00:00It began with me and my friends chasing a storm.
00:02Oh my gosh!
00:05Whoa!
00:07That is violent.
00:08That is violent.
00:09Very quickly.
00:11Oh, I'm gonna die now.
00:13Get in the car right now!
00:15Holy s**t, he's right there!
00:17We were the ones being chased.
00:27An EF-4 tornado touches down near Enid, Oklahoma.
00:31Within just a few minutes of forming, a neighborhood is wiped.
00:35Structures, yeah.
00:36Oh, yeah.
00:37If you can see that, Damon, look at the debris.
00:39Oh, those are homes.
00:39Those are homes.
00:40Right here, just crossed Highway 81.
00:42Enid Airport here.
00:44Oh, look at those homes.
00:45Look at that debris just getting picked up.
00:48This storm is just full of debris right now.
00:51This tornado is just full of debris.
00:54Oh, is that a house that was just hid, Amanda?
00:57Yeah, we see...
00:57Oh, my goodness.
00:58Structures.
01:00It has scoured the ground.
01:02We are right here where it crossed.
01:04Arguably, one of the most historic tornadoes in Oklahoma history
01:08grinds for nearly an hour through the terrain.
01:11So, as a storm chaser whose entire goal is to document events like this,
01:15where was I?
01:16160 miles away, on a dying storm, watching the whole thing unfold on my phone.
01:22Failure is weird, because it can make you do very dangerous things to win.
01:27And little did I know, this failure was about to lead me to the most dangerous storm chase of my
01:32life.
01:32Multiple storm chase opportunities would pass after Enid, but nothing would really make up for the loss.
01:38That was until May 17th, 2026.
01:42A tornado risk sat across the state of Nebraska.
01:45The setup was simple.
01:46A cold front would sweep east, and storms had the potential to form ahead of it.
01:51But storms hate cold air.
01:52So if the cold front caught up, it was game over for tornadoes.
01:56As the hours progressed, the cold front moved way faster than expected,
02:00essentially wiping the northern half of the risk.
02:03I noticed the air to the south seemed way too dry.
02:06And to me, the only chance of a tornado would be right in central Nebraska.
02:10And that's exactly when a storm formed.
02:13It was time to pounce.
02:14As I approached the storm, I noticed my friend Sarah parked on a dirt road, watching the storm.
02:20Little did we know, in just 15 minutes, both of us would have the chase of our lives.
02:25It's Will here.
02:26Sarah's here as well.
02:28We're on this storm.
02:29My friend, Chris, was also racing towards it.
02:32As I drove right up next to the base of the storm, it looked so tame, I literally facetimed my
02:38mom.
02:38But while on facetime, I noticed a strange look forming right in front of me.
02:44Within just a few seconds, the storm started to organize.
02:47A monster was forming right in front of me.
02:50Hey guys, we had this storm.
02:52And it's just cranking around.
02:54It just randomly picked up and it's, yeah, it's coming.
02:58Yeah, we have a tornado.
03:00Right here.
03:01Tornado on the ground.
03:04This is about to be, this is going to be big.
03:06This is going to be a crazy tornado.
03:09This is going to be an unreal tornado.
03:12Holy .
03:12Holy .
03:14Yeah, yeah, tornado.
03:15Tornado.
03:16Wow, insane tornado.
03:17Insane tornado on the ground.
03:19Might be coming towards me.
03:21Let's see.
03:23Holy .
03:24Wow, that's strong.
03:28That is a strong tornado.
03:31Holy .
03:32Whoa.
03:36Yeah, we have a strong tornado on the ground.
03:38Oh my gosh.
03:42Holy cow.
03:45That's unreal.
03:47That's unreal.
03:49Whew.
03:52Oh my God.
03:53Within just a few seconds, the tornado went from a weak dust cloud to a violent tornado.
03:58And he was heading directly for all of us.
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04:52With the tornado just yards away from me, Chris would also approach for myself.
04:57His goal was to get a camera probe into the tornado to record the inside of it.
05:02This would prove to be far more dangerous than he initially thought.
05:07All right.
