First name: Melanie
Age:
State or province: Illinois
Country: USA

 
Last year, a rather vicious line of thunderstorms 
ripped through Illinois. My sister had gone to Six 
Flags in St. Louis and my dad had been in Bloomington
that day. My sister was supposed to be coming home in
the place the tornados were supposed to be hitting. My
dad was where they were hitting, too. My mom and I had
to get to my sister's school so that we could pick her 
up when she got home. We were worried about her. Once 
we got to the school, it started looking really dark 
outside and my mom and I started talking about what to 
do if a tornado were to hit. Suddenly, the sirens went off 
and we ran into the school. We heard more sirens, and 
thinking they were the "all clear", we came out just in
time to see a huge, white tornado towering over our city.
It was enormous and awesome to watch. I was scared because
it seemed to be hanging right over our house. It really was
an amazing tornado, though. No one in my town, Urbana,
was really injured too severely. It passed right in between 
two churches and went around two nursing homes without even 
touching them.

Most of the houses that were destroyed are now, for the
most part, rebuilt. Our town remembers the tornado, but
it has adjusted to it. 
				

First name: Adam
Age: 15
State or province: Ohio
Country: USA

 
I was 7, and we were camping in Kelley's Island, when we woke up and 
our tent was floating. We heard the sirens, and went in a ditch 
because that was only shelter we could find until it passed. We came 
back and our tent and equipment were gone, never to be seen again! 
				

First name: Rylea-Jane
Age: 10
State or province: Iowa
Country: USA

 
The first week when we moved here from Arizona, I was spending the week 
with one of my freinds while Mom and Dad finished unpacking and getting 
things together. 3 tornadoes circled my friend's house until they were 
about a 1/2 mile away. It was so dark it was almost like midnight. I  
could see debris flying everywhere. I was scared and in the middle of a 
bath!! Becca and I were scared to death. I had just turned 8 and I think 
that was the scaredest I had ever been. Hours later I couldn't sleep
in the basement because of the wind, so Becca and I watched from our 
beds to see what we could see. We saw a dog--well, it was farther away 
now so I can only say what we thought it was. 
				

First name: Brittany
Age: 11
State or province: Tennessee
Country: USA

 
It was a clear night when I got back from my friend's
house. Me, my dad, and my sister were looking out the 
window. My aunt was talking on the telephone and my
cousin was on the couch watching television, when all
of a sudden there were stuff flying all over the place
and it started hailing real bad and that's when my dad 
grabbed me and my sister and headed into the hallway
with my cousin, too. When my aunt saw us in the hallway
she shouted "hail!!!!!" and hung up. We all gathered 
around and soon it was over. When we looked out 
our roof was gone and a house was leaning on ours. 
It was so scary seeing a real live tornado! 
				

First name: Michael
Age:
State or province: Illinois
Country: USA

 
Me and my friend Andy are into all types of meteorological studies, 
but our favorite is tornadoes. We have kept in touch with 
all types of tornado web sites and other warnings and information on 
the internet and have mailed to people such as Dr. Fujita, Dr. Pearson, 
and Warren Faidley.  Though we have never actually seen a tornado, we 
have been cut short three times by just getting some severe thunderstorms
and mesocyclones.  

The only thing we can't stand about the public and tornadoes is the 
movie TWISTER. We've seen the movie and we thought that the special 
effects were great, but it didn't have the qualities that a good science 
movie should have.  

First of all, tornadoes go through changes before they dissipate. In 
the movie,the wonderful F6 tornado at the end just disappears after going
over the two sceintists, along with the rest of the tornadoes throughout 
the movie. 

Next is the craziness of it. With this movie we see people 
all around us saying that they want to be a storm chaser when 
they grow up, when they don't know diddlysquat about the training and the 
actual chasing that's invoved.  Tornadoes are very rare in a chaser's 
life, and it has been told in the movie that six tornadoes can happen in 
two days.  That is of course possible, but I hear people saying that 
they want to be TORNADO CHASERS.  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TORNADO 
CHASER!  THEY WOULD BE OUT OF BUSINESS OR BORED OUT OF THEIR MIND WITHIN 
A MONTH! It's just not that simple. 

