Distant Tornado Becomes Real Concern

Occurred on July 19, 2023 / Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA

Info from Licensor: "I was at Rise Church in Rocky Mount, NC where I serve as Youth Pastor when I was informed by a friend that there may be a tornado behind the church. I went outside to see if it was true and as stated, there was a tornado behind the church. I felt no danger at that moment as the tornado was still a considerable distance away. That’s when I pulled out my phone to capture the footage. At first you hear excitement because I’ve always wanted to see a tornado up close. As it got closer I could see debris flying around. But as it got even closer I could see that it was taking a path headed right for me. At this point of the video, you hear concern in my voice as I began making my way back to the main building. Once I was sure it was headed my way I knew I needed to run for my life and that’s what I did. My heart was racing. When I got back to the building, I turn around briefly one more time to catch a glimpse of where it was and sure enough it was right there on me. Inside the building there is a stairwell where my co-workers had already taken cover. I needed to get to that stairwell. But to my surprise, the key card system was not working because the power had gone out. I was not able to get in. At that point, there was nothing I could do. I was stuck outside with an F3 tornado coming right at me. My instinct was to pray, and ask God to protect me. I had nothing else to turn to. As I continue to film, you can see the tornado begin to move right and pass through the neighborhood behind the church. Once I realized it was going through the neighborhood, I immediately began to pray for those that live in that neighborhood. About 30 seconds later, the tornado moves past the neighborhood and I’m able to catch one more glimpse before runs right into the Pfizer building just beyond the trees. The whole event was very exciting, but that excitement turned to a fearful reality that I was not able to protect myself from. After the tornado passed, we were able to see the damages, and thankfully from what we could see no one was hurt in the neighborhood behind our church, only some damage to a few houses. This provided a great opportunity for our church to reach out and serve those in our neighborhood affected by the tornado. That same day we took about 40 teenagers out to chop up trees and clean up yards for people who are affected by the tornado.This event was eye-opening in many ways. Storms are exciting, but they also present a very real danger, and the damages that occur in the process provide an amazing opportunity for us to show love and care to our neighbors."