People Stunned As Midwestern Woman Goes Outside To Film Tornado After Hearing Sirens
Dozens of tornadoes tore through the US Midwest on Friday (April 26) and Saturday (April 27), damaging hundreds of homes and causing blackouts, injuries, and at least four deaths.
Twenty-seven million people remained at risk of severe weather into Sunday, including wind gusts, hail, and flood risks, NBC reported.
78 tornadoes were recorded on Friday, mainly in Nebraska and Iowa, and 35 more were recorded on Saturday from northern Texas and Oklahoma to Missouri.
- Dozens of tornadoes hit the US Midwest, resulting in hundreds of homes damaged and at least four deaths.
- A woman in Omaha, Nebraska, documented a tornado in her neighborhood.
- Local authorities and forecasters were praised for their timely warnings, preventing further injuries and deaths.
The damage was most extensive in Sulphur, an Oklahoma town of about 5,000 inhabitants, where scores of homes were reduced to rubble, and about 30 people were injured.
A woman has shared a video of a tornado ripping through her neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska
Image credits: tuktuklover99
According to the US National Weather Service (NWS), the tornadoes had gusts of above 136 miles (218 km) an hour.
Storms also swept from Texas to Missouri, with some towns registering up to seven inches (18cm) of rainfall within hours.
And yet, in the midst of the chaos, a woman decided to step outside of her Omaha, Nebraska, home to document a tornado from a distance.
“Kyle and I got the alert on our phones,” said TikTok user @tuktuklover99 in a video shared on Saturday (April 28), explaining that the recorded events had taken place the previous day. “Naturally, we went outside.”
The video captures the nearly deserted streets of Elkhorn as a twister advanced into the neighborhood on Friday
Image credits: tuktuklover99
The camera then focused on the dense, funnel-shaped clouds that appeared in the background. The streets were nearly deserted, with only a few vehicles in sight.
In addition to the heavy wind, a siren could be heard in the video.
“I did not add sound,” the TikTok’s caption read. “You’re watching the tornado rip through the neighborhood of Elkhorn. Nebraskans are strong and will rebuild!”
Elkhorn, a neighborhood in western Omaha, was one of the hardest-hit communities, as per CNN.
“There it is!” the TikToker, named Kelley, shouted as lightning struck in the direction of the twister.
“Nebraskans are strong and will rebuild,” Kelley wrote
@tuktuklover99More videos from yesterday in Omaha Nebraska. I did not add a sound. You’re watching the tornado rip through the neighborhood of Elkhorn. Though people have lost their homes, somehow there have been no deaths reported and that’s a miracle. Nebraskans are strong and will rebuild! 💪🏼♬ original sound – Kelley
Image credits: tuktuklover99
In a separate video, captioned “The closest I’ve ever been to a tornado. Eventful day in Omaha, Nebraska,” Kelley zooms in on the tornado as she asks whether she should be filming it instead of seeking shelter inside her home. “Should we put everybody in the basement?”
During the same weekend, Kelley posted another video addressing her surprisingly calm reaction to the twister. “The rest of the world watching as all the Americans go outside to film the tornados,” she wrote.
People quickly took to the comments of her videos, sharing their own reactions to the severe weather outbreak that tore through the Midwest.
“It’s a Midwestern thing. We’re all outside watching it until it’s close enough that we actually have to go downstairs,” a social media user commented, while another person added, “Those of us in the Midwest are a different kind of person.”
Kelley also addressed her surprisingly calm reaction to the tornado
Image credits: tuktuklover99
A third individual, who didn’t feel as calm and collected regarding the whirlwinds, penned, “As someone who just moved to Iowa, this storm has scared the hell out of me.”
Others were entirely baffled by the TikToker’s composed demeanor, saying, “Being from ON, Canada, this is so insane and foreign to me. I cannot imagine living here!”
“I’m a Floridian in the Tampa Bay Area, but this would still give me literal PTSD,” a separate TikTok user chimed in.
In Nebraska, the tornado damage started Friday afternoon near Lincoln, the Associated Press reported. An industrial building in Lancaster County was hit, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Everyone was evacuated, and the injuries that were reported were not life-threatening.
One or two tornadoes then crept toward Omaha, where they ultimately slammed into the Elkhorn neighborhood, destroying properties and causing 10,000 power outages.