And the last part where the two scientists go underneath the tornado.  
Not only does this give people the totally wrong idea, it shows you just 
how far Hollywood will go to make a movie.  First of all they would 
suffocate.  With that kind of tornado, they would be going through half 
a mile of dust. YOU CAN'T BREATH. Second, you see the debris that's 
flying around them. Notice that the tornado is carrying gas trucks and 
chase cars, but still no debris hits them!  It's impossible!  

Finally the thing we hate the most is the public hysteria over tornadoes.
We talk to people who think they see a mesocyclone, when there's not a 
bit of cloudcover in the sky.  Also people watch that totally 
unscientific movie and say they know everything about tornadoes when 
they don't take the time like us. Meteorologists take years of studying 
to learn the many things about meteorology. 
				

First name: Alescha
Age: 14
State or province: Michigan
Country: USA

 
I was 7 years old, and lived in Hempsted, Texas.  Hempsted is in  
"Tornado Alley". My mom and I were driving home from the store, and a 
tornado touched down about a 1/2 mile away from us. My best friend's 
house was destroyed, and my house was damaged also. My dog, cat, and my 
rabbit, Snowflake, were killed in the tornado. I will never forget 
that night.     
				

First name: Megan
Age: 13
State or province: Ohio
Country: USA

 
A tornado hit Cincinati, Ohio on April 3rd, 1974.  It hit Western Hills, 
which is where I live. The tornado hit here 10 years before I was born, 
but my mom and dad remember it. It went right next to a school, Our 
Lady of Visitation, and didn't even touch it or destroy it!  That's 
amazing! It was about a mile away from my house, and my mom and dad 
said you could see it through the woods behind our house. They even 
took great pictures of it. They said it was an F2 tornado. That's 
not very big. but it is powerful. Well, that's my story. Bye bye! 
				

First name: Jesse
Age: 10
State or province: Texas
Country: USA

 
We were watching TV one night when the wind blew in anvil shaped clouds.
Two hours later,  rain and hail fell and then IT came. A giant funnel hit
the ground! 
				

First name: Megan
Age: 14
State or province: Minnesota
Country: USA

 
When I was about 9 years old a tornodo came while we were driving on 
the road home from Ohio. We went into a hotel until it was over. All 
I remember is being scared and my dad went out when he thought it was 
safe. 
				

First name: Tiffany
Age: 15
State or province: Colorado
Country: USA

 
When I was about 2, a strong tornado ripped through our town. I don't
remember it but my mom said that it was the worst tornado that she 
has ever seen.  It took my older brother's bed through the window and 
put it on top of the store (2 or 3 miles away. The funny thing that 
did happen is a poor cow was on my grandma's roof. My brother said it 
was alive and happy, but it looked funny on the roof. To this day I
have only seen tornadoes form, not actually touching the ground. If 
I could be in one again I would like to see a cow on my grandma's 
roof... again!!! 
				

First name: Katherine
Age:
State or province: Ontario
Country: Canada

 
I've never seen a TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
                   OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
                    RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
                     NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
                      AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
                       DDDDDDDDDDDDD
                        OOOOOOOOOOO
                         !!!!!!!!

And I NEVER want to.    
				

First name: Francis
Age: 11
State or province: Ontario
Country: Canada

 
This one night, my Aunt Sandy woke up my cousins because there was a 
tornado coming. My cousin Alex had to hide in the fridge. My 
other cousin had to hide under his bed. His older brother was sleeping 
outside in the gazebo with his friend Ryan. It was really loud so they 
went in but Ryan wanted to stay outside and watch. It was too dark to 
see the tornado but you could still see its shadow. The next day, 
they went boating and they could see the pathway of the tornado.   
				

