Saturday, April 29th 2017, the National Weather Service’s Severe Prediction Center issued an Enhanced risk for severe storms for parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma. They also issued a broad area with a 5% chance or tornadoes covering 95, 383 miles. This made choosing a target a rather daunting task. Initially, I targeted South East Oklahoma.
There were many ingredients in place to help form severe storms. Around 11AM temperatures were already in the upper 70’s and the dew point was in the lower 70’s. The moisture was so thick you could see it in the air, it was even fogging up the outside of my car windows. Moderate to strong instability was already in place. Winds aloft were improving. The winds in South East Oklahoma were favorable at the time for a tornado. As the day progressed, I continuously observed visible satellite images and the radar. I was also frequenting the NWS mesoscale analysis page. I began to notice an area of clearing in Northeast Texas, which would assist with initiation. Also was paying attention to a storm erupting in east Louisiana. I dropped from south to Paris, Texas.
Around 2:00pm the storm in Louisiana was rotating strongly and tornado warned. I had thought to myself, that same atmospheric environment probably also exists in eastern Texas and extends further west. Around 2:30, I began noticing many little rain showers forming east of Tyler Texas. Outflow from the storm in Louisiana was blasting west towards those showers towards an area with even stronger instability. I checked the mesoscale page one more time, and there was a bulls-eye for the significant tornado parameter right near Tyler, Texas. When I advanced the predictive model two hours, it upped the parameter near the top of the scale in a very localized bulls-eye. A localized area of showers seemed to be rapidly intensifying south of Canton, Texas. Around 3pm I decided to blast south. I had entered the town of Canton into my GPS, which later was impacted by a significant tornado. Storms were beginning to quickly form as I drove south. First storm with rotation I witnessed was near Grand Saline around 4:15. I drove past a home that appeared to have EF1 tornado damage. Emergency workers were already there. As I came into Canton Texas around 5pm I witnessed a cone funnel, I could not personally confirm if it was a tornado. Turns out that was a confirmed EF0. Then, the real show began near Eustace.
I began heading southwest out of Canton to intercept. For a while I lost cell phone service, and was going to turn around. At that point, a Channel 5 storm track vehicle drove past me heading north on highway 19. I followed him for what seemed to be 15 minutes with no cell phone service. Eventually, we made it back into cell service and I could tell the area I’d been tracking earlier was just to my northwest. A new area had formed to the southwest though, and was heading directly towards me and Canton, Texas. I blasted north and assessed the situation. The tornado was just to my southwest by perhaps 10 minutes. I needed to act fast. I took a few minutes to get into a position where I could safely intercept. I chose a spot on highway 64 south of Canton, where I could watch the storm emerge from the west and cross to my north. I noticed that the storm was still heading directly at my position, so I shifted further south. And then, it did emerge. A wedge tornado packing violent winds accompanied by the classic roar that many of us only have heard stories about. I watched as it scoured the earth for a few minutes, and crossed Highway 64 to my north around 6:25-6:30PM, directly over where I just was.
Once the tornado was clear of the highway, I headed towards the damage path. As I pulled up the air smelled of freshly tilled earth and blended greenery. The grass on either side of the road looked scoured and the road was caked with mud and debris. Telephone pulls were snapped at their base for a vast expanse. I had to evade power lines strung across the road. I could go no further in my vehicle because there was power lines wrapped in barbed wired twisted across the road. It was then that I took a couple deep breaths to calm down, the smell seemed so intense. I readied myself to get out and face whatever I might find. There was an impacted home, I ran to check on the residents, and thankfully, they were fine. Since I didn’t notice any other structures impacted nearby, I was getting ready to film some of the damage to the house, power poles, and trees before I carried on. The trees were stripped of their bark, which is an indication of absurdly strong wind. It was then I noticed a white car tossed hundreds of feet off the road into a field, crushed like a pop can. My heart sank, and I ran in the direction of the vehicle, pointing and yelling to other storm chasers about the car. When I reached the car, it was trashed, and no one was inside. I felt a sense of relief. As I began to document that, something else caught our eye. Another vehicle was in the field, about 100 yards further. My heart sank again, and we ran. As I ran all I could think is, I can’t believe this actually happened, this feels like a nightmare. The field was littered with little bits of debris, so I carefully chose each stride to avoid injury. Unfortunately, there was a man in the vehicle. He was alive, at the time. However, just one look, and I didn’t think he was going to make it. My heart sank yet further. I ran back to inform some firefighters that he was alive and that jaws of life were certainly needed. At that point, since I felt I had done all I could do, documented a little more. I felt overwhelmed with grief, and helplessness. Later, I found out the man in the car did not survive.
As a storm chaser, I dread these days. The days where the phenomena you worked so hard to witness impacts communities. It’s not the same as seeing it on the news or hearing about it on the radio. It becomes personal, and overwhelmingly real. Yesterday, that dread was realized and it feels even worse than I imagined. Nothing can prepare you for the smells, screams, the flood of emotion and shock, mixed with adrenaline and disbelieve. I wish I could have done more, but there is something about big disasters that help us realize our helplessness. It was an amazing storm, a rare storm. It was amazing to be there and see it, but I will never forget the ones it impacted. The community from what I hear is really pulling together. There is a practical way to help.

Although volunteers are not yet needed at this time, there are several ways people can help:
• Christus Trinity Mother Frances HealthPark - Lindale set up a donation site to receive materials for those affected by the storm, including water, tarps and plastic bins.
• The Van Zandt County Fire Marshal/Emergency Management said on its Facebook page water donations were being accepted at the Champion EMS station, 101 Industrial Blvd., in Canton (behind the Canton Fire Department on Texas Highway 19).
• Donations can be made to the American Red Cross Serving East Texas Disaster relief at 1-800-RED-CROSS