This Was The Most Traumatic Experience of My Life
By: Dirk Hooper
Tags: Weather, Life, Storytelling, Life Lessons, Tornado

On Friday night, May 31st, 2013, I found myself in the middle of a tornado.

Ever since I was a child the weather experts always warned about being in a car on elevated roads when a tornado is bearing down on you.

That Friday night in 2013, I was highly weather-aware and was confident that the tornado that formed near Yukon Oklahoma was heading north and away from me.

I even called my parents that live in Tucson to tell them not to worry about me. About the time I got off the phone with them the storm took a sharp turn south.

I got a call from my friend Nikki warning me to run. I had decided earlier not to run away from the storm and suddenly I was faced with the realization that the apartment that I live in would not survive a direct hit from the tornado the news was describing.

The weather forecaster said,

“This is a groundscraper. You must be either underground, or you must get out of the way.”

So, I got in my car with plans to head south, effectively trying to outrace the tornado.

I immediately regretted leaving the safety of my apartment. Before I even got out of my apartment complex a wild and unpredictable wind buffeted my little Nissan car. I considered heading west instead, but I had no idea what was that way and I knew south was away from the tornado.

So, I decided to go south to the I-35 highway. I figured that I could speed away from the storm.

Unfortunately, I-35 was a parking lot. Apparently, everyone else heard the same weatherman tell us to flee the beast and now we were locked in a traffic jam.

I was maybe half a mile away from my apartment when I hear the cross-streets of where I live mentioned as the path of the tornado and it was heading directly toward me!

As the storm intensified, I pulled over to the shoulder of the bridge I was on to get close to a concrete wall. Rain was pelting my little car horizontally as the wind strengthened.

Then about 100 yards in front of me I saw a power flash as wind ripped the lines out of Moore street lights, one after another.

I looked up to see large black debris floating above me about 30 feet off the ground. Twenty yards in front of me a large heavy construction barricade was effortlessly lifted into the sky and thrown across the highway.

My heart felt like it was about to come out of my chest.

My car started rocking and I began to hear what everyone describes as the signature sound of a tornado — a high pitched banshee howl that is similar to the sound of a freight train.

So, after decades of hearing that you should not be on an elevated roadway when a tornado was chasing you, there I was…

Trapped.

Tornado overhead.

On an elevated roadway.

I had never been more frightened, but I knew if I didn’t do something my life was in jeopardy. So, I decided to take my little Nissan car off-road.

I jumped an embankment, crossed a side road and went over a curb to get my car up against the wall of the Central Church of Moore.

The storm was throwing branches and debris on top of the car and I still didn’t feel safe, so I got out of the car and ran to a doorway that was covered and halfway below ground.

By that time a steady stream of people who were trapped on the highway had followed me, parked behind me on the lawn, and were huddling with me in the covered doorway.

People who were staying in the church heard the commotion and let us in. They were there to help with cleanup after the devastating May 20th tornado in Moore.

It was an ironic and fortuitous occurrence.

In most cases, the church would have been empty on a Friday night and we would have had to take our chances with the tornado outside.

I would like to thank the staff at that church for helping me and, what may have been another 100 people that followed me off the highway, find shelter during the storm.

Amazingly, me, my car and my apartment made it through mostly unscathed.

You can see the track of the tornados in the image above. In addition to these tracks, there were reports of tornadoes all around us for several hours that evening, and I’m convinced that I experienced a mesocyclone as soon as I left my apartment too.

I can tell you that the following day was clear and beautiful, and that I had a focus and desire to achieve my goals more than I ever had before that dark night.

Hello, my name is Dirk Hooper. I have a deep passion for writing that has led me to win a few awards. I’ve had work published at Huffington Post, Slate Magazine, Business Insider, Quartz, The Sporting News, and much more.

In addition to writing, I’m a professional photographer and artist, a consultant for adult marketing and branding, and an audio talent.

My love for words extends to reading as well. Let’s connect!

You’ll see stories on writing, motivation, entertainment, life, business, marketing, art, kink, and poetry on my Medium profile.