First name: Keith
Age: 11
State or province: Milwaukee
Country: USA

 
One day last year when I was driving to Noah's Ark (America's 
largest water park) I told my mom that there were some dark clouds 
ahead. She said that we were probably going to get a lot of rain. Then 
I said that we are definitely going to get a tornado.  At that time 
though I didn't know how right I was. About 15 minutes later we came 
to a fork in the road. The way to the right would take us the back way 
to Noah's Ark and the left would take us the front way. My mom said to 
take the right and I said left. Finally we took the left. After we 
passed a grove of trees I saw a funnel cloud going over the other 
highway that we would have driven on. When my mom saw it she put the 
pedal to the metal. That day my mom and I might have been killed, 
but we weren't.    
				

First name: Cari
Age: 10
State or province: Texas
Country: USA

 
I just moved to Texas about two years ago, so this happened in my 
hometown, a small suburb of Detroit, Michigan. I remember the day very 
clearly, when I was I was six and my younger sister, Danielle, was two 
when the tornado struck. You see, my mother used to fly to Texas very 
often on business, which is why we live here. On the night of her 
arrival, I was allowed, with Danielle, to stay up and and wait for 
her. We were watching "The Wizard of Oz", when the winds started to 
pick up. My dad flipped on the news, only to see that there was a tornado 
warning and to take cover NOW. I am an academic kid, and I am fascinated 
by tornados. My dad rushed us to the basement, where we sat on a 
discarded couch. I thought we were going to die, including my mom, 
who was driving home at the time. I was crying, as well as Danielle. 
Soon my mom was home and I made a beeline to her. As it turned out, 
my mom was in a ditch, and the tornado stopped, just in front of
Clinton Valley, my town. Thank God we were alright! 
				

First name: Caroline
Age: 12
State or province: Selangor
Country: Malaysia

 
I have never experienced a tornado but in my country we have tropical
storms that could carry wooden houses away. I sure wouldn't mind 
riding in a twister if I had the chance. 
				

First name: Katie
Age: 12
State or province: Christchurch
Country: New Zealand

 
I have never seen or been in a real life tornado, but if one ever comes 
to New Zealand (which I don't think will happen) I would be really 
scared. And if "Twister" was a Universal film it would be a great ride...
but I would never go on it! 
				

First name: Alexandera
Age: 10
State or province: British Columbia
Country: Canada

 
I have never seen a tornado except in movies and books.
But I am fascinated by them. My parents think it's an obssesion.
I read and draw about them all the time. Can you tell me more about them? 
				

First name: Hannah
Age: 14
State or province: Louisiana
Country: USA

 
Ever heard of Hurricane Andrew? Well, the eye of it came right over us! 
We stayed home and what we saw was phenomenal! The only damage that 
happened to our house was a slate cut through our door... But beside 
that, our shed disappeared. Our fence--well, half of it was gone. All 
of the areas around our area were devastated. Trailers were in 
the middle of the road. All power was out for I think about a week 
and a half. They had little food places where they would feed us. 
We survived off of a generator. It was horrible. It was soooo hot and 
humid. The neatest part about the hurricane itself was that you 
could walk outside while the eye was passing, and it 
seemed like plain day! 
				

First name: Al
Age:
State or province: Washington, DC
Country: USA

 
All of a sudden it was raining so hard outside you couldn't even see 
5 feet away. I've never seen it rain so hard in my life! The next day 
we found that 100 foot trees in Rock Creek Park behind our house had 
been snapped like twigs by a tornado which we couldn't see because 
of the heavy rain. The tornado travelled up the creek and "landed" 
in the National Zoo where it tore out a good-sized patch of mature 
trees. The animals were lucky it didn't hit the free-flight house 
for birds or any of the other animals outside at the time!  
				

