Tornado Bears Down on Memphis

[wattman72]

Ahhh...100% pure audio distortion....so soothing....I cant ever understand what they are saying. Cool video though.

[laxr1337]

AUSTIN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[daffern2good]

@datubaman no we dont and it sucks!!!!!!!!

[thetimedshow]

I guess Austin blew away

[thetimedshow]

F***you! Malibu California is my home

[kyle1081]

Lights go out at 6:42. I have never actually seen the video of the tornado, this was something else!

[brieluvs2dance13]

yeah. i live in North Memphis and i remember i was 10 years old when this was taking place. i was under the computer desk. luckily it missed us and im thankful for that

[justintime2989]

man when you see the power flashes there basically calling it lighting, when that happens should be saying tornado is on the ground. give more urge to people to take cover

[BlueAzelf777]

i live on given avenue, of memphis tennesee, it always miss us, but it'll hit us one day ):

[Brian211978]

I'm trying to figure out how memphis and oklahoma city are within 50,000 people difference, but hardly anyone died in the memphis tornado, but 40+ died in the OK city tornado!

[wxtulsa]

@Brian211978 I can answer your question. The Moore/OKC tornado was a large (nearly mile wide at times) F4/F5 tornado with winds as high as 318 mph. This tornado in Memphis was rated an F2, with winds up to 157 mph. It's like comparing a hurricane to an ocean breeze. It's almost embarrassing that a tornado this weak killed anyone.

[GAdawgsfan93]

@wxtulsa Any tornado can be dangerous though, whether the winds are 80 mph or 318. The debris that is picked up is what kills people, not the strength of the wind. I don't think a category 5 hurricane can reach winds of 157 mph.

[SuperPatsu]

@GAdawgsfan93

Mainly yes, some hurricanes have reached up to almost 180 mph.

[AeroGirl8711]

@wxtulsa It was such a big deal because the tornado was moving into a highly populated area. The biggest city in TN as far as population to be exact. This was one of the tornado emergencies in the outbreak. And everyone that died in the tornado took cover. The warehouse building collapsed on them. I should know because I was at the warehouse.

[AeroGirl8711]

It wasn't just one but multiple tornadoes that killed the people wxtulsa.

[ki4jmj]

@Brian211978

Because of advanced warnings Brian...

[Brian211978]

true, but the tornado spun miles outside OKC for over an hour before moving into the city! So they had plenty of warning there too...so I don't get it still!

[Tallyock]

Pause right at 0:11 power surge

[Brian211978]

anywhere close to the south haven area? YOu needed to be in shelter if you are in MEMPHIS period during this!

[nascarfan154]

@Brian211978 i was in the south memphis area by the airport and the tornado went right over my house we were all in the hallway and touched down at the mall i been through alot more damaging storms and this house is pretty built tough my only victim was my basketball goal :(

[train2589]

horrible audio.

[RVDMISSISSAUGAKID]

That audio is absolutely horrible.

Somebody turned up the +Db gain up way too high.

[ki4jmj]

Im a spotter for the National Weather Service in Memphis and also a WREG CH 3 weather spotter...I was giving both the NWS as well as CH 3 info on this storm when it happened.Worst time of day for a tornado rush hour and the sun was setting meaning that the tornado was hard to see besides it being rain wrapped.In a situation like this do not seek shelter under over passes as they act like a wind tunnel and increases the wind speed and easier for debris to hurt or kill someone

[mattrules24]

@ki4jmj yeah, you just put youre head between your legs and kiss it good bye right?

[Freenetnow]

That's one thing I don't miss not living in memphis anymore. but i know the feeling, born there and lived for 30 years there. One litterally hopped over our home one night.

[firealarm211]

I live in Southaven, and this EF3 tornado missed my house by 2 miles....very scary....

[tigerbandalumni]

Watch the lights on the lower left at 0:11...power surge.

[Ben4301]

news channel three sucks, watch action news five, their radar is much better

[fixman88]

It's things like this that make me lucky I live in a basement!

[maizeandazul]

Unfortunate that it has to go through a city to get good footage from above.

[dantheman121983]

dude i worked at cordova automotive and i had to drive home during this!

[pkowner23]

this was ef2 btw

[pkowner23]

dude my aunt lives on knight arnold

[t151325]

I was there, I helped clean up the Mall.. it was wrecked.

[Brooklynnmint]

i remember this. I was crying like crazy because my dad was coming home from work when the tornado formed. We thought he was dead but he just came home 45 mintues late. thank god

[TVWXMAN32]

Amazing...Tornadoes in Feb. This tower cam shot is perfect! Getting viewers attention. Thats what severe weather coverage is all about! Excellent job covering the tornado!!

[Reload1245]

I nearly ran directly into this storm while I was driving home from work that day. I saw this storm from a distance of no more than 1000 yards as it was hitting the Hickory Ridge Mall. Very scary.

[DansWeatherViews]

great video

what a monster Storm

[stormspinner1]

WOW. At least they have basements up in Shelby County - no underground shelters in my part of The Alley.