“The closest I’ve ever been to a tornado,” she captioned a separate video documenting the severe weather in Omaha
@tuktuklover99The closest I’ve ever been to a tornado. Eventful day in Omaha Nebraska♬ original sound – Kelley
Dozens of tornadoes tore through the Midwest on Friday and Saturday, damaging hundreds of homes and causing blackouts, injuries, and at least four deaths
Image credits: tuktuklover99
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday arranging for assistance for the damaged communities.
A second tornado then swept through Eppley Airfield on the eastern edge of Omaha before advancing into Iowa, causing significant damage to the small town of Minden, where 40 to 50 homes were completely destroyed.
“It’s heartbreaking to see these people who have lost houses, cars, essentially their life until they have to rebuild it,” said Jeff Theulen, chief deputy of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, at a late Friday briefing.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said on Saturday that no deaths had been reported despite the heavy damage to some of the resident’s properties.
“I do want to thank our local forecasters for the clear and accurate warnings that they gave,” Stothert said. “Because all of you prevented a lot of injury and probably death.”
Oklahoma’s Office of Emergency Management confirmed three deaths, one near Marietta on I-35 and two others in Holdenville, where one of the victims was four months old. When Gov. Kevin Stitt arrived in Sulphur on Sunday afternoon, he confirmed a fourth victim had died in the downtown area.
“Everything else can be rebuilt, but we can’t restore life and the wonderful Oklahomans we lost,” said Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, who represents the Sulphur area.
The TikTok user’s decision to record the twister ignited varying reactions online
I’m in MN. Sirens go you put the old, young, and pets in basement nice and safe. Grab your camera and go watch to see if you are about to lose everything! It’s exhilarating, a kind of high like sugar or caffine.
I grew up in Minnesota and several years ago, I was living in a town next to a naval base. They had a siren go off for a live shooter on base but I didn't know that. I heard the siren and practically grabbed my mattress to head into the bathroom when I realized the sky was crystal clear. Old habits die hard.
Load More Replies...For everyone freaking out about her being outside, the decision is all about risk-assessment. It was not night time, she is in open country without restriction, she could easily see for miles. If you observe the storm tracking to the left or to the right, it is moving more in those directions than it could be moving toward you. Yes, storms can shift track, but generally not in a dramatic fashion. Yes, other funnels could drop but maintaining situational awareness is important regardless of the circumstances. If you are not from the midwest and/or are not familiar with such storms, please get in the basement. Otherwise, keep 'er movin'.
I'm honestly more surprised at the cars driving TOWARDS the tornadoes. Wtf
I’m a trained Skywarn weather spotter, so when the Severe Storm Watch/Tornado Watches are issued, I’m activated. I’ve only been doing this for about 18 months, so I’m still “bright eyed, bushy tailed, ready to excel”. We had a line of severe weather come through a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like the storms were going north of me. There’s no harm in picking a spot up there right? Long story short, I lost my head, started storm chasing during a tornado warning, and had the wall cloud go directly over me. (A wall cloud makes funnel clouds, when a funnel cloud hits the ground then it becomes a tornado.) That’s the closest I ever want to be to a tornado!! Why I’m not dead I don’t know. I did absolutely everything wrong, starting with Rule #1: Don’t storm chase. What the woman did in this video was okay though. She wasn’t in harm’s way, and spotting tornadoes can be important, and I hope she reported it. NWS needs spotters on the ground because radar doesn’t pick up everything.
Can confirm, tornado sirens are ridiculously scary. Grew up in Michigan, and we had them go off a few times. They go off at the fire stations, so when they begin to sound, it pops up coming from one direction, then a few seconds later from another, then another, until you're surrounded. Every 1st saturday of the month, they test the sirens at noon, which can be a bizarre experience when it's cloudless but you have these nuke noises blaring.
Yeah, they are! When I lived in MN, we lived across from a school with a siren, which tested the first Wednesday of every month. Well, my fiancé (now husband) was visiting from Atlantic Canada (and doesn't get tornadoes) on one of those special Wednesdays, and he was FREAKING, thinking we were under attack or something (sky was clear). The siren was so commonplace for me, having grown up with it all my life, that it never occurred to me to warn him. I felt so bad!
Load More Replies...I'm in Indiana, and my most recent tornado video is from last spring. We get them all the time, and the sirens go off so often that we don't even pay attention anymore. I don't like it, but it's just a way of life around here. We live with the knowledge a tornado could hit us at any time and you just have to hope that it doesn't. I've sheltered numerous times waiting to hear if my house is going to get ripped up.
