So, I drive down to Houston today for my parents 60th anniversary celebration, and the first half is perfect. Then a storm front hits, and rain comes down in buckets for most of the next two hours. I can barely see, and my rental car is hydroplaning like crazy. I get over about 55, and the front (drive) wheels break loose. What a beating. Just when it seems to be letting up, right around Willis (30-40 miles from Houston), traffic comes to a complete stop. I figure it must be a wreck. Then, something catches my eye. There is a bunch of "stuff" hovering above the trees next to I-45. WTF? Then I see the funnel. Oh, crap, it's a freaking tornado -- and I'm a sitting duck on I-45. Cars in front of me, cars behind me, cars to the right, and a guardrail to the left. As it gets closer, I called my dad. I figured somebody should know "why" if I'm a little, or a lot late. All I could do is sit and watch it pass me in the other direction, about 100 feet away. I was pointed south, and it was moving North. I got pelted by some of the "stuff," but that was all. When we finally started moving, we had to weave in and out of debris on the highway. Lots of yellow insulation, tree branches, pieces of corrugated steel and the remains of a speed-limit sign. About a mile down the road, some buildings next to the highway were pretty well destroyed. The yellow "stuff" I saw earlier hovering above me was the fiberglass insulation from one of the pummeled buildings. What a drive. I got to my parent's house, and went straight to the bar. CD
When I was 13 in 1974, my town was hit by an F5 tornado. That scared the proverbial "sh-t" out of me. This one made my sphincter pucker a bit, but didn't scare me that bad. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to kill me if it hit my car, but I was also pretty sure it would suck, and there would be a lot of, "That ain't gonna' buff out" conversations afterwards. CD
Somebody coming North on I-45 got some cell phone video. Viewer video: Severe weather in Montgomery County CD
Who cares? Actually, it seems to be just fine. It was all small stuff hitting the car. There was one pretty loud thump on the roof, but I don't see any dent. I actually bought the LDW on this rental, which I rarely do. I am kind of disappointed that I can't bring it back with some dents, so I could watch their faces when I told them the car was hit by a tornado. CD
I did a search on YouTube, and found titles like "Large tornado hits Wills," and even "Massive tornado hits Willis." LOL Anyway, I found the video on YouTube from the news footage I posted above -- with audio. Priceless. East Texas to the core. Ma and Pa Kettle Chase a Tornado. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tNr_ox7F0E"]Large Tornado near Willis, Texas | Dec 12, 2015 - YouTube[/ame] And, more East Texas tornado coverage… [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vfuVIg7Myc"]Massive Tornado near Willis, Texas | Dec 12, 2015 - YouTube[/ame] I didn't see anyone turning around and going the wrong way on I-45, but I did see a lot of cars that tried to bail out to the access roads, stuck in deep mud on the side of the road. CD
Naw, that is East Texan. It is a mix of deep South, cajun, and redneck. Those folks have probably never seen a ghetto. CD