First name: Jonathan
Age: 16
State or province: NJ
Country: USA

 
A tornado experience I had was in my hometown.
I was 10 or younger. My dad attended a board meeting
and my mom was supposed to go out to dinner with her
friends. But she got sick and stayed home. My babysitter 
came over and waited. The sky got really deep purple, 
and sirens went off. I was scared because my dad was at 
the tornado site.  I wasn't scared for myself, but for my 
dad. If the wind shifted, it could have been at my house. Thank
G-d that we're ok!
				

First name: Lindsey
Age: 7
State or province: Texas
Country: USA

 
We had a terrible tornado rip through our town of DeSoto.  
The sky was yellow and it was night time. The tornado was coming 
down our street and suddenly changed course just in time.  
Unfortunately it hit a neighborhood of houses, then continued to 
the next town where several people were hurt and even killed.  
The next day my mom and I drove through both towns and were 
shocked to see all the damage. I hope we never have another 
tornado again!!
				

First name: Jonathan
Age: 10
State or province: NC
Country: USA

 
On March 10 1992,I was watching TV. It was very windy outside 
so I went to see what was happening. But I did not see
anything. Next thing I knew my mom and dad took me in
his room. But when I was running through the living
room I saw it. It was pink and white. It was a f3.
And it only went through my neighborhood and hit 40 houses.
It stopped right in front of my house. It only hit
part of my fence and three of my mom's and dad's cars.
One neighbor had died and one neighbor got hurt.
				

First name: Keith
Age:
State or province: Wisconsin
Country: USA

 
Last year during the summer I was playing on my computer one night.  
In the other room I heard my mom mention a tornado so I rushed in.  
She told me there was a tornado warning for Milwaukee. Then she told 
me to go get the cat and my little brother. I put them in the basement 
where my mom was and then rushed to look out the back door. The sky
was dark purple, blue and green. Just then hail started coming 
down. In the distance I could see a funnel cloud which was black.  
I'll never forget that day. 
				

First name: Robert
Age: 8
State or province: New York
Country: USA

 
My  experience happened when I saw "Twister". I have been 
studying tornadoes for a whole year. I have 13 tornado movies. An  
f5 tornado can suck up a house and throw it 5 blocks away.
 
				

First name: Casey
Age: 9
State or province: Indiana
Country: USA

 
Last summer I was at a friend's house. We were going out for pizza 
when a tornado hit. We ran back into the house and went into the 
basement. My mom and dad were going to pick me up later, but the damage 
was so bad that a bunch of trees had fallen across the roads leading 
to my friend's house. Our house had some damage but not that much. 
There was hail the size of baseballs. My aunt put some of them in 
the freezer. We still haven't gotten all of the trees cut up from 
the tornado.
 
				

First name: Mark
Age: 9
State or province: Texas
Country: USA

 
I was my friend's birthday party and we were having a good time 
watching the TV. Then all of a sudden we started hearing strange yet 
pretty loud winds coming from outside. We poked our heads outside 
and that's when we saw it: a large waterspout cutting across Cedar 
Creek Lake right at us! We covered up in a blanket in the bathroom 
until the winds suddenly stopped. We went to see what happened, and 
me and a few others that were there got to see the very last of the 
tornado. It was scary.

 
				

First name: Jordan
Age: 10
State or province: Arkansas
Country: USA

 
On Sunday, April 21,1996, a tornado hit my town of Ft. Smith. I was in my 
apartment home about to fall asleep when my parents came in to wake 
me up. We had to go to my grandma's, who had a basement. We went to 
the basement with a blessed candle. My grandma went upstairs to get 
her coffee when she heard it. She was wearing a nightgown that said 
"Someone to Watch Over Me."

 
				

First name: Carebear
Age: 12
State or province: Florida
Country: USA

 
When I was 10, a tornado hit. It wasn't that bad, but a lot of trees 
got knocked down. Good thing my dad works at a tree business. In fact, 
my dad is the boss of the tree business. The tree business is called 
Peter's Professional Tree Business. Anyway, I survived that tornado!
 
