Saturday, May 31st, 2008
I'm Getting the @#$% Out of Here! I did a story today on Tornado preparation since I knew we were in a Tornado watch. You know...simple stuff...have water, flashlights, a weather radio available. By doing the story I got to view file footage of carnage from around the US this year. Cars mashed into trees...neighborhoods wiped out with nothing left.

As I sat down for my story in the six in the studio....Gus led of the newscast with the latest weather. He talked about strong thunderstorms...possible rotation...and then BAMN...the tornado sirens went off. I'm a Connecticut boy. We have had tornadoes...but we don't have sirens...and we were never put on a list as top 20 most likely places to have a tornado. I was freaked out.

As I could hear the sirens blaring outside the studio I did my 6 o'clock report...then headed back to the newsroom. Being a one-man-band I asked if they wanted me to go out and shoot some video.

"Ben head to Panther Creek".....which is on the other side of town....actually more like out of town.

I ran out the door and headed west. Straight ahead of me I saw a cloud towering upwards...lightening every where. I had just done a story on how a car is the worst place to be during a storm and I was heading straight towards this black blob. I turned on a news talk station...

As lightning struck on all sides of my news car I turned up the radio....the station was interviewing the police I think..."WE HAVE A REPORT THERE IS A TOUCHDOWN ON 5TH STREET.""

I was sitting at a stop light at 11th street. Suddenly a huge down burst of wind shook my car. There was clear rotation in the clouds now directly above me. I really thought a twister was going to form on top of my car. I turned on my blinker and thought...I am getting the #@$% out of here. The light turned green I bolted to the left and turned into the first parking lot i saw...which was a furniture store. I ran out of my car...grabbed my camera...and sat underneath their little overhang and pointed my camera towards the Hilton which quickly disappeared into the clouds. By the time I got it up and running I think the worst of the cell had already moved out East. The people inside the furniture store were awesome and allowed me to take refuge with them. The touchdown on 5th street ended up not being accurate. No tornado although it def was not far from producing one. After a bunch of hail and strong winds...I traveled around Springfield...I got some video of street flooding by the train station...a power pole that was smoking from a lightening strike. I listened to the radio..

"Another cell is moving into Southern Sangamon County. Go into a basement or strong building."

Or as they call it in the news business....start driving South. I got to Dirksen Parkway near the quick and easy when the wind, lightning, and rain picked up again. To my relief we had a camera man already in the "path" of the storm. better him than me haha) So I pulled into the gas station and shot some cloud shots. Got a shot of the American flag with the lightning in the background....thought it was a funny shot. The station told me to head back. I happily obliged. Seeing video of some shots of Iowa and Kanas where whole towns were gone from storms this week...I was a little shaken.

That second cell created a tornado not far from Springfield. When I left work no major damage was reported...although a man in Jacksonville was trapped in his home when his wall collapsed...but nothing here in Sangamon County.

I am going to have one hell of a day at work tomorrow. I will be the only man in the station until 1:30.....I've got a lot of phone calls to make.

One story I really want to do. A woman almost had a baby in Walmart. She went into labor as soon as the first storm hit! I wonder if she named it Walter?

What a crazy day...first time hearing tornado sirens in action...and first time seeing a funnel cloud. Also first time crapping myself on the job.

Also amazing coverage from Humzooers! I was showing Russ and Dave's photos to channel 20 people when I made it to a computer at around 9:30-10:00 who were super impressed.