Laura, thank you for sharing this. I debated on whether or not to show the footage of us driving through town, as it is deeply troubling to me. Ultimately, after talking with friends and family, decided to share that part as it's possibly the last footage taken before it struck. I really wish I could go back and warn those people, and honestly that will haunt me forever. In the moment we just didn't comprehend how bad it was going to get. I am so sorry for what you and your community have had to endure. Rolling Fork is full of amazing, kind-hearted people. Everyone we talked to that night and the following day was genuine and down to earth. Praying for all of you.

There WERE predictions and warnings from the Storm Prediction Center and the NWS via NOAA. But, as I understand it (and frankly you folks would know better), there are no community storm shelters, and people don't have basements because the water tables and the ground aren't suited to them. There aren't enough good radar systems in the SE and there are not enough tornado whistles and not enough people and funds to set them up and set them off in bad weather. Building codes aren't up to snuff in the SE USA and, I'm sorry to say this, but this part of the country is too poverty-stricken to afford to upgrade. Because you don't have to worry as much about the snow and ice that we do up north, you can "get away" with more flimsy buildings. One storm chaser running through the town 3 minutes before a deadly tornado warning people isn't going to help anyone. What WILL help is long-term investment, strict building codes, fewer jobs being outsourced to China so there is economic development in the area so people can afford those higher building codes, and government spending to improve infrastructure like radar, tornado whistles, and community shelters. What people in the area can do--everyone from business owners and managers and residents, is take these storms seriously and evacuate people to storm shelters well in advance of the storms rolling through. Sure, maybe you lose an hour or so of productivity hunkering down for a tornado that may not even show up, but you save lives. Also, the residents and business owners MUST hold their Congress critters accountable. This storm didn't need to be this devastating. Unless and until state and federal level elected officials get booted out of office by their constituents because they didn't push for better infrastructure and business development to support better jobs and better buildings, we'll just keep seeing this level of devastation over and over again in the South.

@@FreddyMcKinney you had no time. At least you were there to start SAR. Wow. Well done. Don't beat yourself up. We don't know how we will react when we are in a dangerous situation.

@@FreddyMcKinney actually now that I think of it your phone was doing the emergency alerts as you were driving through the town the first time. There was a warning but there was no sirens. That isn't your fault. The emergency people should have turned on the sirens.

@@paulstejskal That blows my mind that the sirens didn't go off. Don't storm chasers usually call local news to report confirmed tornadoes? It seemed like at least 5-10 minutes between when they sighted it outside of town to when it hit town.

Been a nightmare of mine for years

Seeing the tornado slowly approaching, briefly illuminated in the dark by flashes of lightning has to be one of the scariest things imaginable.

Many of these building will be completely destroyed minuters later

TheRealJAYDOSS

when seeing this I'm reminded of the Drive-in scene from Twister 1996.

Dang

Dang

Dang

Dang

Dang

There have been monster invisible tornadoes during the day.

This is one of the scariest-looking tornadoes I have seen. It is right up there with the Mayfield KY EF4 and the Greensburg KS EF5 in terms of how terrifying they appear. The Mayfield tornado was a very organized and intense wedge. This one was flat-out erratic and angry.

We had a tornado warning late last night (about midnight) and I was trying to look outside to see if I could see anything abnormal in the sky and I could barely see anything

They're always visible on radar, which is why people should be watching weather coverage when there is severe weather forecast for their area. Relying on visible confirmation or sirens is a bad idea.

@@RoyaltonDrummer922 Yikes!

A lot of storm chasers have previous experience as first responders (EMT, police, etc) and others are at least CPR trained in case things like this happen and people need rescuing.

@@quietreader4190 Yup, usually storm chasers are there first before any one else due to their proximity.

I think just like anything it’s a hobby first, but in this case it’s a hobby that puts you in a place where people can and do get injured.

All professional chasers I have ever seen stop and go into rescue mode the second they encounter damage. They all carry EMS kits and supplies like chainsaws, prybars, etc. Most of them have emergency medical training. Often they end up being the ones to alert the noaa so that it can send the warning to the towns.