				

First name: Rebecca
Age: 10
State or province: Virginia
Country: USA

 
In Colonial Heights, a tornado hit Wal-Mart. We were in downtown
Petersburg late that morning. When we got home we heard of a sighting
of a tornado on the TV. It was so bad they moved the Wal-Mart
to a different location.

 
				

First name: Bethany
Age: 18
State or province: California
Country: USA

 
A few years ago during the summer a tornado hit my city. It was the 
first in many years. I was in my room when I noticed it was getting 
even windier than it had been for the last few days (it's always windy 
here). Suddenly, the wind got really bad, and just as I was getting 
ready to check out the window to see what was going on, it stopped.  
When I looked out the window, I saw that all the trees down the street 
in front of the house were knocked over. When we walked down the street, 
we saw that the destruction got worse further along, and then stopped. 
The tornado had just barely missed our tree and our house. It took 
3 weeks to clean up the damage.
 
				

First name: Darlene
Age:
State or province: Kansas
Country: USA

 
It was the middle of the night when my mother grabbed me and pulled 
me down to the basement. Now half awake, I realized that the siren just 
down the street was blaring! It lasted about 10 minutes and we were 
scared to death but we survived with only minor scratches. But 
unfortunately the house next door was demolished .

First name: Brittany
Age: 10
State or province: Alaska
Country: USA

 
Well really, my family and I were at the airport [in Texas]. We couldn't 
get on the plane because there was a tornado warning. I was sort of 
scared. I lived in Fort Worth. The next day we were back. I questioned 
my friends; nothing was there but high winds. (Remember, it was just 
a warning!!!)
				

First name: Chris
Age: 12
State or province: CT
Country: USA

 
One Memorial Day afternoon a "mini" tornado went over our house.The 
tornado threw branches and leaves everywhere. We had half-dollar 
size hail. I was so scared when it hit.
				

First name: Robyn
Age: 13
State or province: Texas
Country: USA

 
I've never been in an actual tornado before, but I was almost caught 
in one twice before! One time, there was a tornado headed our way, 
but luckily, it passed our city just in time. The next morning after 
the tornado, there was so much rain that it looked like a flood outside. 
After a few hours, it all drained into the sewers. 
   The second time, I was at a friend's house when the wind started 
blowing really hard. My mom came to pick me up (we had no idea that 
a tornado was on the way) from my friend's house. When we got home, 
we heard that a tornado was on its way. We quickly went in, but 
once again it missed us. It did get my friend though and killed her 
and her family. I'll always miss them. A tornado is not fun to be in 
or near--it's dangerous!
				

First name: Steven
Age: 7
State or province: Michigan
Country: USA

 
It was a cold night. I looked out the window--it was clear sky,
out the other window it was pitch black. My cousins and I heard
a siren. We ran to our basement. I was scared. Nobody died.
I was lucky.

First name: Josh
Age: 8
State or province: Michigan
Country: USA

 
One day a tornado came to my house. I was having a party for my 
birthday. Just when the fun started the tornado came. We did not 
know where hide so we hid behind the couch. The tornado wrecked 
everything. The end. 
				

First name: Gail
Age:
State or province: Florida
Country: USA

 
When I was 14 my family was visiting relatives in Checotah,
Oklahoma. My cousin and I saw a big black and blue cloud across the sky.
The cloud was moving across from us, not toward us, so we just stood 
there and watched. The sky got all weird colored, a sort of greeny 
yellow. Then we saw part of the cloud start to poke down toward the  
ground. Then all of the sudden it was a tornado! We watched the tornado 
cut across the dairy, across the valley. It exploded a barn and then 
crossed a pond--WHOOSH--and changed color from black to grey. When 
it hit land again it turned back to black--WHOOSH!! Then the twister 
took out a billboard and then just sort of went away. The sun had never
quit shining where we were and the wind never even changed direction. 
Me and my cousin just had to say WOW!!! No one was hurt, just a few 
scared cows with no place to sleep for a while. 
				

