sirens were going up, my wife and I.
23:00We look outside.
23:02It's dark.
23:04It's stormy.
23:07Wow.
23:09Look at that.
23:10Oh, you can hear that wind.
23:12Carpet elements.
23:15Oh, wow.
23:16It's picking up.
23:18I get this feeling in my gut, like, maybe it is coming our way.
23:28I said, honey, we need to pray.
23:33For the first time in my life, I knew that I couldn't protect my wife.
23:38There is nothing that I can do.
23:43Lord, just let this thing go around us.
23:47I just love it.
23:48Oh, wow.
23:53Oh, wow.
23:56Oh, wow.
24:11Let's go.
24:50Oh, my name is Conor McCrory. I'm a storm chaser. Growing up in North Texas and living primarily in Oklahoma
24:59and now Austin, I've never been too far from tornadoes and other kinds of severe weather.
25:07Today is off the charts. There are so many tornadoes happening.
25:13Best tornado on my goddamn one.
25:15Holy, holy, holy s**t.
25:18We follow this tornado up the highway. It's moving a little bit to the north. I'm chasing with two friends.
25:26Here's Bopham.
25:27Yeah.
25:30Come on. Watch this fire truck.
25:33Whoa.
25:34Close.
25:38Whoa.
25:39Yeah.
25:41Oh, wow. Look on the road.
25:48Look at the foresties, man. The session foresties. Oh, my God.
25:57Is that house okay?
25:59It's spinning really fast. It's a dynamic, ever-changing situation.
26:06North or east?
26:08I think east.
26:09Oh, my God.
26:10Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa.
26:12Top might be closing that road.
26:15Wow.
26:16We're able to just slide north right behind the tornado and get very close to it as it moves just
26:24off into this field.
26:26We find ourselves in a bit of a convoy as we follow this tornado up the highway, and there's one
26:31chaser vehicle that I can see who happens to be in front of us.
26:41My name is Ben Ahrens, and I like storm photography.
26:46You're truly struck by when you're looking at these storms, and catching them on film is what I like to
26:52do.
26:54There's a lot of other chasers around me.
26:59I watch the tornado crossing the field.
27:16A gust of wind actually hit the back of the truck.
27:25Oh, my God.
27:32I noticed a gust of wind.
27:45Oh, f***.
27:48Oh, f***.
27:50We need to check on these people when the tornado gets far enough.
27:54Holy f***.
27:59It was really intense.
28:01We were really concerned that whoever was in that car is going to be seriously injured.
28:24I was just so happy to see that he was all right.
28:33It takes me a minute to kind of come to.
28:52It was the closest call I've ever had to death.
29:00It could have been a lot worse.
29:01My shoulder was hurting a little bit, a little bit of whiplash.
29:05I'm glad they stopped to help out, see if I was okay.
29:10The driver of the truck indicated that he was not seriously injured.
29:18It comes down to a matter of a second or two, a matter of a few feet.
29:23That's how close it was.
29:29I do want to talk about another warning that we just had issued down to the south.
29:35This broken line of storms and every single storm just about along this line has a tornado warning on it.
29:50My name is Jesse Rossi.
29:52We were driving down I-35, heading south towards Marietta.
29:57Me, Peter, my partner, and my daughter, we were going home.
30:01You can barely see anything.
30:05There's a lot of hell and rain.
30:07Pretty scary out there.
30:16I was on the phone with my daughter-in-law.
30:19I was on the phone with my daughter-in-law.
30:33God damn it.
30:34God damn it.
30:37We got power flashes.
30:39God damn it.
30:41We've got rotation right here, but this is flying.
30:45I'm thinking that the tornado just passed the interstate, and I was okay to keep driving into it.
30:54There is a tornado, and it's tearing apart everywhere.
30:59Tornado.
30:59He made it.
31:00Tornado.
31:02No.
31:04God damn it.
31:09Everything's just start flashing before your eyes.
31:11You don't know if you're ever going to see your family again.
31:14We've got a tornado right here at exit 15.
31:17It's flying everywhere.
31:19I got a 12-year-old in this car with me.
31:22We've got to get pulled over.
31:26No more.
31:36Baby, calm down.
31:38Calm down.
31:39The piece of roof fell out of the sky, and I was able to swerve.
31:42Give me your hand.
31:44Breathe.
31:45Breathe.
31:46You're okay, baby.
