What it feels like to be carried by a tornado

[Nomad]

Esquire

What It Feels Like... To be Carried by a Tornado



By Rick Boland, 39, tree trimmer

As told to Leslie Shiers

August 2006, Volume 146, Issue 2





Boland was lifted about a hundred yards by a twister that leveled his St. Mary, Missouri, home in March.

It was around 9:15 at night, and my son Craig came in from the deck and said, "The sky's looking funny out here." I said, "Give me a minute," but I never made it outside. The electricity started flickering, and I could hear the wind howling. The house started to shimmy a little. Stuff was flying off the deck. We were looking at each other dumbfounded.

We ran to the bathroom on the top floor, and I told Craig and his girlfriend to get in the tub. I was looking at my feet, and the floor was doing a wave-type thing. I couldn't keep my balance. Then the power went out and it was pitch-black. I heard windows blowing out, stuff smacking. It was like a big tidal wave hit the house. It was the loudest thing I ever heard in my life, like three 747's right above your head.

Then there was a bit of calmness. I think that's when the part of the house we were in was being picked up. I don't know if we were in flight then or what. I could hear this humming, like we were inside a giant vacuum cleaner. Then all hell broke loose. I think that's when the house disintegrated.

Ever been in a deep sleep and someone's yelling, but you can barely hear them? It was something like that. I could hear everything, feel stuff, but I couldn't see anything. I had my eyes closed, just keeping the wind and debris from getting in. I was being struck by debris but couldn't really feel it. I just felt a deep pain. At one point I took a blow to the head. I didn't know how much longer I could handle the abuse.

I figure I was spinning upright, like a top, because right before I hit the ground, I remember a feeling of untwining. I landed pretty hard on my stomach. When I looked up, lightning struck, and that's when I saw the tail up in the sky. Plain as day. It was the first tornado I'd ever seen.

We all landed about twenty yards from one another in a neighbor's field. We were just covered with mud. I had thirty pieces of wood in me, ranging from the size of an arrowhead to a couple feet long. Pieces of the bathroom, I imagine. I looked like I got shot by an Indian. Craig came out of it a little rougher. He had a punctured lung, three cracked ribs, a broken shoulder blade, and his ear was just barely hanging on.

We were lying there on the ground, waiting for the ambulance, when we heard the tornado siren from St. Mary. I said, "Well, they're a little late."

[Sheryl]

Tornado's are fascinating to me. But the first thing that pops in my head when I see something bout them is the movie Twister. Specifically the scene where the cows fly by.

[CARLA]

It's only July 2006 did he get carried an entire month ahead in that tornado..??

[QUOTE]By Rick Boland, 39, tree trimmer

As told to Leslie Shiers

August 2006, Volume 146, Issue 2[/QUOTE]

[cherandbuster]

Fascinating.

And frightening.