May 21 2011 Emporia and Reading Kansas tornado

[Nitewaker]

I wasn't scared until the power and net went out..then i heard the sirens and saw the green sky. It sent a chill up my spine. Luckily for me this was just north of town (I live near ESU). I feel for the folks in Reading though, I know some good people there.

[wordlife31619]

I remember watching this storm form on the Radar with my mom (I live in Emporia) And I watched the tornado drop on the screen, cause WIBW had it up (And NWS still haven't put us in a Tornado Warning at that point but, the PD sounded the sirens and issued a PSA) I remember jumping up and grabbing my little sister and her two friends, then taking them down to the basement, and grabbing my laptop, and just watching the live streaming of this storm. We are very lucky it didn't touch down in Emporia.

[florianalexbaaden]

My parents both grew up in Reading and graduated from Reading high school. In fact, they are there now for the alumni banquet, which they decided not to cancel in spite of the tornado damage. The man that was killed was actually living in a mobile home on my grandparent's old property, which my cousin now owns. My prayers are with the community of Reading as it rebuilds.

[ClowNrocks]

although the situation is really sad, the shape is beautiful :0

[skirk1969]

Awesome video! Especially when you consider how late it was.

[ChaseTheSky]

@skirk1969 Thank you!

[28storms]

NICE. What camera did you use? The tornado was captured amazingly well. We chased through Topeka that afternoon/evening and wanted to get back to the Reading couplet. Unfortunately we were too far east by that point.

[ChaseTheSky]

@28storms Thanks! Nothing special, 28; just a Canon Optura50 that's several years old.

[deuy4000]

even Captian Jack Sparrow (a look-a-like) was in reading i seen him driving around i came down to help a friend :O

[ChaseTheSky]

@grupero20ify I'm in KS and headed to NE soon, so no time to double-check, but if you read earlier replies I think you'll see it was just before 9 PM, IIRC.

[10Manderson]

Wow. That was incredible! Is is me, or did it just seem like an eternity that it stayed on the ground? Great footage!

[ChaseTheSky]

@10Manderson Thanks! It's not too unusual for tornadoes to persist for over 10 minutes. This one went on to tear up Reading, sadly, and that was probably another 10 minutes after I stopped filming it.

[tomorrowsangel1958]

So Scary and so beautiful at the same time. Great footage chase

[ChaseTheSky]

@tomorrowsangel1958 Thank you!

[AJTwister97]

i can see it without the lightning. it looks like a thin grey cone

[eccentriceric]

man nice catch. I live in emporia and been a storm chaser for 3 yrs. this is my first rotating wall cloud and tornado. this scares me because it touched down just after the funnel passed emporia. that could have been us. i didn't keep up with the storm good enough and almost didnt' make it through emporia in time for the shot. i just barely got the tornado. but not as close as you did.

[shiphrahhopeful]

God is trying to get our attention. The Lord is very angry because of the wickedness in the world. The signs and wonders that the Lord Jesus told us to watch for are HERE. We are IN THE SEASON. This is just a fortaste of the judgements to come. God's wrath is about to be completely unleashed upon ALL of the NATIONS. Stop sinning and turn to Jesus Christ today and beg Him for mercy!

[MDGunRunner]

You can see fellow Lyon County people driving out while its still grinding Reading. Amazing people here...

[ChaseTheSky]

@MDGunRunner That's true all over the Great Plains, MD

[pamsutube09]

Where were you exactly? This looks like 99 just north of 35... we live out that direction on the other side of the turnpike and were wondering just how close it got!

[ChaseTheSky]

@pamsutube09 You nailed it. That's exactly where I was.

[gizmo33rd]

sad to see what is happen out there hope all get better soon and thank you for the video which you guys out there the best from socal

[emarshallofco]

OUTSTANDING FOOTAGE!

[ChaseTheSky]

@emarshallofco Well, TYVM

[emily111596]

i was there! Watched it from deck any better footage you got cause we do.

it hit in

-joplin

-emporia

-perry

-sorta lawrence 

[34muggsy34]

The sirens make this video very haunting.



