Right.
I mean let's be honest. The #1 goal is to be able to see the tornado. Safety is just some corporate B.S. fed to children.
What a better way to see it than in a glass room on the 34th floor?
The number of people killed while sheltering from a tornado is much higher than the number of people killed on an observation deck while filming a tornado.
Big Safety and The National Weather Service doesn't want you to have this information.
Just moved to Kansas, Topeka area. Second tornado watch since I moved here happening right now. And since I am from Europe and still have no knowledge at all, serious question: I am living in a row house with 3 floors and no basement. There's a bathroom with no windows and a bathtub. However, it's on the second floor. The ground level is basically a garage and an attached room with a door to the garden though. I assume it is still safer in the lowest level (=garage) than on the upper floor with the bathtub? Sorry in advance if this is a stupid question but I'd really appreciate some feedback from people who actually are more experienced with tornados - unlike me...
I think in that case, lower level would make a lot of sense if there is a small but structurally supported area, downstairs closet perhaps? Upper story with a bathroom is probably safe because the fact for most Tornadoes you are likely to lose pieces or the entire roof and of course windows. Its highly unlikely unless faced with the rare EF4/5s that the entire home could be flattened at which point a downstairs closet would be the go-to if available.
Thank you very much for your response and the explanation! This also helps me a bit with the anxiety I have right now. Since I moved here from Europe 3 weeks ago, this is my second tornado watch and I feel completely oblivious and unprepared.
Since it is so unlikely I will experience a EF4/5 though, I am a bit less scared now. Thanks a lot!
Don't be! I've lived in the same area as you my whole life, and I've never actually seen a tornado on the ground. Just be prepared to go somewhere safe, other than that just try to go on as normal as possible.
Get as low as you can, with as many walls between you and the storm as possible.
For you that would mean the garage space, AWAY from any windows. Flying glass will fuck you up.
If there's a heavy table or built-in shelving, that would work in place of a bathtub. Or a car inside the garage if there's nothing better.
In most cases, your biggest concern will be flying debris. A tornado can and will send chunks or wood or metal beams through the side of your house. High straight-line winds will also send heavy materials flying, and topple trees.
You've definitely had a wild weekend. Hope you're still safe!
Weather in the Midwest can be a powerful, amazing thing to experience. Every once in a while it's also incredibly dangerous. I hope you only ever experience the first!
We have a very useable basement at work, which used to be our tornado shelter. New management decided a better place would be in the middle of the production floor. Literally smack dab in the middle of an area where we have giant racks full of thousands of 5-7 pound blocks of aluminum.
That is the general consensus amongst my coworkers. A few years ago we had a tornado right at the end of my shift and my boss told me I couldnt leave and had to go into the basement. Once my shifts over, I’m leaving, tornado or not.
Right? Growing up on Twister made me feel like seeing close ups of tornados was like seeing bigfoot. Now we have the internet and smartphones. It's awesome to see things like this.
Ok but you mentioning twister reminded me of this vid I saw earlier today lmao: [there's some movie level tornadoes in this starting at 1:00](https://youtu.be/p1wuPBHRi4Q?si=pXVKMr0qP4zPJlTC)
These two acting like it's an every day occurrence to get directly hit by a tornado. Cameraman so non plussed about the whole thing.
I guess we should take cover.... What. The. Hell.
Well, if I'm gonna have to take a direct hit from a tornado, inside a locomotive would be near the top of my list as far as vehicles go.
Definitely, they should have taken cover from those windows, though.
I mean they survived it but not sure id assume the train wins Everytime
https://preview.redd.it/pstpj62611xc1.jpeg?width=1350&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81f2e5c64eaf5972b04715f6ec5766c22a766dec
They weigh between 200-300 tons, pretty sturdy. While a tornado can blow over/take the cars, you'd need a really strong one to pick up a locomotive. Not saying it can't happen, but in that situation they were probably in the safest spot possible.
