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00:00Wind speeds upwards of 210 miles per hour.
00:03272, we got the rotation above our heads to the right.
00:06The raw destructive power of 600 atomic bombs.
00:11Kinda, you're not gonna believe what I'm seeing.
00:13A storm chaser desperate to reach his family.
00:16Mom, take cover now, take cover now.
00:19There's a big, there's a large tornado coming towards you.
00:22Go get in the cellar, go get in the cellar.
00:25It's going through my town, man.
00:26On May 3rd of 1999, a powerful EF-5 tornado nearly destroyed the city of Moore, Oklahoma.
00:35Fourteen years later, history repeated itself.
00:38This is the story of the 2013 Moore tornado and the brave souls who chased it.
00:44From on-duty police officers and local storm chasers to those caught in the middle,
00:50their footage helped document one of the most destructive EF-5 tornadoes in American history.
00:59It began shortly after lunchtime on May 20th of 2013, when the Storm Prediction Center
01:05placed two-thirds of Oklahoma under tornado watch.
01:08They'd been tracking a storm network for several days that was capable of forming tornadoes
01:13and dropping baseball-sized hailstones on the area.
01:17Locals were advised to keep their eyes on the weather forecast and be ready to act at a moment's notice.
01:22A local storm chaser named Michael Lynn was parked outside of the Halo Animal Hospital on 32nd Street in Newcastle,
01:30Oklahoma.
01:31His handheld camera was rolling as the storm developed to the east, near the Newcastle Casino.
01:36Meanwhile, his car radio kept him up to date with all the latest information.
01:40Let's talk to Reid Timmer. We've got to get an update for the folks down south.
01:44Reid, tell us what you see. Where are you?
01:46Hey, right now we are in Bradley, Oklahoma.
01:49We can stop the green orange south.
01:51We can see the north side of it right now.
01:55Hot to wait for the water is going to be.
01:56We're about to drop south and get visual.
01:59We're still north of Timmer.
02:00Definitely has a very big backstreet in.
02:02Both very mature supercell.
02:04Despite warnings to seek shelter, Michael began driving toward the heart of the storm.
02:09Please don't take it lightly.
02:11If the storm is hitting your way, go to your safe spot.
02:14And at the very middle of the interior closet or bathroom,
02:16but really we prefer you go to a ground shelter or a basement or a storm cell or a safe
02:21room or something of the like.
02:22Or just get out of the way.
02:24Yeah.
02:25Yeah.
02:26I have to go that way.
02:28I have to go that way.
02:30Fire trucks and radio warnings weren't about to stop him.
02:34He wants to chase the storm.
02:35But he also needs to get home to protect his family.
02:38Meanwhile, the twister is preparing to touch down beyond the tree line.
02:43Let's just say Michael was in the right place at the right time.
02:47Okay, I've got a tornado on the ground.
02:49We have a tornado on the ground.
02:52I'm southwest.
02:53I am west of Oklahoma City.
02:56We've got this thing on the ground.
02:57It's going towards Newcastle right now.
03:00I am all over it.
03:02I've got video of it.
03:06This thing is going in towards more.
03:11Yeah, it's on the ground.
03:12I've got it on the ground.
03:13I was going to say it's got a rope on the bottom of it.
03:18But, oh, yeah.
03:20Yeah, we've got a major tornado on the ground.
03:24They're saying that Newcastle Casino is on target.
03:27They are absolutely right.
03:29This thing is on target for Newcastle Casino.
03:41Meanwhile, Michael was still following in his car.
03:44As a storm chaser and local weather enthusiast, the sight of this monster quickly dredged up
03:50old memories.
04:13In Moore, Oklahoma, May 3rd of 1999 is a date that lives in infamy.
04:19On that day, a deadly tornado outbreak spawned an EF5 twister that tracked a 38-mile path of
04:27destruction across Oklahoma.
04:28When the skies finally settled, 46 people were dead, 800 others were injured, and over 8,000
04:36homes were damaged or destroyed.
04:38Property losses exceeded $1.5 billion in damages, damages that some were still recovering from
04:46when this storm touched down 14 years later.
04:49May 3rd was all Michael could think about as he tracked the tornado.
04:53Knowing how much damage it could cause, he called his loved ones to ensure they were okay.
04:58Mom, take cover now.
05:00Take cover now.
05:01There's a big, there's a large tornado coming towards you.
05:05Take cover, okay?
05:06Bye.
05:07This thing is doing major damage.
05:09It's doing major damage.
05:12It's going towards Moore.
05:14It's going towards southwest Oklahoma City.
05:17Okay, there's power lines all over the place.
05:20I just went through some.
05:22This is terrible.
05:23This is terrible.
05:24This thing is here.
05:26This here, this thing is here.
05:27I'm going to have to stop.
05:29I can't see.
05:30Michael continued east on 32nd, past a row of fast food restaurants as the storm prepared
05:36to cross I-44.
05:38It's at this point that the tornado grew rapidly in size over two minutes.
