Tornado Safety



Ben wrote to us on June 25th, 1996, and told us about his experience. It's not a really unusual story, or even a very-close-call story. It is a story that is repeated over and over again all over the US each spring by people who have not become blase about tornado warnings and who respect the power of Mother Nature! It is also a story about a young person who was smart enough and knowledgeable enough to take the correct action.



My name is Ben, I am 13, and I live in Chantilly, Va. Just yesterday, June 24, 1996, I was at home watching my sister, who is mentally handicapped. My father was at work while my mother and younger sister were at my mom's office.

I had noticed the clouds growing darker and the ones to the East were turning green. At first I thought nothing of it but then on the TV the weather reporter was announcing a severe thunderstorm warning, one that usually brings hail and heavy rain.

After seeing that, I called my mother and told her about it. She told me I should not be worried because it was just a thunderstorm so we hung up. Then I looked outside and noticed it was almost pitch black at 4:30. I grabbed a flashlight because I was sure the power was going to go out any second. Then no sooner had I gotten back from getting the flashlight that the weather reporter announced a Tornado Warning!. I had never been in an actual tornado before, but I had seen some funnel clouds before in Montana.

Suddenly I realized I had no time to lose and I had to try to get my sister down the stairs to the basement in a matter of minutes. I surprisingly got her down there with no trouble at all and I raced back up the stairs to get the cordless phone. When I got back downstairs my dad called and told me to get downstairs immediately. I told him I was already down there! He said O.K. and we talked for a few seconds and then we hung up. Then through the basement windows I saw it was completely dark outside. The only way I could see anything was when lightning struck.

Fortunately the tornado went over us. However, our old neighborhood which was just a few miles away, got hit bad. We moved from that neighborhood to this one only a week ago. There were roofs off houses, trees missing, cars gone, and much worse. I had not known an F2 was as strong as that, I always thought they were weak.

I do not recall hearing of any deaths, or too many injuries so I guess everyone got a good head start to run to their basements. Either that or we are all lucky.



If you would like to read more about the tornado that struck the north part of Centreville, the town just south of Chantilly, check out what the NWS said: This is what the NWS said in their official report.




If you want to use frames, you will get more reliable results by using the navigation panel on the left.

Frames Home No-frames Home Recent tornadoes Tornadoes in the past
Tornado Top Tens The Fujita Scale Videos, Books and Posters
FAQ about Tornadoes Tornado Safety Tornado Oddities
Storm Chasing Tornado Project Tornado Myths
All Tornadoes Tornado Stories Favorite Sites
Other Neat Stuff about Tornadoes
The Storm Cellar



The Tornado Project
PO Box 302
St. Johnsbury, Vermont 05819
USA

© 1999 The Tornado Project All rights reserved. All content, text, and graphics on these pages are the property of The Tornado Project and may not be reproduced, electronically or otherwise unless specified.