For your consideration, I offer the following video captured by North Carolinian Steven Hoag as he chills out in his truck while a tornado rips through Wilson, NC on Tornado Saturday. Be sure to have your audio enabled while viewing this video.
Let’s highlight some of the running commentary provided by Hoag, an ex-Marine, who is providing play-by-play of the incoming F3 over the cell phone to his sister.
| Time | Steven Hoag’s Own Words | My Commentary |
| 0:02 | “Yep. Right now. And I can take pictures of it too. I happen to be recording it – that’s even better, isn’t it?” | Steven is pleasantly surprised that he will have video of his adventure rather than just pictures. Steven is amused by his unexpected good fortune. |
| 0:11 | “Oh, half a mile.” | Steven gauges the distance of the clearly visible mesocyclone from his truck. |
| 0:17 | “I’d say its coming straight towards me.” | Steven gauges the position and movement of the twister as it relates to his truck. |
| 0:26 | “But it’s not one of those – I would say like – devastation…terrible. Its picking up leaves. I see stuff in it, but its not, it’s just twisting.” | Steven is not at all impressed with the intensity of this weak-ass rotation. Steven chews up and spits out this kind of storm for breakfast. |
| 0:38 | “There goes a flash. It is blowing up some power lines now.” | Steven has seen brighter flickers when he lights up his smokes. Ho-hum. |
| 0:47 | Yes, I am stuck. I am in a parking lot now. You hear the rain now? It is going to pass right over me. | The mixture of wind, debris, and rain intensifies as Steven relays his current location and predicament to sis. Steven has considered all alternatives and made a fully-informed calculation that his odds for survival are maximized in his current location. Steven never turns back once he makes up his mind. |
| 1:00 | “The nearest tree to me is probably – probably down the road from your house to the corner.” | The proverbial crap is starting to hit the fan. The twister is mere yards from the building in front of Steven and the truck is starting to shake but Steven takes the time to convey the approximate distance he is from the nearest tree. Steven considerately paints a picture for his sister in terms to which she can relate. |
| 1:12 | “Yep, there goes a roof off the house – and…” | The disintegration of the nearby building commences. To mere mortals, this looks like a scene out of Twister with Helen Hunt. In Steven’s neighborhood, roofs fly off of houses all the time. What is the big deal? |
| 1:21 | “Hang on – I love you.” | Real men like Steven are not afraid to show their emotion or convey their affection for loved ones – especially when multiple tons of wood and metal are raining down on and around them. The truck bounces around and the hood folds up like an accordion from a direct hit. |
| 1:32 | “I’m OK. Still good. I’m still good. Just now I have a problem with what I am driving – its damaged.” | With the tornado only moments past him, Steven immediately assesses the carnage and takes command of his situation. Steven realizes that material possessions can always be replaced. |
| 1:45 | “Looks like roofing blew off a building and got me.” | Steven will track that roofing down and kick its ass – with extreme prejudice. |
Here is an interview with Steven Hoag. I posed a question in the title of this blog post. Initially my answer would have been “Both!”. After seeing this interview, I am strongly leaning toward “Ultimate Badass”. Talk about Grace Under Pressure.