05:42The rope-shaped funnel ballooned into a large stovepipe shape before reaching its final wedge
05:49form.
05:50This is a major, oh my God.
05:53Oh my God.
05:56Oh my God.
05:59It's taking a right turn.
06:00It's taking a right turn.
06:03Okay.
06:05I want to counsel to be advised.
06:07Cross it here.
06:08Cross it right.
06:16I'm going to hold that hand there.
06:19I'm sorry, but it's right in front of it.
06:22Jenna.
06:23Jenna.
06:24Go get in the cellar.
06:25Go get in the cellar.
06:27Okay.
06:28Okay.
06:30Okay.
06:31You're safe.
06:32This thing is taking the May 3rd.
06:3419th.
06:34It's taking the May 3rd path.
06:36It's taking a right hand turn.
06:38It's an F5.
06:39I know it's huge.
06:41I'm watching it right now.
06:43I've never seen anything.
06:44You can hear the worry in Michael's voice.
06:47Based on its current trajectory, the tornado is on a direct collision course with Moore.
06:52Stuck on the highway, all he could do was watch as the storm moved away from him.
06:57Yeah, stay where you're at.
06:59Just stay where you're at.
07:02Okay.
07:03Hope and pray.
07:04Hope and pray it doesn't hit our house.
07:06Because I'm telling you, it's going right towards our area.
07:10It's taking more of a southerly track.
07:12Hopefully it won't hit our house.
07:14Michael took the next exit onto 149th Street, putting him right behind the storm as it tracked toward Moore.
07:25Yeah, we're going straight into West Moore.
07:27This thing looks like it's...
07:33I smell electricity.
07:35This thing is taking...
07:37This is taking a Moore High School.
07:40This is taking May 3rd.
07:43I've got it.
07:44I've got it.
07:45I'm right in behind it.
07:48It looks like it's taking a...
07:49It's taking a path straight east.
07:53It's going straight east.
07:55I'm afraid of God it doesn't go north.
07:59People have got to...
08:00I just...
08:00I feel so bad for the people that are in the path of this.
08:04The further down 149th he went, the worse the devastation became.
08:09Telephone poles were bent, and trees were snapped in half.
08:13Michael could only hope and pray that the twister missed his home.
08:17But he was starting to fear the worst.
08:19You feel so powerless.
08:21It's taking everything out in its path.
08:24I don't know what else to say.
08:25I'm just setting behind a...
08:27I'm setting behind an F5 going through my town.
08:31And it is.
08:32It's going...
08:33It's going through my town, man.
08:37And it's going to hurt some people.
08:39It's going to hurt some people bad.
08:41Things got dicey at the intersection of 149th and South May Avenue.
08:45Downed power lines, damaged traffic lights, and chunks of twisted metal covered the street.
08:51If the damage persists like this, Michael's tornado adventure might be cut short.
08:56This is unreal.
08:58This is unreal.
08:59Power lines everywhere.
09:01It's dangerous.
09:02Very dangerous for me to be here.
09:07I smell nothing but lumber.
09:11You're not going to believe what I'm seeing.
09:13And I'm just praying to God it don't go.
09:15It's taking a line straight east along the 134th.
09:21And I'm telling you, it's a deadly...
09:24I mean, it's incredible.
09:25I'm following it.
09:27I don't know how I keep getting to go, but I keep getting to go.
09:30And it looks like I've got to stop now.
09:33Yeah, I got...
09:33And you see now it's turning up toward Moore High School.
09:37It's going towards Moore High School.
09:39Right now, if you are in the path of this, you have to be out of its way or the
09:46low-ground storm cellar or basement.
09:48Okay.
09:49While Michael catches up with the storm, we'll move to another local police officer who was stationed nearby.
09:55His dash cam captured the tornado in the distance as it tore the city of Moore to shreds.
10:00I'm going to go to the middle of my school.
10:03Probably just coming along with the edge.
10:06We have to be out of the edge in there.
10:08It's down there.
10:18Plaza Towers Elementary School wouldn't fare as well.
10:21There were 75 students and teachers inside the building when the storm hit.
10:25Most of them hid in bathrooms and closets, as neither school was equipped with a tornado shelter.
10:32Seven fatalities occurred when the walls collapsed around the school's second and third grade classrooms.
10:38A pregnant teacher was taking shelter in a hallway with her students when it happened.
10:42Sadly, only she and five of her kids made it out.
10:46Several homes in this area were ripped clean off their foundations.
10:49According to reports, none of these homes had adequate base plate connections to their concrete foundations.
10:56Similar poor construction practices were found at several sites, many of which were built after 1999.
11:03According to damage surveys, the deadliest stretch of the storm occurred in the area around Plaza Towers Elementary.
11:10Nine people perished between eight different homes within a quarter mile of the school.
11:15The storm continued east toward I-35.
11:18Meanwhile, at a Jersey Mike's on 19th Street, one customer recorded as debris rained down on the parking lot.
