I Survived My First Tornado!
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I’ve been through a lot of crazy travel experiences, but finding myself in a tornado last week might take the cake.
On the morning of August 3, 2023, I left the city of Montréal, Québec, Canada, and began the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Ottawa is Canada’s capital city and home to the Parliament Building, where Canada’s federal government representatives make and change national laws. Ottawa was just a quick stop along my route; I was actually starting the long drive back into the United States, planning to cross the bridge in Sault Sainte Marie. As such, I only stayed in the city for just under two hours. I asked a fellow tourist to take a quick picture of me (If you ever read this — thank you!) before stopping at a cafe — Bridgehead, a stone’s throw from Parliament — for a little just to grab a drink, eat a snack, and charge my phone.
I left the cafe and pulled my car out of the parking garage. I turned on my music, set my GPS to the bridge, and started driving. It was a warm, sunny day, hovering between 21-26 degrees Celsius (70-80 Fahrenheit). The music was good, the bag of oyster crackers in my bag was good, I was feeling good. (If you’ve never had these, this is your (*unsponsored) sign!)
I decided that I would take a quick selfie video, hands-free — I was using a dashboard phone mount — just to commemorate how much fun I was having on the drive. I began talking, thinking I would send the video to a friend of mine, about how funny it is that the slow lane on the highway was going 20 km/h over when I look out the window and spot an odd formation of clouds.
The video catches me taking a double-take, no, a triple-take… definitely a quadruple-take. I realize what I’m looking at is definitely a tornado; I jump and shout, “Oh my god!”
My following reactions are as follows:
“What the --? Am I gonna die? That would be so cool… death by tornado? That would be a good way to go out. That’s actually -- crazy. What the --… that’s a legit -- tornado. I need to see what the weather says.”
And then I grab the phone and the video cuts off. Watch the 45-second clip here:
*This video and its language may not be appropriate for some viewers.
I’d like to say I don’t normally have the mouth of a sailor, but this was my first time ever seeing a tornado — outside of pictures, of course. There was a mild sort of fear, but it was so far back in my mind that I didn’t really ever truly register it. I wasn’t ever afraid, due in part to the fact that it seemed far enough away that I wasn’t concerned. During my research later that night, I learned that its touchdown point was in Metcalfe, about 30 km southeast of Ottawa. I had been driving east from Ottawa and at the time of its touchdown, I was about an hour’s drive distance from Metcalfe. I was still in the high danger zone, but just far enough that the worst I got was a cool view and some really heavy rain. However, later news attests that the tornado reached speeds of 130 km/h!
Having never been in a tornado, or even lived in a tornado-prone area, I had no idea what the right thing to do was. Naturally, I called my best friend. They didn’t pick up but immediately texted, saying they were busy with something. I responded with my very exciting news.
I figured the safest thing to do was stay in my car. A Google search told me, vehemently, that this was not the correct option. Remember, at this time, since I was experiencing everything in real time, I didn’t know where it was touching down. I didn’t know if I was headed away from it, or driving straight into it. Despite the heavy rain and newfound tornado alerts, the highway I was on was still fairly populated. I figured, then, that if the road cleared out I would take it as a sign that I should do the same. Until that point, I would keep driving.
I then called my mom. She didn’t pick up either. (When she finally called me back a few hours later, I told her about how she missed my would’ve been last words. She didn’t find that funny. I did).
In fact, instances like these are why I always recommend buying travel insurance! I love Safety Wing because it's super easy and cheap (great for budget travelers like me), and you can still buy it even if you're already abroad. Oh yeah-- did I mention it covers me globally?
If you’ve ever experienced the natural phenomenon of a solar eclipse, you’ll remember how quickly the brightest sunny sky will become pitch black. You’ll remember just as quickly how it resolves itself. Similarly, that was my experience driving through the tornado’s storm. My summer day darkened to darker than night and the rain beat down on the earth. However, in a matter of 20ish minutes, it was gone just as quickly. As I kept driving, the rain eased to a drizzle until the road was completely dry, untouched by the storm. There was no evidence of it at all until I looked behind me. I knew then with certainty that I was obviously driving away from the storm — tornados don’t have “eyes” like hurricanes — and what little anxiety I had disappeared. All I was left with was an insane awe. I remember thinking of how cool a story I would get to tell — that I’m telling to you now!
Read about the tornado on Global News and The Weather Network:
Tell me you wouldn’t make this same face if you looked out your window and saw a tornado 🙈
That was the story of the time I drove through a tornado for the first time — and hopefully the last! Until next time, safe travels… especially to our storm chasers.
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