re: Today marks the 13th anniversary of the start of the April 25-28, 2011 Super Outbreak

My own experience that day was one of complete joy followed by one of abject horror. I had never seen a tornado before that day. At that time I was a junior at The University of Alabama and considered myself an amateur storm chaser despite the fact that I had never "intercepted" one before. I came very close back on April 15 when a small EF1 hit the southern part of town, but I ended up not being able to catch it on film. When the modeling and forecast data began to be compiled for April 27, I just knew that was THE day I would have as my chance to finally intercept.

When the first sirens started going off on campus that afternoon, I rushed out of my dorm room where my roommate and best friend commented that he hoped I would get horribly mangled so that I would abandon the craziness of storm chasing. I drove circles around downtown Tuscaloosa for an hour or two, waiting for a cell to get close enough so that I might "chase" it. One went just north of Tuscaloosa and almost drove me away from the city but I didn't like that it was heading to an area with a high density of trees so I opted to remain close to the city.

That's when I noticed the cell that would eventually spawn the Tuscaloosa tornado. It looked like it was on a direct path for the city and so I remained in the downtown area, waiting for it to make its way up to town. As it got closer, I parked my truck near First Baptist Church in downtown and looked off to the southwest. All I saw was the blackest sky you had ever seen and the sound of thunder claps that were so frequent it reminded me of the approach of the T-Rex from the movie Jurassic Park. Other than that I heard not a sound. The birds knew something evil was coming and had gone quiet. The only thing I could hear was the continuous sound of police sirens as they attempted to warn people of the coming danger.

That's when I knew I was in a bad spot. I got back in my truck and drove a short distance to the Public Works Parking Deck where I decided to anchor myself for the storm. It was a reinforced concrete structure that I figured would be able to hold up even if it was directly impacted by an EF5 tornado. The stairwells would offer me enough protection should the worst happen.

And so that is where I stayed. With the First Baptist Church below me and the Tuscaloosa County Court House just off to my right, I watched in awe as the tornado passed from right to left about two miles distant. I got a lot of pictures on my iPhone from the storm, including one that I remain most proud of to this very day:



After the storm passed I was in an absolute state of ecstasy. My adrenaline was running so high. I had never been happier in my life. I had seen my first tornado! Even though I clearly saw massive amounts of debris flying through the air as it passed through my field of view, I didn't even think about the human cost of what had just happened until about an hour later. I drove back to my dorm on the north side of campus, excitedly relayed my tale to my friends, but was brought down to earth when the damage reports started coming in.

That's when I began to realize that this storm had been a deadly one, that it had taken the lives of fellow university students. And there registered a change in me. I think it was that day, for the first time in my young life, I realized that I was a mortal being and that I had been incredibly lucky and reckless. I felt a wave of guilt, knowing that I had foolishly put my life at risk and survived while kids the same age as me, taking all the proper precautions and doing what they needed to do to remain safe, didn't make it through the day alive. It was a humbling realization and one that I think about every year around this time.