While seeking shelter in their truck, a family in Ripley, Mississippi captured the dramatic moment a tornado swept through their town.
The dramatic clip shows the storm passing over their 5,000-person town on Thursday afternoon, 45 miles north-west of Tupelo.
Without an underground shelter, the family determined that their truck would be safer than their bungalow.
During the terrifying storm, debris swirled, trees toppled, and rain poured, but thankfully no one is believed to have been injured.
Thursday afternoon, several tornadoes struck the region, including this one.
A gas station owner in the town itself described how his storage shed was lifted by the winds and blown across the forecourt.
Dev Patel, the owner of the 76 gas station, said, “I have no words because this is the first time I’ve experienced this situation; I was terrified.”
He told WTVA, “It blew through both my doors, which were wide open.”
Glasses and bottles were tossed into the air in a circular motion.
Patel reported that there were two customers in the gas station store at the time, and he was concerned for their safety.
“When I exited, I inspected the exterior. My shed was lifted into the air and dumped.
As the metal plates fell, I thanked God that nobody was injured; they could have severed a man in two.
KGWX 2:34 PM A cluster of storms is moving across northwest Tennessee and northern Mississippi. A tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm watch continue to be in effect. Stay informed and vigilant! pic.twitter.com/BcZxCO3DIi
Anna Jordan, a Ripley resident, reported to WREG, ‘It became extremely loud and the wind picked up.
Then it grew louder and louder, and the next thing you know, you hear bones breaking, etc. Truthfully, it appeared out of nowhere.
She estimated that it lasted 30 to 40 seconds, and when she returned outside, she discovered widespread destruction.
She stated, “The garage is pretty much gone.”
It essentially lifted the roof, and the air conditioning unit is now inverted.
At 7:15 p.m. UTC, or 1:15 p.m. local time in Ripley, dramatic thunderstorms were visible from NASA satellites.
They tweeted, “A large increase in #lightning (represented by the red color on the map) occurred at 1915Z on SPoRT’s GLM Flash Extent Density, just before rotation quickly spun up in a North Mississippi cell, which is now a #tornado warned storm.”
Early in the afternoon, the National Weather Service began issuing tornado warnings.
At 2:34 p.m., they tweeted, “A cluster of storms is moving across northern Mississippi and southwest Tennessee.” A tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm watch continue to be in effect. Stay informed and vigilant!
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