First name: Andrew
Age: 10
State or province: Illinois
Country: USA

 
On April 19,1997 my friend and I noticed a tornado watch for my 
city Urbana. We went inside at 6:30. Around 8:00 the sirens sounded.
My dad stayed upstairs to see the twister. After a while he yelled 
that he sees the tornado. I came upstairs and saw it too.The next 
day we went to the tornado hit area. There were a lot of houses
badly damaged. We felt sorry for those who lost their homes.
				

First name: Derek
Age: 8
State or province: Michigan
Country: USA

 
One night a tornado came. I was scared. The tornado went through my
home. Luckily I was in the basement. The tornado was gone. The end. 
				

First name: Laura
Age: 12
State or province: Iowa
Country: USA

 
I was once in a tornado. It was a normal night; we were all in bed except
Dad, who was asleep on the couch.  He woke up to go to bed when he 
looked out the window and he saw my bike flying across the yard. He 
know something was wrong.  So he ran to my brother's room and turned on 
the light but it quickly turned off.  So dad yelled to get us up. We 
all woke up and Mom hurried us downstairs. Once we were downstairs we 
hid in the backroom. We slept down in the basement but it was hard to 
sleep because of the sound of the wind.  I didn't get to sleep until 
3:30 a.m.
  In the morning we all woke up to see our porch gone along with 
everything else.  There were power lines down, trees uprooted, barn 
roofs gone, barns taken down, and all of our tools, bikes, and stuff 
like that were gone.  A couple of days later we found our bags and 
boots down at our creek about 3 miles away.  It is something I will 
never forget!!
				

First name: Mairead
Age: 11 1/2
State or province: MD
Country: USA

 
I was sleeping in my room and it was 3:00 am. All of a sudden I heard 
loud winds. Then I heard trees falling!! I was so scared. We had many 
trees behind our house and we knew that those were the trees that fell.
My mom got us out of bed and we raced down to the basement. We stayed 
down there until we were sure it was safe. When we got up the next 
morning we looked outside. 4 trees had fallen and crushed our deck. 
Two inches closer and they would have crushed our house. It took many 
people to help us get all of those trees out of our yard. Boy, were we 
lucky. I would like to thank all of those people who helped us. No one 
was hurt in that tornado.
				

First name: Elizabeth
Age: 11
State or province: New Jersey
Country: USA

 
I know it sounds strange, but our town got hit by a tornado when I was
in third grade. I didn't see it, but it was really windy the day it 
hit. One house got destroyed, but nobody was killed or injured. I know 
tornadoes are destructive, but it's not everyday you get a twister 
in New Jersey! 
				

First name: Elaine
Age: 10
State or province: MN
Country: USA

 
I've never seen a T       
                    O   
                      R
                        N
                          A                                                       
                            D 
                              O
                                !
                                  !
                                    !  
				

First name: Kayla
Age: 10
State or province: Texas
Country: USA

 
I haven't really seen a tornado, but I've seen a 
tornado cloud. The cloud was a yellow-greenish 
color. My mom rushed my brother and me into the 
bathroom and we all stayed there for about 30 minutes.
Luckily, the actual tornado didn't hit us.
				

First name: Hillary
Age: 14
State or province: NY
Country: USA

 
My mom said before I was born a quick fast twister whipped through 
our town and destroyed a really really really REALLY small portion 
of town.
				

First name: Hannah
Age: 11
State or province: PA
Country: USA

 
It happened to me--a tornado hit in the year 1990.
My parents were outside sitting on the porch and 
in a panic came in and grabbed my sisters and me. It was 
right in our yard! It was so cool! It ripped a trailer 
half a mile away. When it was over the sky turned  
forest green!
				