31:49just pray baby just pray
31:52my daughter was in the back seat she was crying and tina was trying to consult her to get her
31:58calmed down we could have all died we could have all died that night it's like a monster coming at
32:05you
32:11the hardest thing about it is that it could have took our life away we could have all been gone
32:24the ef4 tornado in marietta is the most powerful tornado that oklahoma has seen in eight years
32:31as the storm system continues to move northeast it's still incredibly active and then there's
32:39eyewitness reports of another tornado touching down in barnstall oklahoma
32:47barnstall you have seconds you've got to be in your safe place right now this is an emergency for you
32:53in barnstall a major tornado moving into town right now
33:05i was born in barnstall oklahoma i lived there practically my whole life i have my husband
33:15ryan my baby clinton and my daughter georgia she has cerebral palsy and is quadriplegic
33:29he had a tornado warning i'm trying to hold the baby in georgia
33:36i could hear the tornado just roaring it sounds like a train coming at you
33:43i thought oh god
33:53lord let my body be strong enough to protect my babies
34:12after the tornado left the lincoln area i get an alert that pops up on my phone and
34:17lets me know that a tornado emergency is issued for the town of mindon iowa i know that i need
34:24to get on
34:24the storm oh tornado big tornado guys on the ground fully condensed tornado oh my gosh this is a
34:32violent ef4 type tornado plus just hoping and praying that it does not hit one of these farmsteads
34:41there's a farmstead just getting slammed by this
34:46oh my gosh it just blew something up
34:58there's damage out here catastrophic damage
35:07i could hear the tornado just roaring it sounds like a train coming at you
35:14and that's when it hit i thought we were gonna die
35:28then it was over
35:32but we don't have a route
35:34it looked like a war zone
35:36we were trapped on the porch because all the debris is wrapped around
35:47i'm jonathan petromala i'm a journalist and documentarian i specialize in extreme weather
35:54i'm traveling with my partner brandon clement
35:58we start seeing confirmation online saying hey a violent tornado has come through barnstall
36:04we need help
36:07it's pitch black it's dark and we know we're going to be coming into a disaster
36:13when we arrive you can tell this has been a very very violent tornado that tore through here
36:18and so immediately we go into search and rescue mode
36:24you know lives are at stake
36:27i'm going to go out and see if we can help
36:32i'm hoping to find survivors
36:35a lot of structure for hit some completely destroyed
36:41you guys fire department want us to evacuate as far as we can
36:45which way do they want us to go
36:47i passed the store further yeah
36:48okay
36:48they said it's called the explosion zone
36:52smell the gas
36:54you know how dangerous that is and you want to be away from it but you also know that there's
36:57people that maybe can't get out of their home that needs help
37:03i see this family in front of their destroyed home
37:07we're in shock it's cold it's raining
37:10there's a broken gas line we can evacuate maybe a little bit further away to the gas station
37:15we can't get out of here
37:17you can't get off
37:17you guys have all right
37:19change the quadriplegic
37:21okay
37:22we can't go that way
37:24okay all right let me uh let me go see if i can grab some people to see if we
37:27can
37:29okay let me i'm gonna go see if i can grab some people okay it's okay i'm gonna go i'm
37:33gonna go grab
37:38i have my children on the porch that i have my children on the porch that i have to protect
37:42and i'm scared
37:46hey these folks need help to move out of the house
37:51so this is the family here there's a paraplegic over here and the wheelchair ramp is blocked
38:00what they have just gone through is absolutely traumatizing it's pouring rain and it's cold
38:10it was really critical to get her to safety as quickly as possible i'm able to get them around that
38:16and lift her
38:17yeah got it got it got it got it got it got it
38:23there we go you are you're clear behind you you're clear wait for the truck right there
38:27all right keep going straight back straight back here let me get in there tyler and you put her on
38:31my lap
38:40the kids they're both pretty scared but they're safe
38:47i'm grateful we were alive and i just thank god for those men that came in and just lifted georgia
38:56up
39:01they got us somewhere we could be warm and that's what god is safe
39:11there were almost 300 confirmed tornadoes across all states
39:18to have our two biggest cities in nebraska hit by a tornado in the same day
39:24with no loss of life that's just about unprecedented
39:38we were fixing to be gone
39:42that's the closest i'd ever been to a tornado
39:47i don't ever want to be that close again
40:04we're still picking up pieces we
40:12my kids are good you know they're safe
40:24a woman who i had spoken with she was missing her dog
40:30i want to just find my dog
40:33so you're still missing your dog
40:35yeah
40:37what kind of uh dog
40:40she's a german shepherd husky and she's all white
40:42okay
40:44what's her name
40:46misha
40:46misha
40:48misha
40:50misha come here babe
40:52come here baby
40:53oh
40:53come here
41:02while lives were changed
41:05there's still a tomorrow and there's still hope
41:08i know that when people are at their lowest and the worst has happened
41:13that the best is following right behind it
41:16now she's happy
41:17yeah
41:18her mom
41:20yeah
41:20hmm
41:21hmm
41:21hmm
41:21hmm
41:21hmm
41:21hmm
41:22hmm
41:22hmm
41:26hmm
41:26hmm
41:26hmm
41:27hmm
41:27hmm
41:27hmm
41:28hmm
41:29hmm
41:30hmm
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