I think they are one of the first responders in the aftermath, they usually know exactly what happened and where it happened, they are a huge help for 911 operators to be able to get to the right locations in time.

I’ve been in a few, but only really learned this last year. Was in an ef4 last spring. Came within 1/4 mi. I had no cover or shelter and the weather service alert saved my life that day. I could smell it earlier in the day and knew it’d be bad, but… Ended up laying down in a ditch against a buried boulder. Long before I saw it, I heard it like a roaring train made of warhorses . Watched and listened for half hour as it knocked trees over, leveled homes, and threw insulation all over for miles. Never underestimating one of those again. I’d like to consider myself fairly calm when it counts, but I about lost my marbles watching that thing howl past me and pelt me with ice along the way. It’s a situation you have zero control over. If you’re near cover great, but even then, nothing is stopping it from turning and coming for you. Completely powerless. S/o to the 100+ lines man that came out next day. Never seen so many power lines repaired so quickly.

It could be disguised as " God "

@@khmershakur9197 Nah, unlike gods, tornadoes are real and are worth of being awed by their real shear power.

​@@fmccloud found the redditor

I can tell you surfing big waves does the same thing. I mean really big waves. It's probably a lot like being in a tornado after you fall on a giant wave.

These night time tornadoes ... seem to becoming more common now than before --------------------------------------------------------------------------- They may "seem" more common, but it's also true that with the gazilliion storm chasers out looking for them, they're just being mentioned in the news more, and shown on videos as a result of newer technology.

before was no camera on every1 hands due to phones....

@@AugustoV8Cesar Statistically, worse tornadoes are more common now. This is not based on "phones", this is based on actual weather data tracked since aroundabouts 1890.

you didnt read the main coment at all@@D-Vinko

theres a reason why people that lives inside natural disaster prone areas believes climate change more than "safe" people

I never used to worry too much, as someone who grew up in Florida, aka Hurricane County. However, since moving to Texas, I've become extremely paranoid of the weather this past Spring. A couple months ago, we had a very strong severe thunderstorm hit my town, and it was horrifying. I was taking my usual quick nap before work, and it got really dark outside. Next thing you know, it started to lightly drizzle and the storm sirens went off. This was like third time that happened this year. The first time, I was a bit shaken, but not too worried. The second I was a bit concerned. I thought, "there's no way I'm going to get lucky a third time." As I don't have a car, I tried to order a Lyft so that I could go to work, so that should anything happen, at least I'll be around other people, as I live alone. No drivers were responding, and as I looked out my back window, I thought I saw a funnel cloud forming a couple miles off. I'm not entirely sure if I did see one or not, but I wasn't going to take any chance. The streets were flooding, rain going sideways, hail falling from the sky, and it was as dark as an early evening, at 3pm! I haven't been this terrified since sitting through Hurricane Wilma with my mother back in Florida. I honestly thought I was going to die. Since then I've been constantly checking weather report and watching the sky every time it's the slightest bit cloudy. I hate this so much. What's worse is that I was told by several people that the town I'm in doesn't usually get tornadoes, but to have three tornado warnings in one year, let alone one season? Since that day, we've had a couple of nasty storms hit us in the middle of the night, and as you can imagine, it's nightmare inducing. Because had a funnel cloud touch down, there would've been no way for me to see it in the dark and heavy rain. I used to enjoy watching thunderstorms and always found them fascinating. But these last few months have ruined that for me. Sometimes at work, certain noises scare me, because I think that the sirens are going off again. Even strong breeze on a cloudy day send me into a panic. I'm a total wreck now. One thing's for sure, never again will I underestimate the power of weather. Not that I ever did, but I have always taken it for granted, as I have slept through hurricanes growing up. I hope to get over this someday, because I want my love of thunderstorms back.