It's just what you do in the midwest lol (Ohio here). Kids and pets in the basement then out to the porch to keep an eye on the weather. Then if if gets to an oh sh!t point you hit the basement too.
Am in tornady alley. In December one ripped through here. I sit outside and watch for tornadys to brew up when the warnings come. When I see the tornady the cat goes into the truck and I drive the other way.... That one went by me just to the north. Yes -- I sat here and watched, ready to GTFO. Anything wrong with that ?
I grew up in Nebraska. Sirens go off, you go look. Freaked my uncle out when I was staying with them at one point. Tornado warning hit, he panicked (he was from California), and my aunt and I were on the back deck looking for it. In the Plains states, you can usually see it coming.
I used to live in tornado alley. As long as you can see the tornado and gauge your safe time (and are relatively certain there's not ANOTHER tornado sneaking about) and you're very near your shelter, it's not really a problem to be out in the open. Now ... once the tornado comes through, though, don't race up and come outside because sometimes it turns around and comes BACK!
Two things: yes. Nebraskans absolutely go out when sirens go off. I’ve been living here for twenty years (moved from Boston!) and I’ve become inured as well. Second, tornados are HUGE so they look close by even when they’re an hour away. We are in a tornado watch right now and I’m writing this as I walk my dog.
All about getting those TikTok likes and shares with these idiots
Load More Replies...I mean, tornados are fascinating (and scary), what I don't get is that she kind of sounds gleeful, yet people are losing homes, and some are even losing their lives. ?
It can be exciting to see a tornado from a safe distance. Most people never see one. At that distance, you don't necessarily know who or what it's hitting, if anything. Most tornadoes drop onto fields and then go back up without a scratch.
Load More Replies...I'm just here to say that I grew up in tornado alley, live there now, watched these storms. If you're from around here, you get used to crazy storms that create tornado weather. So you might be less inclined to panic, unless sh*t is getting really scary.
Having spent my childhood in Kansas and a sister currently living in Omaha, NE, this is very disturbing.
So in the Midwest a tornado watch means grab your camera(s) and keep an eye on the sky. A tornado warning means you're missing the shot.
Please indicate in the title that it's a tiktok post. It will save time clicking on it. Better yet, stop posting tiktoks.
i live in tornado alley and sirens go off all the time. i saw a tornado a couple hundred feet away from me that day lol. just make sure it’s not going in your direction.
I'm another Midwesterner that gets her. My wife (who is not from the Midwest) had to drag me once to our basement, because I wanted to see the tornado that was forming in full vie of our backyard. I'm still slightly annoyed that she didn't wait for another few minutes. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Getting hit by deadly flying debris isn't too bad. I figure out that if I get hit by somebody's roof, I could always walk it off.
That was corny. Also, Mitch Hedberg is dead, stop using his name.
Load More Replies...I’m in MN. Sirens go you put the old, young, and pets in basement nice and safe. Grab your camera and go watch to see if you are about to lose everything! It’s exhilarating, a kind of high like sugar or caffine.
I grew up in Minnesota and several years ago, I was living in a town next to a naval base. They had a siren go off for a live shooter on base but I didn't know that. I heard the siren and practically grabbed my mattress to head into the bathroom when I realized the sky was crystal clear. Old habits die hard.
Load More Replies...For everyone freaking out about her being outside, the decision is all about risk-assessment. It was not night time, she is in open country without restriction, she could easily see for miles. If you observe the storm tracking to the left or to the right, it is moving more in those directions than it could be moving toward you. Yes, storms can shift track, but generally not in a dramatic fashion. Yes, other funnels could drop but maintaining situational awareness is important regardless of the circumstances. If you are not from the midwest and/or are not familiar with such storms, please get in the basement. Otherwise, keep 'er movin'.
I'm honestly more surprised at the cars driving TOWARDS the tornadoes. Wtf
I’m a trained Skywarn weather spotter, so when the Severe Storm Watch/Tornado Watches are issued, I’m activated. I’ve only been doing this for about 18 months, so I’m still “bright eyed, bushy tailed, ready to excel”. We had a line of severe weather come through a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like the storms were going north of me. There’s no harm in picking a spot up there right? Long story short, I lost my head, started storm chasing during a tornado warning, and had the wall cloud go directly over me. (A wall cloud makes funnel clouds, when a funnel cloud hits the ground then it becomes a tornado.) That’s the closest I ever want to be to a tornado!! Why I’m not dead I don’t know. I did absolutely everything wrong, starting with Rule #1: Don’t storm chase. What the woman did in this video was okay though. She wasn’t in harm’s way, and spotting tornadoes can be important, and I hope she reported it. NWS needs spotters on the ground because radar doesn’t pick up everything.