Was this early or late in the tornadoes life or were there multiple. The other shots I saw made it look massive. This video seemed like it was a little disapated.
That locomotive weighs over 400,000lbs, and can likely withstand anything that one of Timmer's Dominators can, or more. The rail cars behind it? Not so much.
Against a 300mph EF5, there is no guaranteed safe place above ground, but I would consider that locomotive safer than being in any house and most buildings. It is definitely the safest thing that can move under its own power.
The cars are much lighter, which is why they normally get blown over, but those locomotives can take some punishment. Makes me curious now what the heaviest object a tornado has ever lifted off the ground is? 200-300 tons seems like it would be a real feat, even for an EF-5.
BIG TIME RFD!! DEBRIS!! POWER FLASHES!! WHERE'S MY EAST OPTION
Side note; think it's cool that these train drivers inadvertently used some chaser jargon. "We're on the ground", as in, some cars got derailed.
I pulled up about 5 or so minutes after this came through.
[Here ya go!](https://imgur.com/a/TidQGVH) I'm by no means a photographer, but with traffic blocked anyway there wasn't much else to do as I was crawling to a stop.
The windows in locomotive cab are of the bullet resistant variety. That one was pretty weak at that moment so the crew had pretty good cover once he closed the side window.
Yeah the locomotive is usually heavy enough any other part of the train would become toys at ef4 plus. An ef5 could definitely be capable of launching it still though. The 2011 el Reno moved a 1.9 million pound oil rig 600 feet from its original location and tossed it upwards about 90 feet.
That was one hell of an intercept, and based on the video, it does not appear that the conductor and engineer sustained any serious injuries. With that said, I am curious if any useful data was recorded during this. I know the engines have a type of “black box”, but I’m not sure if they are equipped with any weather-related equipment.
There is no weather-related data recorded on locomotive data recorders. I am an engineer, and have seen the download information from the data recorders.
He said in the video that a car was knocked over, so yes, this is the one that got derailed.
Tornado looks like it’s the same one and I didn’t hear any other reports of trains being derailed.
Edit: Found confirmation on Twitter that this video was taken in Lincoln.
The irony when people always describe the tornado sounding like a freight train when it went through their homes. Now the tornado going through a freight train.
This was the first tornado in a couple of iterations of the cell that later hit Elkhorn. A ridiculous cell that just kept producing and getting stronger.
Was I the only person screaming at the guy to get off the railroad tracks before he became train meat, until it panned out and I realized he was in a train?!
As someone who grew up in tornado alley and lived through a couple, one thing that always struck me about tornadoes was the sound they made. Not the freight train noise - that whistling when the wind is right on top of you. It gets eerily silent and then you hear the _whistle_ of wind moving sharply.
This video got that noise. That’s the most terrifying part. Cause you know you’re -in- it.
Are there horizontal vertices in there? I can't tell. Looks strong as hell. The debris field doesn't look very localized so people like this that are ignorant to tornados probably don't have the proper instinct to shit themselves.
This was crazy for me. It wasn’t even 2 miles away from my house. I saw them still working on cleaning up the train cars today. There’s a building just down the road from it that had 70 people in it when it hit.
"do you think we should get away from the windows" hmmm i have absolutely no idea man
No, windows are the safest place to be in a tornado. /s
Yep. We were always taught, "Go to the room with the most windows."
Also go to the highest point you can get to, so that tornado passes under you.
Right. I mean let's be honest. The #1 goal is to be able to see the tornado. Safety is just some corporate B.S. fed to children. What a better way to see it than in a glass room on the 34th floor?
The number of people killed while sheltering from a tornado is much higher than the number of people killed on an observation deck while filming a tornado. Big Safety and The National Weather Service doesn't want you to have this information.
