re: Severe Weather for Sat-Mon, 25-27 May. 23 deaths reported but new reports still arriving

Confirmed fatalities so far:

7 in Cooke County, TX
2 in Northeastern OK
1 in Benton County, AR
1 in Baxter County, AR
1 in Olvey, AR
1 in Louisville, KY

Very cool time lapse broad region

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Good friend and his kids are about a mile from that picture. Safe thankfully

That was one of the most intense videos I’ve ever seen.

I’ve seen a few overhead shots of that Shell station today. The parking lot and fuel pumps were overflowing with cars. I’m guessing a lot of people pulled off the interstate to seek protection from some very heavy rain and large hail, only to have a tornado hit the store.

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It reminded me of some of the Joplin videos out there

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If it is your only option, a gas station will do for shelter. It is better than staying in a vehicle, for sure. That said, the open front design with huge windows overlooking a large open areas is a death trap in a high end tornado. As soon as those windows go, the entire building is compromised, and it doesn't take a violent tornado to do considerable damage to it, or even destroy it. We regularly see low end tornadoes destroy gas stations.

If you find yourself in one with a tornado bearing down, don't stay in the open section of the store. Stay low, and get to the back of the store, storage area, or walk-in cooler. The bathroom is a good option, too.

Large windows and doors (especially garage doors) are common failure points across all building types. I think it was in Nebraska a few weeks ago where a pretty new, well-built, high-end home was completely destroyed. People pointed to it as a sure sign of violent tornado damage. "Before" pictures of the home showed one side of the house having a wall of large windows. Those windows were a logical failure point. As soon as one of them blew out, they all went, and when they all went the house likely essentially imploded.