[datubaman]

We don't have basements in Shelby County.

[DreDreify]

@datubaman Too true. We havta go hop our butts into the bathtub, lmao

[ooh123456]

dude thta tornado scared the crap out of me

[bwatt2004]

Elvis strikes again!!!

Allah Akbar!!!

[timmo2k]

allah isnt real. Durka durka DurKHA!

[candece]

I live in Lauderdale, so tornadoes usually circle us.. They either hit Dyer,Madison, or Shelby..

But I remember this day clearly.. Our sirens went off for awhile.

[Naviti7]

Same here in Weakley County. They always miss us.

[wakka922201]

There have always been a lot of close calls every season. Feb. 5 I remember being in Spanish class, watching TV as the tornado passed from Henning to Halls on radar. Of course, once it was in Halls, then we were sent into the hallway to duck and cover. This was a frightening day.

[MysteryBlue1322]

it didn't sound scratchy while I was watching it..of course, I was under pillows sitting on the couch o.x

[darrell833]

dang i luv taco bell i guess tornadoes hate tacos

[FloridaLawDawg]

no tornadoes love tacos.......waterspouts hate tacos

[owenowen]

Was vid this bad on air or is it a crappy job of encoding it from the poster..

[AaronApolloCamp]

The station was on backup power at the time, that's why the audio sounds scratchy.

[wakka922201]

The station was on aux generators.

[NewYorkEmperor555]

I never knew this happened. I was watching Action News 5 the whole time.

[wakka922201]

What do you mean? Their radar clearly showed the tornado MUCH better than 3's radar. But I know what you mean. With WMC-TV being in Midtown, they only have one camera, and that wouldn't help.

[mrskeonamcatee]

it was my first day at work n i was at taco bell

[mojo7998]

ha first defence radar what a pice of shit. what kind of name is that they must be expecting the russians to invade.

[mojo7998]

Actually it's pretty catchy it's called 4 live radar as in four working radar. Its channel four in the Detroit area.

And yes it's better

[wakka922201]

Their radar sucks bigtime.

[derae08]

R.I.P taco bell and redlobster lol. my mom and i drove down there a day after and that whole part of winchester was just tore up. it looked like a bomb went off. it was exciting and scary at the same time. at least i got out of school early that day lol.

[Blackie8898]

This was the storm I chased about a year ago. I was watching this tornado with other chasers set up in Shelby Farms, on Farm Rd.

First chase ever. First tornado I've ever seen.

[wakka922201]

This was a SCARY day. I was in last block Spanish class earlier that day, and we were watching the tornadoes around the county. And sure enough, we duck-n-cover'd.

[ericsummey95]

this storm came toward where i live (east tennesse) i was lucky that a tornado didn't spin up in my neighborhood. there was a tornado warning, but this still gave me the heeby jeebies!

[jmartinezza]

i was praying for the tornado not to hit my home and it didnt but still........i kinda liked the hickory ridge mall =(.......oh and i saw a taco bell destroyed =D

[Haloxxxboi]

DEATH TO TACOBELL

[jmartinezza]

lol

[LittleHann123]

Poor Taco Bell :o

[nascarfan154]

mother nature hates tacos lol

[foxcnbcfan]

@LittleHann123 Screw You! How about pour memphis?!!!

[LittleHann123]

@foxcnbcfan Yeah poor Memphis but i GOTS TO HAS MYY TACOS [:

[dezzmo3]

I seen the tornado that day, I was in a room at the Inn Town Suites on Winchester @ Ridgeway in Hickory Hill when it came. I was on the second floor and I seen it when it hit the Hickory Ridge mall, stuff was flyin everywhere, it look like it was going to hit us but it went to the side and hit Taco bell and Red Lobster and kept going. It was mess up becuz I was in the middle of gettin laid when all this happen, talk about killin the moment. Well @ lease I'm alive thats all that matters.

[willette5]

i went to menphis in 2006

[LandoCommando48]

On this day, I was home sick with the flu. What a day to be sick. As an avid weather enthusiast, I knew that I was watching history being made. News Channel 3 deserves acalades for this coverage and other coverages. 3 cheers for Jim and Tim, even when they interupt CSI:.

[superjoe87]

that same system dummped a foot of snow in my home town of black earth, WI

[uski900]

i remember that day, i had just droped my sister off at work then i saw the tornado

[austingirl0499]

I have a cousin who lives in Tennessee, and she told me a tornado had missed their town but hit the next town close to her.

[KougasPrincess]

Yeah, I was so scared when me and my mom, sister and I were stuck in the Hospital because the dumbass guards were making the beginning of the storm/tornado to be worse than it was, then, after it was getting worse they finally let us go home. :/ But yeah, it was pretty bad. It destroyed the hickory ridge mall and one of the buildings by stateline and exxon/walgreens.

[derae08]

I didn't know the tornado was that big!

That was a long day. we had about 6 tornados in one day. I remember watching the weather all day and night and wondering what everything was going to look like when I woke up the next morning.