@@EdwardNewgate58 "since moving to Texas, I've become extremely paranoid of the weather ... A couple months ago, we had a very strong severe thunderstorm hit my town, and it was horrifying." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a life long resident of Texas and Oklahoma, I can tell you that your paranoia is not justified. Despite the scary weather, your chance of actually being in a tornado is extremely low. Don't confuse severe thunderstorms, lightning, or heavy rain with tornados. Even tornado warnings from the national weather service are usually overblown (so to speak). The number of people who die in tornados in both Oklahoma and Texas are miniscule compared to the total number of people who experience "severe" weather. And most tornados are quite small and short lived. Tornados as strong as the one in this video are quite rare. Realistically, people who live in Texas and Oklahoma would not continue to live where they do if large, destructive tornados were as common as rain or thunder or the forever blowing Texas wind. 😊

​@@kenthompson5723statistics aren't going to many people feel better because the real reality is that it DOES happen. If you can't tell him that it will never happen to him, which you can't, then his paranoia is justified. That's the whole reason behind being paranoid about this stuff.

@@deathbloom27 You make exactly the same argument that could be applied to winning the lottery. Substitute being hit by a tornado with winning the lottery. Most people FAIL to win the lottery because they do NOT understand statistics, just as most people FEAR tornados because they do NOT understand statistics. So trying to ease peoples' fear of tornados is futile, because they think, incorrectly, that statistics do not apply to them. Most people are egocentric, seeing themselves as the center of the universe. In these peoples' MINDS, whatever wonderful reality that "could" happen to them (winning the lottery) WILL happen to them, and whatever dreadful reality that "could" happen (being struck by a tornado) WILL happen to them. Both idealism and paranoia are delusional, and a function of ego.

​@@deathbloom27 Personally, statistics and comparisons have always helped soothe my paranoia when it gets bad, because while I'm not typically afraid of bad weather and even find it fun to experience at times, there are moments where I overthink and get irrationally afraid (to the point where my concerns are things I would _never_ be able to have any control over). It's true, there are probably as many strokes of good luck as there are bad ones, but just being able to hear numbers and real recounts and assurances from other people every once in a while helps me keep my calm about the things that only mother nature has any say on. It's like forcing me to see the full side of the glass, y'know? (Also, as someone who's recently moved to Texas, reading that comment has made me feel a lot better haha)

Almost 2 years ago, there was a ef3 tornado 40 minutes from my house that touched down at 11:30 pm. My brother, his friend, my two friends, and I all had to shelter in our basement bathroom. It was horrifying and the power was flickering too. Nighttime tornadoes are so so scary

Bro for real. I've been through many hurricanes living in South Florida my entire life and some of them even came at night but we knew that they were coming unlike these people not really having much of a warning

@@brandonohara4122 so we're going to have a beautiful day today and tomorrow is going to have some showers

@@laurenorourke2442bro one time this past june it was 15 minutes from our house at 1 am right by our old house. makes me feel glad we moved because one of my moms friends daughter got her house destroyed while she was in it from it because the sirens played after the tornado

@@amarisbutlr I’m so so sorry!!! That’s so scary. I have family in AL that survived the 2011 super outbreak and I can’t imagine being in that position no matter the time of day. But I’m glad everyone was safe and made it out alive!

Thanks for being a good human!

This sentiment is exactly why I'm going into journalism and photography. I'm sick of the news seeming like a disconnected, uncaring and petty bunch of elites all bunched up in a newsroom to most people. I want to make journalism the way it's supposed to be. Raw, on the ground, straight to the truth.

@@raspberrybitch4299 and helping folks out in the Immedient aftermath!

Nignt Nados are my newest fear. They are scary af

Is secoy your uncle? Dang that’s crazy

@@josephnewell8101 he’s my dad’s best friend but yes he’s my honorary uncle 😊

@@kaitlynk1517 awww. That’s so scary. I’m glad he’s ok.

@Kaitlyn K Yesterday, when we came home for Easter service and work on the house, I noticed the liquor store did not have a scratch!!! But Kiona's PT building had a lot of damage. We were laughing about how God knew we were all gonna need a drink during this time!!!

@@lauraallmon6199 the judge has you covered hahaha

Why would God do this to people?