11:26God, this thing just sounds just destructive.
11:34Oh, look at that flagpole.
11:43Katie, Robert, Dan, Grayson doing this so you guys can see this.
12:02Next to be hit was the Moore Medical Center, which sustained significant damage as the storm prepared to cross I
12:09-35.
12:10Thankfully, no one inside was injured as staff members moved their patients to other hospitals in the area before the
12:17tornado arrived.
12:19272, we got the rotation above our heads to the right.
12:25Holy crap.
12:26Yeah, I got you.
12:30It's coming across the highway.
12:33USA headquarters.
12:36203.
12:38Advising, we lost power here at the point of right-north driveway.
12:42Clear.
12:43Clear.
12:44We got power lines down across the way down here.
12:50Clear power lines down.
12:52Now, let's pick things up with Michael Lynn, who's still tailing the tornado as he heads towards I-35.
12:58Now, he didn't know it, but he was about to drive by the remnants of a 7-Eleven convenience store
13:03where three people had just lost their lives.
13:07We've got major damage here in Moore, Oklahoma.
13:14I think it's lifted.
13:16The tornado is physically on the ground, just destroying power lines and everything that's in the way, as you can
13:22see.
13:23I'm crossing the path right now.
13:25Continuing to track east.
13:27This is fixed to get the bad area because we're coming right back into housing conditions and we're in the
13:33residential part of town here.
13:34By then, the twister had crossed I-35, moving into the subdivisions on the other side of the highway.
13:41That's where a local man named Rick captured this next piece of footage.
13:45Somehow, he maintained a steady hand as the tornado tore through his neighborhood.
14:16That's where a local man named Rick Wood.
14:22The storm continued through Rick's area and further into Eastern Moore.
14:27Despite narrowing, it still caused EF-4 damage to several neighborhoods.
14:32One person lost their life while seeking shelter in a business east of the interstate.
14:36Then, the last fatality occurred when the storm destroyed a home between Eastern Avenue and Bryant Avenue.
14:43The tornado lasted eight more harrowing minutes, causing mostly EF-2 damage, with some isolated pockets of EF-4.
14:52That's likely because the housing density on the east side of I-35 was significantly less than the west side.
14:58Finally, at 3.33 p.m., the storm lifted.
15:02It was on the ground for 39 minutes, tracing a 14-mile scar across the cities of Newcastle and more.
15:10By the time it was over, more than 4,000 structures had been damaged or destroyed.
15:15More than 200 people were injured, and 24 others had passed away, 10 of whom were children.
15:22More than 300 homes along the tornado's path experienced EF-4 or EF-5 damage.
15:29When it was over, rescue workers descended upon a post-apocalyptic hellscape.
15:34In some places, it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off.
15:38That's because one basically did.
15:41From a pure energy standpoint, the 2013 Moore tornado was more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.
15:47Some say it was only eight times more powerful, while other experts claim it was over 600 times stronger.
15:55Either way, the destructive power was enough to change the landscape of Moore, Oklahoma forever.
16:01But that wasn't going to keep them down.
16:03The rebuild began immediately.
16:05A year after the deadly twister, Moore became the only city in Oklahoma to adopt new residential building codes,
16:13ensuring that all projects are strong enough to survive an EF-2 tornado.
16:18Homes built after these new laws are designed to withstand winds of up to 135 miles per hour.
16:25They do this thanks to hurricane clips that prevent roofs from flying off.
16:29As the name suggests, you'll typically see them in Gulf Coast homes, where hurricanes are common.
16:35New homes also come with heavy-duty bolts that hold the frame to the foundation.
16:40They also feature more durable garage doors, which are typically the weakest part of a home during a tornado.
16:46When the garage goes, pressure from tornadic winds can quickly fill a home and destroy it from the inside out.
16:53School districts across the state also updated their building codes.
16:57Post Moore, many new school buildings were built with tornado shelters and safe rooms.
17:02However, this isn't mandatory, as school buildings are generally funded through local property taxes and voter-approved bond issues.
17:11That means local school boards and voting bodies determine whether to install storm shelters in their schools, not the government.
17:18Thankfully, the people of Moore voted to protect their kids.
17:21According to a 2018 report, all 35 buildings and any new buildings within the city's public school district will have
17:29FEMA-rated storm shelters once all current and future construction is complete.
17:34As of 2026, places like Moore, Oklahoma are still one of the most active tornado locations.
17:41In fact, April of 2026 saw nearly twice as many tornadoes as expected for the month.
17:47Of course, the people of Moore know all too well that May is the month to be worried about.
17:53It used to be May 3rd of 1999.
17:55Fourteen years later, May 20th of 2013 took its place.
18:00Now we are 16 years removed from the last major event.
18:04At this point, Mother Nature is bound to repeat herself any day now.
18:09If you enjoyed this video and want to see more just like it, be sure to click the link on
18:14screen now.
18:14With that, thank you all for watching, and we hope to see you in the next one.
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