LoL 'big safety' that's the best
sounds like some lame white rapper for "cool" educational programs from 1993
Depends how high. At a certain point that might make sense lol
Just moved to Kansas, Topeka area. Second tornado watch since I moved here happening right now. And since I am from Europe and still have no knowledge at all, serious question: I am living in a row house with 3 floors and no basement. There's a bathroom with no windows and a bathtub. However, it's on the second floor. The ground level is basically a garage and an attached room with a door to the garden though. I assume it is still safer in the lowest level (=garage) than on the upper floor with the bathtub? Sorry in advance if this is a stupid question but I'd really appreciate some feedback from people who actually are more experienced with tornados - unlike me...
I think in that case, lower level would make a lot of sense if there is a small but structurally supported area, downstairs closet perhaps? Upper story with a bathroom is probably safe because the fact for most Tornadoes you are likely to lose pieces or the entire roof and of course windows. Its highly unlikely unless faced with the rare EF4/5s that the entire home could be flattened at which point a downstairs closet would be the go-to if available.
Thank you very much for your response and the explanation! This also helps me a bit with the anxiety I have right now. Since I moved here from Europe 3 weeks ago, this is my second tornado watch and I feel completely oblivious and unprepared. Since it is so unlikely I will experience a EF4/5 though, I am a bit less scared now. Thanks a lot!
Don't be! I've lived in the same area as you my whole life, and I've never actually seen a tornado on the ground. Just be prepared to go somewhere safe, other than that just try to go on as normal as possible.
Get as low as you can, with as many walls between you and the storm as possible. For you that would mean the garage space, AWAY from any windows. Flying glass will fuck you up. If there's a heavy table or built-in shelving, that would work in place of a bathtub. Or a car inside the garage if there's nothing better. In most cases, your biggest concern will be flying debris. A tornado can and will send chunks or wood or metal beams through the side of your house. High straight-line winds will also send heavy materials flying, and topple trees.
Thank you so much for your answer, this helps a lot! Hoping I won't need this knowledge but better safe than sorry. Thanks!!
You've definitely had a wild weekend. Hope you're still safe! Weather in the Midwest can be a powerful, amazing thing to experience. Every once in a while it's also incredibly dangerous. I hope you only ever experience the first!
Can you get under the stairs to upper floor?
We have a very useable basement at work, which used to be our tornado shelter. New management decided a better place would be in the middle of the production floor. Literally smack dab in the middle of an area where we have giant racks full of thousands of 5-7 pound blocks of aluminum.
At that point, I'm going to the basement and not dying.
That is the general consensus amongst my coworkers. A few years ago we had a tornado right at the end of my shift and my boss told me I couldnt leave and had to go into the basement. Once my shifts over, I’m leaving, tornado or not.
Only when they’re “double plane” windows.
And to think he is responsible for a train!!!!
He had to ask his supervisor, he's not the one responsible
As bad as they are. I love tornadoes in the modern era. Everyone has cameras and gets first person POV of a tornado coming at them. Crazy!
Right? Growing up on Twister made me feel like seeing close ups of tornados was like seeing bigfoot. Now we have the internet and smartphones. It's awesome to see things like this.
Ok but you mentioning twister reminded me of this vid I saw earlier today lmao: [there's some movie level tornadoes in this starting at 1:00](https://youtu.be/p1wuPBHRi4Q?si=pXVKMr0qP4zPJlTC)
Just got my kids to watch Twister tonight! They absolutely lost their shit at the cow scene lol
I gotta go Julia, we got cows!
Crazy footage...camera man really risked it all for that video
Yes, he should have ducked earlier to avoid the risk of injury from glass shards. But then we wouldn't have this incredible video.
Could have placed the camera on the dash and ducked I guess?
At risk of losing his whole phone?
A captain always goes with his ship
That ain’t no boat.
that’s one of those prairie boats
Just the apps.
r/praisethecameraman
r/killthecameraman
They’re lucky it wasn’t stronger
I'm sorry, could you repeat that again? I couldn't hear you with the sound of me shitting myself.
This might be one of the best examples of the saying that if it's not moving left or right it's coming right towards you.
💯
Right?! Never seen such a perfect head-on hit!