​@@smartfck4 God is dead

I second that Freddy. Bless you man for helping people when nobody else can in such intense conditions. ✊🏽☮️

@@smartfck4 God is neither Good nor bad he is Just

@@smartfck4 Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, which brought with it pain and destruction, but God gave up his only son to die for us to forgive OUR sins. You also may forget that he did this so we could spend eternity in heaven with him.

night of the twisters, go watch it, its a tornado horror movie

tanado

A lot of that are power flashes

@@tengukaze9199 I completely disagree. Power flashes only really happen as the transformers and power lines are hit by the tornado. The lightning is all around it. Also I live in the middle of nowhere and there aren't many transformers around. Maybe 2 within eyesight.

1/8th of a mile? That is REALLY close, I wouldn’t even call a mile very far for a tornado. Could you hear it?

@@PartyCrasher04 I could feel the walls shaking... If I'd known it was a tornado I'd have run to the basement, but I was too scared at the home. I was 11 years old. Luckily our house had very minor damage to the roof and some stuff blown around, but our neighbors weren't so lucky... 🫤

You're right. Good catch.

Not the same building

also looks like a buisness establishment not a house

​​@@dobettereveryday If you look at the 7:47 image, you can see that other skinny door we saw in 3:03

It's not nature because a plane can fly above all that. There is no natural energy between the earth and the few miles up to cause such a disturbance. Man made

Rolling Fork is my home. My mother's home, grandmother's home, and father's home were in the direct path of this tornado. They are all alive, and my mother's home will be able to be saved. As you drove back through town before Storm hit, I saw cars of people I knew who were working at Family Dollar or eating dinner at the Mexican restaurant. Gwen, her daughter, and friend survived but were buried under debris, which included the restaurant's walk-in cooler where employees took shelter during the tornado, for an hour. I can't believe people were able to get to them that quickly. Here is the post Gwen made once she recovered... "Warning - long post!! With grammatical errors 😬 Someone said to me once it seems you have bad luck.. I would prefer to say I have good luck 🍀.. I do know I am surely blessed and I survived last weeks tornado A week ago [We] decided to grab a bite to eat before [We] were planning to go home and have a girls night watching movies. We were watching the weather, as we often do in the delta, and trying to keep calm. We hurriedly finished our meal and were at the counter trying to pay to leave ….. I did not hear the typical “train” sound I have heard so many speak of, but I remember hearing crackles and as I turned around the windows at the front of the restaurant looked to have small spider webs that kept spreading.. I m not sure if I felt small pieces of glass, dust or what was hitting my face, but I knew what was happening and instinctively wrapped my arms around my daughter, grabbed Aprils arm and headed towards the bathroom… I don’t remember if I tried or even had time to shut the door, I just remember dropping and hunching over Molly Ruth while keeping my head down. The awful sounds we heard, the feeling of being pushed and pulled at the same time, and the building literally crumbling around and on top of us is something I know will not go away for a long time. I do not know how long it took to pass thru, but it felt like 30-40 seconds. Then as fast as it came in, it was gone (our at least from our area) and it was quiet… and then I realized I could not move.. we were buried in debris and it was too heavy to physically lift it off of us.. believe me we tried… It was right at an hour before we were drug out… but considering the devastation of our town, the fact that it was not just debris, but the restaurants walk in cooler with three employees inside it resting on top of us…I feel like an hour was record time… the things they had to consider including getting the employees out safely, balancing and holding the cooler in order to get us out I have been told took some planning, man power, and balancing. I am forever grateful for those that were there that night..." Gwen goes on to thank people in our community who helped rescue them. "I am sorry if I missed anyone.. I wish I could remember the storm chasers name..." “God brought us thru this, he is going to get us out of here, he is just building our faith” 🥹 Psalm 46; 1-2 Since the storm I have thought about how it became so powerful so fast and came in without warning… it has reminded me (again 😢)how quickly our lives can change and even end without warning.. we are taught that we will not know when that time comes.. until then I m going to keep seeking the stars and use the darkness to keep building my faith! #ROLLINGFORKSTRONG" End of Gwen's FB post. Pam was working at Family Dollar along with 2 other women. Pam survived, but the 2 women were killed. Pam sustained many injuries, including a broken back, but was able to crawl out of the debris and make her way to a storm chaser by Highway 61. We are thankful so many more didn't perish. It's is a miracle, with all the damage. Thank you for taking the 😊 to the hospital. I was angry when I first watched the footage. Why didn't you stop and warn them? There was no warning, no alarm. No one knew until it was there. My mother had just enough time to make it into the hallway before windows imploded... That is more of an issue to take up with our weather alert system in our community. You are good at your job, you have a kind heart, obviously moved by the severity of loss my community suffered. Thank you again for helping those in need. Rolling Fork is grateful to you and your crew. #rollingfork #tornado #ROLLINGFORKSTRONG Fun Fact: The Rolling Sones got their band name from one of their favorite musical artist's song. They were listening to a Muddy Waters Album, flipped the album over and saw the name of a song on back cover... Rollin' Stone. McKinley Morganfield known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American singer, Born in Sharkey County, Mississippi. He called Rolling Fork his home. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sJl_pZqZ2rWvZ6M.html Fast forward 7 min and 20 seconds into video. #Rocknroll #RollingFork #RollingStone Headed to Rolling Fork now to help. Keep us in you prayers! God Bless and all my Love. Laura Tilghman Allmon, Rolling Forker since 1984