[fablewolf]

so glade i moved, i swear memphis is cursed

[MyspaceTomLuvsMeNotU]

F*** you! Memphis is my home!!!!!!!

[eishiba]

Was this the one that hit the Hickory Ridge Mall in Memphis?

[wakka922201]

Yes.

[lilstress18701]

lol he had a storm in springfield da same night..

[iMovieFreak3891]

Their coverage is good... but they need to learn how to run a Tower Camera.

[cubboy100]

u can see my dads work building to the right

[musicalcruiser]

i was so scared

[CarnageFan4343]

man i was their and it was hell!!!

[IKILLGAYZ]

tornado started to form on ground at 0:12

[PGMEagle]

I got cuaght up in that I was comming from Little Rock on my way home to PA. And we had to pull over at a gas station to take cover. Quite crazy.

[IKILLGAYZ]

that messed up a fun day for me

[Wivanunu]

how big was it? f4?

[superjoe87]

I never knew if was an F4. But the US uses the EF scale not F scale

[oopyshoopy]

yea dey had sed dat it wuz a f4.

[xXKaaraXx]

i think memphians were devisated my family lives in bartlett and hornlake ms. I live in trenton we lucky that we didn't get hit. jackson was really torn apart

[Kracer66]

Holy Crap!!!!!!! Was the Tornado near the Holiday inn Select in Memphis?! (Near the Airport)

[CarnellzOnlyLuva08]

no it wasnt

[TPJStudios]

my dad works at saint francis hospital and he saw this tornado form. he put his head to the window and the window was shaking

[TPJStudios]

my dad works at saint francis hospital and he saw this tornado form. he put his head to the window and the window was shaking

[maxdog611]

i was there it was scary

[marie62485]

i remeber this strom alot guys cause i live near memphis tn because i live in olive branch ms in desoto county.''

[titanz05]

i love you memphis!

[ToonTownSk8ter]

i was in that tornado and that was the scaryest thing that has ever happend to me in my life.... alot of poeple got hurt, and omg that tornado was huge. scary....

[jsnake2014]

my dad works at sharp and he was in the building when it happened and a tv flew through a wall and almost hit him in the head

[axl6533]

SCARES ME

[lateintheday2007]

Very scarey. I wonder how many of the cars driving knew it was just down the street.

I feel so bad for all the people who died and those who lost everything.

[jdprice455]

that came close to hitting the New Salem Baptist church where my friend goes he said he saw it.

[whitemod4]

i live in collierville missesd me barley

[STEPHOtheHIPPIE]

i live in collierville 2!

yep were lucky we only got a lil rain

[Shadow155]

Same here, we never get hit by Memphis storms.

Only some rain.

[xsomeguyx101]

Getwell and I-55???? It would be nice if the reporters knew where they actually are at when reporting in life threatening situations. Especially since Getwell dosent cross 55. Good job Austin! have another doughnut.

[AboveTheBULL]

LOL, that struck me odd too. I broke out a map and everything trying to figure out where the hell Austen was talking about... I feel sorry for him though, because I know he's got to be getting ragged on hard at the station.

-T

P.S. On a side note - UGH, I can't believe I'm agreeing with xsomeguyx101... well, except for on the doughnut bit. Still juvenile! lol.....

[Shadow155]

This is why I watch Fox 13.

[Master4332444]

Lol i swear i had a soccer tournament in Memphis lol but it got cancelled (for me) bcuz my aunt's funeral woah im lucky:)

[socalsoccerdude]

thats stupid stopping in a bridge. havent they learned a lesson. use a ditch!!

[Yarndt]

took the words right out of my mouth. One fine day a tornado is going to hit one of those 'tornado jams' and lots of people are gonna die!

[DarthDarr]

I live about a half-mile or so from the hotel where this was shot from, in the neighborhood just to the right of the expressway you see.

When the video starts, it looks like the tornado was just south of the Memphis Airport. By the 3:30 - 4:00 mark, when you see some large explosions, it would have been entering a large warehouse district along US Hwy 78 in Southeast Memphis. Four people were killed in that area.

[silentzorah]

I remember this. I was real worried about this one, since it was headed my way until the winds shifted and took it further east. But seeing it on camera... Wow.

[intoxicatingfantasy]

i was wondering when someone was going to post this this was the best capture of the tornado in hickory hill I was stuck at work about less than 2 miles from the one on raleigh lagrange.

[SenorSpode]

That looked horrid...hopefully most all of you were spared major damage.

[1050HzSineWaveTone]

now this is the severe weather coverage I LOVE TO WATCH. A twister outside of an big downtown city caught on live television.

[kevindionstevens]

news channel 3 offers the best coverage during severe weather

[rell419]

what affiliate is channel 3, because our abc affiliate in Toledo, Oh gets great storm coverage?

[KoHoSo]

News Channel 3 (WREG) is the CBS affiliate in Memphis. As somebody who often watches live streams of storm coverage, it seems to vary from city to city which affiliate is the best -- some places, it is the Fox or NBC channel.

To the person who posted this clip...thank you very much for sharing!