almost got direct hit by a night tornado while driving home from work. it killed something like 5 or 6 people on the freeway, and the only reason I saw it was because it hit a transformer junction after the freeway which backlit it.

I turned around to avoid an intercept course and sped back down the highway and it then crossed the lake and smashed several whole neighborhoods where friends of mine lived, including my gf at the time.

when I got to the intersection with the freeway there were cars just sitting there at the red light, wind raging and howling, signs swinging back and forth, literal tumbleweed rolling through lmao. ironically it was a cop car reaching the intersection after me that flashed his lights and horns/sirens that made everyone snap out of it and we all ran the red light together.

tried to go back down the original route towards my friends blocks but between downed power lines, chunks of house blocking the roads and emergency services setting up I couldn't get very far.

edit to add uplifting part: one of my friends whose house was destroyed kept parakeets. over a year later, after the rebuild, they were walking their dog and heard chirping from a neighbor's garage. they had taken shelter there and the neighbor was taking care of them, was happy to return them. :)