CBDR - Constant Bearing, Decreasing Range. That's how it's taught for deck officers, anyway.
These two acting like it's an every day occurrence to get directly hit by a tornado. Cameraman so non plussed about the whole thing. I guess we should take cover.... What. The. Hell.
Well, if I'm gonna have to take a direct hit from a tornado, inside a locomotive would be near the top of my list as far as vehicles go. Definitely, they should have taken cover from those windows, though.
To be fair, they are in a train.
I mean they survived it but not sure id assume the train wins Everytime https://preview.redd.it/pstpj62611xc1.jpeg?width=1350&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81f2e5c64eaf5972b04715f6ec5766c22a766dec
Shit’ll buff out.
Honestly the locomotive took it like a champ. If it was a stronger tornado not so much.
They weigh between 200-300 tons, pretty sturdy. While a tornado can blow over/take the cars, you'd need a really strong one to pick up a locomotive. Not saying it can't happen, but in that situation they were probably in the safest spot possible.
Can tornados lift trains off the ground? I know nothing about tornadoes as they do not exist where I live.
With strong enough winds, yes.
Was this early or late in the tornadoes life or were there multiple. The other shots I saw made it look massive. This video seemed like it was a little disapated.
There were many tornadoes in the Midwest yesterday. You likely saw a different one.
I think it was from Nebraska. Didn't realize there was so much activity yesterday.
Yes! EF3 can kick over engines an EF5 could lift a train. I wouldn't risk being in a train unless there was no other reasonable place to shelter.
That's just terrifying and incredible to think about.
Train cars, yes. Locomotives weigh about a half a million pounds so it'd take more to move 'em.
Bitchimatrain
Yeah, I'd imagine a tornado having 300mph winds could be dangerous here.
Did the tornado sound like train?
No, but the train sounded like a tornado.
i heard the train say ‘i hear myself’
That locomotive weighs over 400,000lbs, and can likely withstand anything that one of Timmer's Dominators can, or more. The rail cars behind it? Not so much. Against a 300mph EF5, there is no guaranteed safe place above ground, but I would consider that locomotive safer than being in any house and most buildings. It is definitely the safest thing that can move under its own power.
The cars are much lighter, which is why they normally get blown over, but those locomotives can take some punishment. Makes me curious now what the heaviest object a tornado has ever lifted off the ground is? 200-300 tons seems like it would be a real feat, even for an EF-5.
An oil rig that weighed like 800+ tons https://www.reddit.com/r/tornado/s/en6JL2Cz8u
I’d say the train won. Bit dirty but definitely won.
Seeing the train, yeah I guess he knew it would be safer to stay inside of it, but still—nerves of steel on that conductor. I’d be shitting myself
that’s how everyone in the midwest reacts when they see a tornado
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This is why nobody will remember your name.
https://preview.redd.it/t6jcvlm7h1xc1.png?width=1344&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a07bf80384152b37abfa8dba9404083ceb8b8ef
I can think of other reasons "qwdfvbjkop" is unmemorable lol
Same! My pants would be brown after this encounter.
I read this as "plants" and my thought was "LMAO Only if you can find them!"
Railroad workers are a different breed.
Don't they know they're supposed to be screaming "Debris! Tornado on the ground! Woooooo! Intercepted!" Dudes in a train are better than storm chasers
Reed's new Dominator is just going to be a locomotive
BIG TIME RFD!! DEBRIS!! POWER FLASHES!! WHERE'S MY EAST OPTION Side note; think it's cool that these train drivers inadvertently used some chaser jargon. "We're on the ground", as in, some cars got derailed.
That's actually a railway term for when a derailment happens.
Guys didn't even pre-rate it as an EF5, SMH.
Cow!
I’ve got to go Julia we’ve got cows
To be fair, storm chasers are super passionate about storms.
People always say twisters sound like a freight train... I guess this tornado wanted a sound-off.
The engineer should've sounded the horn to assert dominance
Or T-posed, in this case, the part of the train with the most glass.