Can confirm, tornado sirens are ridiculously scary. Grew up in Michigan, and we had them go off a few times. They go off at the fire stations, so when they begin to sound, it pops up coming from one direction, then a few seconds later from another, then another, until you're surrounded. Every 1st saturday of the month, they test the sirens at noon, which can be a bizarre experience when it's cloudless but you have these nuke noises blaring.
Yeah, they are! When I lived in MN, we lived across from a school with a siren, which tested the first Wednesday of every month. Well, my fiancé (now husband) was visiting from Atlantic Canada (and doesn't get tornadoes) on one of those special Wednesdays, and he was FREAKING, thinking we were under attack or something (sky was clear). The siren was so commonplace for me, having grown up with it all my life, that it never occurred to me to warn him. I felt so bad!
Load More Replies...I'm in Indiana, and my most recent tornado video is from last spring. We get them all the time, and the sirens go off so often that we don't even pay attention anymore. I don't like it, but it's just a way of life around here. We live with the knowledge a tornado could hit us at any time and you just have to hope that it doesn't. I've sheltered numerous times waiting to hear if my house is going to get ripped up.
It's just what you do in the midwest lol (Ohio here). Kids and pets in the basement then out to the porch to keep an eye on the weather. Then if if gets to an oh sh!t point you hit the basement too.
Am in tornady alley. In December one ripped through here. I sit outside and watch for tornadys to brew up when the warnings come. When I see the tornady the cat goes into the truck and I drive the other way.... That one went by me just to the north. Yes -- I sat here and watched, ready to GTFO. Anything wrong with that ?
I grew up in Nebraska. Sirens go off, you go look. Freaked my uncle out when I was staying with them at one point. Tornado warning hit, he panicked (he was from California), and my aunt and I were on the back deck looking for it. In the Plains states, you can usually see it coming.
I used to live in tornado alley. As long as you can see the tornado and gauge your safe time (and are relatively certain there's not ANOTHER tornado sneaking about) and you're very near your shelter, it's not really a problem to be out in the open. Now ... once the tornado comes through, though, don't race up and come outside because sometimes it turns around and comes BACK!
Two things: yes. Nebraskans absolutely go out when sirens go off. I’ve been living here for twenty years (moved from Boston!) and I’ve become inured as well. Second, tornados are HUGE so they look close by even when they’re an hour away. We are in a tornado watch right now and I’m writing this as I walk my dog.
All about getting those TikTok likes and shares with these idiots
Load More Replies...I mean, tornados are fascinating (and scary), what I don't get is that she kind of sounds gleeful, yet people are losing homes, and some are even losing their lives. ?
It can be exciting to see a tornado from a safe distance. Most people never see one. At that distance, you don't necessarily know who or what it's hitting, if anything. Most tornadoes drop onto fields and then go back up without a scratch.
Load More Replies...I'm just here to say that I grew up in tornado alley, live there now, watched these storms. If you're from around here, you get used to crazy storms that create tornado weather. So you might be less inclined to panic, unless sh*t is getting really scary.
Having spent my childhood in Kansas and a sister currently living in Omaha, NE, this is very disturbing.
So in the Midwest a tornado watch means grab your camera(s) and keep an eye on the sky. A tornado warning means you're missing the shot.
Please indicate in the title that it's a tiktok post. It will save time clicking on it. Better yet, stop posting tiktoks.
i live in tornado alley and sirens go off all the time. i saw a tornado a couple hundred feet away from me that day lol. just make sure it’s not going in your direction.
I'm another Midwesterner that gets her. My wife (who is not from the Midwest) had to drag me once to our basement, because I wanted to see the tornado that was forming in full vie of our backyard. I'm still slightly annoyed that she didn't wait for another few minutes. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Getting hit by deadly flying debris isn't too bad. I figure out that if I get hit by somebody's roof, I could always walk it off.
That was corny. Also, Mitch Hedberg is dead, stop using his name.
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