Lindsay's Tornado Story

Lindsay is 11 years old and lives in South Carolina. On July 6, 2001, three tornadoes hit nearby. Here is her story:

The tornadoes were only rated in the F-1 category. I was over at my next door neighbors house and my Mom ran over telling us that there was a tornado coming to the central part of Myrtle Beach and that is were we live. So my Mom said stay calm and if it comes by the house to get in the bathroom! But, the tornado went the other way so we were fine.

I have never been in a tornado incident, but I would be terribly scared. The one in Myrtle Beach died down. The one at the air force base died down too, but, there was one on Third Avenue south that was whirling around the two tallest hotels on the boulevard by the beach, it sat twisting around on top of them for 10 minutes. A lot of the hotels had all of their glass shattered and there was a lot of trash and glass on the beach. We have a lot of hurricanes down here, but I don't think ever a tornado.

They warn us in advance about hurricanes so we can be prepared, but these tornadoes came out of nowhere. There was drift of cold air coming down from the North and there was a heat of air going to the North. They mixed just right and they formed a tornado. I hope we never have to go through that again!

As Lindsay learned, tornadoes can happen just about anywhere. To learn what to do if a tornado hits, click here.