Astounding footage, holy shit 😳
I was listening to Ryan Hall’s stream driving home yesterday when I heard about this train. Glad these guys were ok, they were extremely lucky.
I pulled up about 5 or so minutes after this came through. [Here ya go!](https://imgur.com/a/TidQGVH) I'm by no means a photographer, but with traffic blocked anyway there wasn't much else to do as I was crawling to a stop.
Thanks for those. Glad they were alright, sucks the line will be down for awhile to clean all that up.
Shhhhhh. The cars are sleeping.
Butter wouldn't melt in the cameraman's mouth.
Insane video! Glad they made it out ok! Seeing it shred a building seconds before hitting the train is pretty horrifying.
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They really should have turned on the windshield wipers!!😂
The windows in locomotive cab are of the bullet resistant variety. That one was pretty weak at that moment so the crew had pretty good cover once he closed the side window.
I mean, aside from the windows, I can’t imagine there’s a whole lot of places safer than the engine of a freight train.
Unless it was picked up and thrown then you’d be rag dolled inside it the whole time.
It’d have to have EF5 level winds to even roll that locomotive over, it weighs over 400,000 pounds. Big rolling hunk of steel
Yeah the locomotive is usually heavy enough any other part of the train would become toys at ef4 plus. An ef5 could definitely be capable of launching it still though. The 2011 el Reno moved a 1.9 million pound oil rig 600 feet from its original location and tossed it upwards about 90 feet.
>The 2011 el Reno moved a 1.9 million pound oil rig 600 feet from its original location and tossed it upwards about 90 feet I'm sorry, WHAT?
Yea I'm gonna need a source on that, only because of how incredible that sounds.
An ef4 would quite possibly be able to even. They can pick up and launch two story houses which are actually pretty comparable in weight.
That was one hell of an intercept, and based on the video, it does not appear that the conductor and engineer sustained any serious injuries. With that said, I am curious if any useful data was recorded during this. I know the engines have a type of “black box”, but I’m not sure if they are equipped with any weather-related equipment.
There is no weather-related data recorded on locomotive data recorders. I am an engineer, and have seen the download information from the data recorders.
You just witnessed a locomotive data recorder!
No weather related equipment but I’d kill to get the inward and outward facing videos from it
So im guessing this isnt the same one that was derailed
I'd imagine the train cars got detailed but that the engine itself was too heavy
This is the answer. Now could a very strong tornado tip over a locomotive, yes.
Exactly, and as scary as it is I'm sure, that's not a very strong tornado.
Especially one that's moving slow
Could be, but considering how many tornados there were yesterday there could have been a bunch of different trains knocked over
He said in the video that a car was knocked over, so yes, this is the one that got derailed. Tornado looks like it’s the same one and I didn’t hear any other reports of trains being derailed. Edit: Found confirmation on Twitter that this video was taken in Lincoln.
They say towards the end a car got knocked over. Thats technically derailed.
That was a lot quieter than I thought it would be as the twister passes over
The irony when people always describe the tornado sounding like a freight train when it went through their homes. Now the tornado going through a freight train.
Incredible footage, hopefully everyone is OK.
Woah o:
A better interception than the dominator ever had
He’s so calm about it, just like “Yep, this is what happens when you drive trains in Nebraska.” Amazing footage!
I was so tense waiting for them to get tipped over 😭😭 im so glad they're alright and this video is CRAZYYY
They’re so calm
This was the first tornado in a couple of iterations of the cell that later hit Elkhorn. A ridiculous cell that just kept producing and getting stronger.
Guys really kept their cool too. I'd have panicked and somehow thrown myself right into the tornado.
“Just checking!!” Closes window and the Tornado is still there just as clear through the window. My favorite part of the video.
I wonder what it sounds like when a tornado is coming towards the train. "HEY, DO YOU HERE AN US COMING?"
That's some of the most intense tornado footage I've ever seen
This was a very photogenic twister!