05:08This is scutchy.
05:10I'm going to put a probe right here.
05:12I'm doing it right here, man.
05:14Wait.
05:14This might be too dangerous.
05:17me.
05:18Will is literally in that right now.
05:21Oh my God.
05:23That is violent.
05:24That is violent.
05:25Why is my probe not turned on?
05:27Are you kidding me?
05:28I don't know if I can do this.
05:29This is...
05:39We gotta go!
05:41We gotta go!
05:43Get in the car right now!
06:11Turning at the last second and sparing Chris, the tornado would continue to widen.
06:16Sarah was just down the road, watching as the tornado slowly approached her location.
06:21Look at it! Yes, I know, there's a tornado, I'm freaking looking at it!
06:28Oh my god, yep, you just ruined my video, that's fine.
06:42There! It's right there! I hear a tornado! Oh my gosh!
06:52Holy cow! Oh my god! We have an extremely violent tornado! Extremely! Holy sh**! Holy sh**! Holy sh**! Wow, wow,
07:09it's right here guys!
07:10Escaping the tornado by literally seconds, I safely get behind it as it begins to stretch out horizontal vortices.
07:17Something only seen in some of the strongest tornadoes possible.
07:21It's right here! It's right next to me guys! This is unreal! Oh, horizontal vortices! Horizontal vortices, guys! Horizontal! Oh
07:35my gosh!
07:36I'm getting out, I'm getting out! What the heck? What the heck is that? This is a violent tornado! Holy
07:49sh**!
07:53...and begins to scan the inside of the tornado. Detailed scans show the tornado is well within the violent threshold.
08:01As the vortex crawls to the east, something else is realized though. A small neighborhood, not even a year old,
08:08was sitting in the path.
08:10If the tornado keeps heading in this direction while strengthening, the damage would be catastrophic.
08:16And sitting essentially in the neighborhood was Sarah.
08:19It's coming right at me! It's coming right at me! I'm backing up!
08:30Debris! Debris!
08:34Debris!
08:35Debris!
08:37Whoa!
08:40Oh, it's speeding up. I gotta go!
08:46Here it comes!
08:48Oh, I gotta go.
08:54Woah!
09:01Oh, my god!
09:08Oh, shh, I really gotta go.
09:30Oh my god!
09:34Whoa!
09:39Look at it!
09:43Fuck.
09:52Alright, we gotta be careful.
09:55This thing is ripping stuff apart. Oh my god.
10:03It just ripped a house.
10:04No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
10:07That is not good. This thing is... holy shit.
10:11Oh my god, I gotta go wide. This thing is... oh no.
10:16It is eating.
10:21Oh snap, we gotta go check on these people. I gotta go check on these people.
10:28Down power lines. We can't cross here. Oh my god.
10:34This is one of the strongest tornadoes I've ever seen, man.
10:39Holy crap.
10:41Alright, here's what we're gonna do.
10:42We're gonna go back, we're gonna get my probe, and we're gonna catch back up with this thing, alright?
10:47Okay.
10:48Just record it. Record it while you can. Go out the window. Go out the window.
10:51The neighborhood would be directly impacted by the tornado at maximum intensity.
10:57And now, us chasers became search and rescue.
11:02Where's the driveway?
11:07Oh my god.
11:09As one of the first on the scene, Sarah would begin to sweep the area.
11:25Going to one home, she found trapped people.
11:28Eventually, they were able to be rescued by first responders with special equipment.
11:32Sarah would do all of this despite having an injury herself.
11:36Me and Chris would traverse muddy roads and damage to finally arrive on the scene.
11:40We would witness the aftermath.
11:58Despite multiple homes in the neighborhood being completely swept from their foundations, everyone would survive.
12:04Multiple families would still be affected though, essentially losing everything.
12:08Shortly after the neighborhood, the tornado would dissipate.
12:11The final rating given would be an EF3.
12:14While no one was injured, this tornado was absolutely one of the most dangerous tornadoes me and my friends have
12:20ever chased.
12:21And it puts a perspective on properly approaching future tornadoes to prevent closer cause.
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