First name: Kelly
Age: 11
State or province: Arizona
Country: USA

 
Last year, in August, a microburst or something like that hit our town. 
I looked out my window and saw it was really windy and asked my mom if
I could go outside. I saw one of my friends, Sabrina, and bet her it 
wasn't going to rain 'cause there were always clouds in the north on 
summer afternoons. Well, I went next door to play football but it got 
so windy I just went inside my neighbor's house. We saw his fence almost 
collapse on his dog and I remembered my dogs. I ran home to get them 
inside. My mom came in and struggled to get our garage closed. My 
brother was still next door but Buddy, my friend, brought him over when 
the rough stuff was over. My mom called my dad but he had already left. 
After the storm, we all went to Sabrina's porch and talked about what 
happened in the houses. My dad made it home fine and the motorcycle was 
in good condition. We all applauded at his arrival. The second best 
part about the storm was school was delayed for 2 weeks!:)
				

First name: Drew
Age:
State or province: PA
Country: USA

 
About 3 or 4 years ago my family and I went down to Virginia to visit 
some friends. We went out shopping. My mom wanted to go to a Wall 
Mart store but her friend said, "let's go to another store down the 
road, it's really great." So we went there. When we came out of the 
store it was raining and the wind was blowing fiercely. I heard sirens,
but I thought they were just on their regular run. As we started down 
the road I noticed more and more downed trees and debris on the 
road. When we passed overturned cars and destroyed buildings I realized
what had happened--a tornado had swept through the town. We went past 
the Wall Mart store (the one on page 30 of the MAY 1997 issue of 
National Geographic World). All of us were very glad we didn't go in 
there! 
				

First name: Dylan
Age: 9
State or province: IL
Country: USA

 
When we were on a camping trip in Wisconsin.  We were camping in a 
tent near the Wisconsin river where we were fishing.  That night after 
dinner we had all gone to bed.  In the middle of the night the 
tornado hit.  I slept through the whole thing until the very end.  
The next morning, we found a tree had fallen in the front yard of 
a house not far from where we had camped.  From what I had heard 
from the people I was camping with, the storm was quite tremendous.  
Everyone was awake through the storm but me. Also, the next morning 
the fish were really biting, I caught the biggest crappie I have 
ever caught.
				

First name: Danielle
Age: 11
State or province: Draper, Utah
Country: USA

 
Once Draper had hard winds that could rip the trees out of the ground,
and then I went to see if the wind could rip my trees out of the ground
and when I looked outside I saw this weird thing that was dark and 
was in the middle of the street and that night my parents and I were 
watching the ten o'clock news and they said that thing outside in the 
middle of the street was a tornado. So I thought that was cool!
				

First name: Justin
Age: 10
State or province: Utah
Country: USA

 
This didn't happen in Utah,it happened in Leonard
Town, Maryland. I was about 2 years old when a 
waterspout hit the Potomac River, which was about
15 feet away from my house. A few weeks before,my
mom killed a snake and threw it in the river.
We found the head in our yard the next day.
				

First name: Erin
Age: 13
State or province: Texas
Country: USA

 
One time my family and I lived in an apartment. My dad went to take 
out the trash and came back in with a very wild hairdo and said to turn
on the tv. We turned it on and we were in a tornado warning so we took 
cover. What had happened was that there were three tornadoes in the 
town next to us and they were coming at our town. But we were lucky 
enough to be missed by all three. The next day we went to a friend's 
parents' house that was hit by the tornado. They had gone in the closet
and afterward one bedroom didn't have a thing wrong with it. They would 
have sat in there and not been hurt at all while the rest of the house
was destroyed.
 				

First name: Heather
Age: 13
State or province: Illinois
Country: USA

 
I remember I was in first grade. The sky was getting really black. 
I was in our classroom when the tornado sirens were going off and 
the tornado bell in our school was ringing. We went downstairs in 
the basement of our school, and finally came up. None of our town 
or school was ruined. I had heard that our principal was looking out 
of the window when he saw the funnel cloud. I think the tornado 
touched ground, but not long enough to hurt anyone or destroy anything. 
				

First name: Michelle M.
Age: 12
State or province: New Jersey
Country: USA

 
My grandmother had to take cover when a tornado passed over her 
house. She said it sounded like a jet plane! I wish I was there.
I love tornadoes!!!!