Almost all chasers do search and rescue and all have first aid training or are medics.

Thank you!

So many chasers were there to help. I’ve never seen anything like that. On all the live streams I checked out when this thing hit they were helping people. And after this storm I believe Vince waelti is getting more equipment for situations like this. There’s some pretty good storm chasers out there. I’d balances out the bad ones.

Thank you for your comment. I am very blessed to be able to chase with my dad

@@FreddyMcKinney That's so awesome! Love it.

​@@FreddyMcKinney thanks for transporting 2 people in the hospital

Sterling here!!

It's a nearly perfect example of extremely poor planning and not learning from numerous failures. 👎🙁. They will rebuild the same way and again get wiped out. They never learn to change.

@@PlanetEarth3141 there’s nothing else they can do about it not like they can all just move to New York

@@lanepotts1046 You don't read much. If you did and understood me elsewhere you'd have to be normal to say that. And why would they go to New York?

Feel free to come to rebuild on your vacation. Something like that takes years and years to recover from.

@@cindydintn To be honest, I am thinking about how could I make it there. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to travel like that this year though. But the next year I could have a bit more free hands.

Same, I cried watching those poor women who were just in a complete state of shock

A town in MO got slammed this morning. I forgot the name, but it was bad.

Tennessee too

@@Victor_Kaiju GLEN ALLEN

Town in Illinois called lewistown got wrecked on the 4th.

I was northeast of lewistown, super terrifying.

Appreciate it Mike!

Yeah the roaring of the twister was so ominous. Literally sounds like death coming for that town

Too bad most people in these areas aren't even interested in science. It's always "thoughts and prayers." Tragic.

We had an ef4 pass 3 ish miles north of our house in 2019 Even at that distance the noise was deafening. and of course I was stupidly on my deck watching it go by The debate between me and my parents to stay or flee was interesting, it was a long track tornado and we knew it was coming for at least 20ish minutes.

@@ranonampangom2185 I know it’s horrible

@@ranonampangom2185 Now they're all part of Fauci's science experiment.

And I wonder... would there even be a safe way to chase such a monster at night without the priceless help of GPS and real time doppler or would it be downright suicide to attempt it?

Good point. It's dangerous enough with all that technology. I can't even imagine.

Im in florida and we have tornado watch now!!

@@sherryljenkinson952 We had one yesterday as well here. The central storms are coming East.

