Harrowing Video Captures Storm Chasers Trapped Inside Tornado

Things got a bit too real for a team of storm chasers who found themselves essentially trapped inside a live tornado back in April. Due to the traumatic nature of the encounter, the video has only just been uploaded to YouTube this week, as the men involved were simply thankful to have made it through the ordeal alive.

The footage was captured by veteran storm chaser Tanner Charles, a Minneapolis-based content creator with nearly 15 years of experience in tracking down tornados. Still, nothing could prepare him and his team for what they experienced that day in Lewistown, IL.

"I don't even know where to start with this video, because this was the most intense experience of my entire life," Charles says at the beginning of the eight-minute-long video. "It was also quite traumatic, which is why I haven't released it in like, months. In the end, I'm just incredibly grateful that we made it out alive."

"This has to be some of the most intense footage I have ever shot in my entire chasing career," he added. "And I wish we didn't have to go through this to get this footage, but here we are."

In the beginning of the video, the team is tracking a nearby tornado, albeit at a relatively safe distance. "Gotta be cognizant, it's coming towards us," Charles says, as they pull over to take some footage. After getting back into the vehicle, they decide to head east, with the twister still about a mile away.

With the rain, lightning, and hail picking up, they make another turn for north, which ultimately proves to be their undoing. Suddenly, a gust of wind brings power lines down right on top of them, effectively trapping them as sparks began to fly.

And as if that wasn't terrifying enough, they suddenly realize that the tornado has surfaced right next to them, barreling straight at their vehicle. They quickly debate whether to get out and hide in a ditch—also a precarious situation, considering the live electric wires surrounding them—but ultimately decide to wait it out.

What transpires over the next three minutes is not something any of them will forget anytime soon, as they pray that the tornado will leave them alive. Finally, when it's all over, the car is looking worse for wear with smashed glass everywhere and a crumpled roof, but all of the men are alive and safe. Whether or not there was a dry pair of underwear among them is a different story, however.

According to the National Weather Service, a tornado was in fact recorded in the Lewistown area on April 4.

"A few supercell thunderstorms that tracked between Burlington, IA and Quincy, IL congealed into one massive supercell, strengthening as it entered Fulton County around 7 p.m.," the agency writes. "The supercell went on to produce baseball sized hail and a few tornadoes, one of which was a long-track EF-3 with peak winds estimated near 160 mph near Lewistown and Bryant in Fulton County."

The alert notes that the storm weakened as it moved into eastern counties, and eventually dissipated due to a lack of daytime heating. Not soon enough, some might argue.