I was standing beside a white church which appeared to have been built atop a small hill; from my vantage point I could look out over a town at the bottom of the hill, but I was unprepared for what I saw: plowing through the town was a huge black tornado! I excitedly pointed out the tornado to a woman and her child standing near me, and I exclaimed that I had never seen anything like it! The tornado was not the long thin type, but the thick barrel type.

I knew that we were in a dangerous situation and that we should seek shelter, but since I had my digital camera with me, I decided to try to snap a few pictures first, so I pointed the camera at the tornado and began snapping. As I did so, the funnel cloud began to shrink, and even as it approached us, the cloud grew smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared.

We were still not out of danger, though: the sky was forebodingly dark, still filled with black clouds. I thought if another funnel cloud formed, I would probably head into the church. Although I could see that the front door to the church was open, I was more interested in a door on the side which could be reached by descending some steps on the exterior of the church. Apparently the door at the bottom of the steps led to a basement room which would clearly be more safe than the upstairs. I was also concerned that the woman and her child should also seek shelter in the church.

Again I scanned the surrounding area, and again I was astounded by what I saw: atop a neighboring hill, which towered far above my lower hill, was a second church. A new funnel cloud – the long thin type – had fallen from the sky and had blown the steeple off the second church. Although the second church was still standing, the tip of the long black funnel cloud had descended perfectly into the hole where the steeple had been so that the funnel cloud was sucking out the innards of the church! Mesmerized, I stared up in amazement at the church, the missing steeple, and the black funnel cloud spinning in the steeple-hole of the steeple-less church.

Regaining my senses, I once again began taking pictures. I had to act quickly, lest the funnel cloud fall from the higher church to the lower church where I was. Finally I thought that taking pictures was too dangerous. I stopped taking the pictures and headed for the lower side door of the white church, intending to seek refuge.

March 2015