[aerobabi14]

This was northeast of Emporia, right? It touched down in my neighbors yard, and we got a beautiful view of it from our front door. It was right across our road in a field..I have some pretty awesome pictures from it. :D We took a dirtbike ride out yesterday to see the damage on Rd X..since they wouldn't let us into Reading.

[ChaseTheSky]

@aerobabi14 Yes, northeast of Emporia.

[krissy10880]

What time was this taken on Saturday night? We were at a wedding reception at the University and at one point they made all 100+ of us go to the basement.

[ChaseTheSky]

@krissy10880 Hi krissy. I shot this video between about 8:53 and 9:00.

[msgephsy]

this is soooo scary :(

i hate tornados.. 

[cse8448]

what road was in this on, and where in reference to emporia?

[ChaseTheSky]

@cse8448 Hi, cse. This was shot from US99 a bit north of I-35, looking NNE, of course. LAT: 38.427 LON: -96.1805

[ourmundo]

Excellent video!! May I ask what camera did you use to get this? BTW... I live in Emporia Kansas. :-)

[ChaseTheSky]

@ourmundo Thanks! It's nothing special; just a Canon Optura 50 that is several years old. You surely noticed that the video started out very dark, then got much lighter. That is because I adjusted the shutter speed down to the lowest setting, though perhaps I should have changed the aperture. Either way, it pretty much worked! When there's a tornado on the ground, you don't mess around with the camera too much.

[ourmundo]

@ChaseTheSky I did notice the light change! Very impressive. :-)

[jsauerii]

Seen this earlier Bob. :)

For the viewers of the video here is a link to numerous next day damage photos.

flickr.com/photos/kansashorizo­ns/sets/72157626781535608

[InspiredMuse74]

Was it really an EF5 that went through Reading,Ks?

[ChaseTheSky]

@InspiredMuse74 Sorry.... don't know

[cherleigh]

@InspiredMuse74 yes reportedly to be an EF5

[kerbinator]

@InspiredMuse74 it was an ef3

awesome video btw

[ChaseTheSky]

@kerbinator tyvm, kerbinator

[fldoughboy72]

@InspiredMuse74 EF 3

[esugrad97]

@InspiredMuse74 No, it was an EF3, at least that's what the weather center told the paper.

. The Emporia Gazette said that two storms came together, then hit Reading.

[eccentriceric]

@esugrad97 it was an EF0 to a 1 except it was only a EF3 when it hit Reading then went back to a 0 or a 1

[GLG1957]

My heart goes out to the Chesmore family in Reading, KS.

[ChaseTheSky]

@GLG1957 Mine as well. God Bless.

[bassman61mando]

Thank you for sharing this video.

[ChaseTheSky]

@bassman61mando You're welcome.

[Jabarten]

Amazing video.....and highlights one of the more scarier parts of living in Kansas, when I lived there...powerful tornados striking at night. Can only see them silouletted by the flash of lightning......

[ChaseTheSky]

@Jabarten Thanks for watching

[jaycamp7]

That's some great footage you caught there. These storms caught everyone by surprise, even the SPC wasn't expecting a small tornado outbreak.

[ChaseTheSky]

@jaycamp7 Thank you

[clbness]

Very nice video! It saddens me though. I live in Denver now, but I was raised in this county.

[ChaseTheSky]

@clbness Thank you

[cboyceomg]

Thats what I saw...

[KurganNazzir]

Beautiful tornado, aside from the devastation of course.

[ChaseTheSky]

@KurganNazzir Thank you. Naturally, we are deeply saddened by the loss of life, and condolences are extended to all victims and their families.

[vampyros1]

Great footage, thanks for posting this.

[ChaseTheSky]

@vampyros1 Thanks, and you're welcome

[lasjayhawk]

Is that a power line flash at the base of the tornado at about the 3:06 mark as the car is going by?

[ChaseTheSky]

@lasjayhawk I'm kinda too busy right now to look at that, but I'll get back to you! Thanks for watching the vid!

[ChaseTheSky]

@lasjayhawk Yes, I believe you are correct.