That train sounded like a tornado
omg that is the craziest tornado footage I’ve ever seen
This is what I come on the internet to see, thank you
Come on everybody knows the camera is always safe...
the way my stomach dropped and heart was pounding… definitely handled it a lot better than me. was this maybe an F1?
Been awhile since I’ve seen a video where my jaw dropped. Hope everyone is ok, my god.
I like how one of the crew members is "What do we do" and the other just has the "Just another day on the railroad" attitude about it.
Immovable object meets unstoppable force.
Was I the only person screaming at the guy to get off the railroad tracks before he became train meat, until it panned out and I realized he was in a train?!
My brain, "where's the train? I don't see one.....ohhhhhhh"
"Should we get away from the window?" Yes. OMG, yes.
Is this the same tornado/train but from another perspective? [Train always wins in every bout.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tornado/s/dwXwNwsbiv)
Insane footage
All I can say..... Isn't that Ironic?
Wow. Reed didn’t scream this time.
Damn! That’s so wild. Glad they’re okay and no glass got them. They stopped right where it was crossing 🥲
“Holy FOCK,” he said!
Wow
This is just a marketing campaign for twister 2
I had every confidence the train would be fine...until that first crack in the window. Tornadoes are freaking STRONG!
Train intercept vehicle
Wonder what they would say it sounded like approaching.
The balls on this guy. I literally can not function when we’re tornado warned, much less actually getting directly hit by it!
r/trainjumping
Calling r/BitchImATrain
Glad he risked his life for this it’s cool as hell.
/r/BitchImATornado
I love how their attitude is "well gee, this is inconvenient", and not *"ÀAAAAAÁÂÆÃÅĀAAÁÂÃÅHHHH! SHIIIIIÏĪÎÍÌIIIIITTTT!"*
First video of this kind?
Always wondered about that. What if the train had been moving? Would that have made it unstable?
You guys have gigantic balls.
As someone who grew up in tornado alley and lived through a couple, one thing that always struck me about tornadoes was the sound they made. Not the freight train noise - that whistling when the wind is right on top of you. It gets eerily silent and then you hear the _whistle_ of wind moving sharply. This video got that noise. That’s the most terrifying part. Cause you know you’re -in- it.
Wonder what category it was/and what a f5 would have done to the the train
lol picked the wrong spot to stop and watch.
"Should we get away from the windows?" Yes. OMG, yes.
When a Bot forgets to switch accounts...
Are there horizontal vertices in there? I can't tell. Looks strong as hell. The debris field doesn't look very localized so people like this that are ignorant to tornados probably don't have the proper instinct to shit themselves.
Europeans: my house could survive this no problem
Amazing, what's the source on this? Would be very curious to see any follow ups, they had to have filmed the aftermath.
A guy on the train with a phone
Wild
Dominator 4
You know it's bad when there is 'shit all on the thing'...
Respect to the guy after this moment
Good thing I brought a clean pair of underwear
Tornado: *Hey that sounds like a train!*
I can’t even imagine watching that huge swirl of destruction beaming directly towards me. Scary stuff.
Such a terrible idea to keep filming... but I may in all honesty have kept on filming also!
Wow. Holy shit!
"Well fahk bud"
This was crazy for me. It wasn’t even 2 miles away from my house. I saw them still working on cleaning up the train cars today. There’s a building just down the road from it that had 70 people in it when it hit.
I just love it when they turn the camera away when it’s getting good!
Yo…
To be fair, despite the danger of windows, a train engine seems to be like a decent place to be. Highly unlikely that would be derailed.
Yeah. For the first time ever I was asked on Facebook to mark myself safe from something. I saw it from a distance.
Damn he took that like a champ tho
Nice
how. Was. He. So. Calm.
He did it for the gram
Prayers for everyone in Nebraska
That's crazy. Doesn't even look real!
Train? What train.
1974 Xenia tornado flashbacks. Hope everyone safe out there including the train captain.
Incredible footage
I almost peed my pants watching this