Rolling Fork is my home. My mother's home, grandmother's home, and father's home were in the direct path of this tornado. They are all alive, and my mother's home will be able to be saved. As you drove back through town before Storm hit, I saw cars of people I knew who were working at Family Dollar or eating dinner at the Mexican restaurant. Gwen, her daughter, and friend survived but were buried under debris, which included the restaurant's walk-in cooler where employees took shelter during the tornado, for an hour. I can't believe people were able to get to them that quickly. Here is the post Gwen made once she recovered... "Warning - long post!! With grammatical errors 😬 Someone said to me once it seems you have bad luck.. I would prefer to say I have good luck 🍀.. I do know I am surely blessed and I survived last weeks tornado A week ago [We] decided to grab a bite to eat before [We] were planning to go home and have a girls night watching movies. We were watching the weather, as we often do in the delta, and trying to keep calm. We hurriedly finished our meal and were at the counter trying to pay to leave ….. I did not hear the typical “train” sound I have heard so many speak of, but I remember hearing crackles and as I turned around the windows at the front of the restaurant looked to have small spider webs that kept spreading.. I m not sure if I felt small pieces of glass, dust or what was hitting my face, but I knew what was happening and instinctively wrapped my arms around my daughter, grabbed Aprils arm and headed towards the bathroom… I don’t remember if I tried or even had time to shut the door, I just remember dropping and hunching over Molly Ruth while keeping my head down. The awful sounds we heard, the feeling of being pushed and pulled at the same time, and the building literally crumbling around and on top of us is something I know will not go away for a long time. I do not know how long it took to pass thru, but it felt like 30-40 seconds. Then as fast as it came in, it was gone (our at least from our area) and it was quiet… and then I realized I could not move.. we were buried in debris and it was too heavy to physically lift it off of us.. believe me we tried… It was right at an hour before we were drug out… but considering the devastation of our town, the fact that it was not just debris, but the restaurants walk in cooler with three employees inside it resting on top of us…I feel like an hour was record time… the things they had to consider including getting the employees out safely, balancing and holding the cooler in order to get us out I have been told took some planning, man power, and balancing. I am forever grateful for those that were there that night..." Gwen goes on to thank people in our community who helped rescue them. "I am sorry if I missed anyone.. I wish I could remember the storm chasers name..." “God brought us thru this, he is going to get us out of here, he is just building our faith” 🥹 Psalm 46; 1-2 Since the storm I have thought about how it became so powerful so fast and came in without warning… it has reminded me (again 😢)how quickly our lives can change and even end without warning.. we are taught that we will not know when that time comes.. until then I m going to keep seeking the stars and use the darkness to keep building my faith! #ROLLINGFORKSTRONG" End of Gwen's FB post. Pam was working at Family Dollar along with 2 other women. Pam survived, but the 2 women were killed. Pam sustained many injuries, including a broken back, but was able to crawl out of the debris and make her way to a storm chaser by Highway 61. We are thankful so many more didn't perish. It's is a miracle, with all the damage. Thank you for taking the 😊 to the hospital. I was angry when I first watched the footage. Why didn't you stop and warn them? There was no warning, no alarm. No one knew until it was there. My mother had just enough time to make it into the hallway before windows imploded... That is more of an issue to take up with our weather alert system in our community. You are good at your job, you have a kind heart, obviously moved by the severity of loss my community suffered. Thank you again for helping those in need. Rolling Fork is grateful to you and your crew. #rollingfork #tornado #ROLLINGFORKSTRONG Fun Fact: The Rolling Sones got their band name from one of their favorite musical artist's song. They were listening to a Muddy Waters Album, flipped the album over and saw the name of a song on back cover... Rollin' Stone. McKinley Morganfield known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American singer, Born in Sharkey County, Mississippi. He called Rolling Fork his home. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sJl_pZqZ2rWvZ6M.html Fast forward 7 min and 20 seconds into video. #Rocknroll #RollingFork #RollingStone Headed to Rolling Fork now to help. Keep us in you prayers! God Bless and all my Love. Laura Tilghman Allmon, Rolling Forker since 1984

Yea, I’m also south Australian, and one of my cousins and her family live in Darwin, and they recently got hit by a cyclone. It’s insane tho, they’re getting so much rain rn

Thank you

lmao yeah the same 'god' that made this happen. really wise thing to do

God didn't keep the dead people safe, why do you think god is particularly inclined to keep anyone safe?

Were you in the Covington tornado? I'm out close to Memphis, we were fortunately spared from any tornadoes here but they literally were all around us. Have friends in Covington and it's absolutely horrible the destruction that area endured

@@crimsontide1980 no middle Tennessee

Glad to hear yall made it out safe. Be careful tomorrow night/Wednesday morning, more rough weather headed this way I'm afraid

Thank you for the the kind words and sub!

@@FreddyMcKinney pecos hank and you are my favourite storm chasers