April 22, 2012
I was on duty, Air Force Security Forces (military police) at South Gate of Lambert Air Base adjacent to Lambert Airport in St Louis Missouri, when a tornado hit at approximately 20:10 (8:10pm for you civilian folks). Although severe weather had been forecast for the evening, we had not received a weather warning from Scott AFB, which was standard procedure. As I performed my normal duties controlling entry onto the base, I periodically checked the digital Doppler radar on my Iphone. I had been watching two separate cells of severe weather move in on the radar from the St. Charles area, moving west to east, and keeping an eye on the sky. I thought it was going to pass by to the north as storms had in the past. As the evening progressed, the radar showed the storm systems converging on my location.
At about 19:30 the warning sirens sounded. Although it was raining, with thunder and lightning, I saw no evidence of a tornado and maintained my post. MSO Kozlowski at BDOC and SGT Donnelly advised me that in the event of an actual tornado I should take shelter in the tunnel that ran under Lambert International Blvd, connecting the north and south sides of the base. I had not yet closed the metal swing arm gates to the base because I had several people coming onto the base to park, who were flying out for the Easter Holiday.
At around 19:50 (7:50pm) the wind picked up slightly in gusts as the storm increased in intensity. Doppler radar now showed the two separate red storm cells about to collide somewhere in the sky above us. The warning sirens had stopped sounding. The temperature dropped and the flag of building 100 to my South was now blowing east to west although the clouds overhead were moving from west to east. We lost power momentarily to the street lights and it suddenly appeared to get much darker out. There was still enough ambient light that I could clearly see the buildings behind me and with flashes of lightening watch clouds swirling overhead. Although the street lights had gone out, the South Gate still had power as did the stoplights. I flipped on the exterior flood lights to make the gate more visible to incoming traffic.
A little after 20:00 (8:00pm) the rain suddenly stopped and the wind subsided. Outside the air had become eerily greenish. I switched off the two exterior flood lights so I could see out more clearly. To the west of my location I could hear a roaring sound. I couldn’t tell if it was the wind, which was strangely calm, or perhaps semi trucks on highway 70. I stepped outside to the inbound lane to get a better look at the sky and listened…. I couldn’t see anything. To my west I could hear a dull roaring sound and a click clack click clack. I remembered reading somewhere that tornados sound like freight trains but oddly couldn’t decide if what I was hearing sounded like a train or not. I was going to close the big metal swing arm gates at that time, but the frequency of lightening had increased and was much closer. The warning sirens started up again and were loud enough to drown out most everything else. It suddenly started pouring rain and a wind gust knocked down the portable stop sign in the inbound lane. I stepped inside and closed the glass door behind me. I was seriously considering going into the tunnel at this point, but didn’t want to leave my post with the gates open in case another car came in. I quickly collected the clipboards that held TDY parking and sign in sheets, thinking that if any cars were damaged we would need the info to make necessary contacts. I as I secured the clipboards in the desk drawer and closed it rain was hitting the glass so hard it was difficult to see outside. It looked like the big eastern white pine trees north of bldg 100 were touching the ground from the wind. I had maintained radio contact with MSO Kozlowski at BDOC, and informed him that I would be moving to the tunnel. He came back with, “Go! Go! Do what you need to do!” “Do what you need to do!” As I reached for the hand microphone attached to my right shirt collar to respond, there were one or more big explosions behind me to the south that seemed to light up the sky. Everything went black. Into the mic I respnded, “I’m going!” To the east almost simultaneously I exited the door, seeing showers of sparks from the power lines outside to the right of the base exit. The orange and yellow streams of sparks reminded me of fireworks I had seen on the 4th of July in Poulsbo, WA, 2009.
With the shoulder strap of my computer bag looped around my shoulder I sprinted toward the tunnel, stuffing my beret into a left cargo pocket. Between the siren, the thunder, and the roar of the wind, I could hear nothing else. On my third step the wind hit me; knocking me down on my left side, I rolled to my feet and dove under the open entrance gate. I grabbed the concrete edge of the stairwell, its rough surface cold and wet, and launched myself onto the stairs. I sprang to the bottom left side hanging onto the big support poles on the hinge side of the locked tunnel gate. Quickly glancing to the electronic keypad, the red LED light was not on. I remembered wondering earlier how I was supposed to take shelter in the tunnel if I couldn’t open the electronic gate. At that moment I realized that with the power off I probably could not access the tunnel. Hanging on with my left hand to the support poles I quickly punched in the gate code anyway. Nothing happened. I tried to advise BDOC that the gate wouldn’t open but couldn’t make radio contact. Suddenly the tunnel became a vortex. I grabbed on with both hands as the wind was sucked through the tunnel. Taking my breath away, it knocked me off my feet and slammed my legs back and upward, whipping my lower body into the air then pounding me back down. The shoulder strap on my bag broke but I managed to grab the handle with one hand, catching it before it disappeared up the stairs. Hugging my computer bag between my body and the gate I crouched as low as I could get on the bottom left of the stairwell. As water, leaves and debris pounded me through the hurricane fence I hung on, unable to get my breath. Suddenly the wind stopped and freezing cold rain came down in torrents. Still crouched down holding on for dear life and gasping for air, I groped around for my radio hand mic. The wind had taken it off my collar so I pulled it to me by the cord. Unsuccessfully I tried to make radio contact with BDOC; I could hear them but they could not hear me. Catching my breath I cautiously looked around. I unwrapped myself from the gate pole and snuck up the stairs to look. Slowly I poked my head above ground level to take a quick look around.
Doing a double take I looked again. In the evening light what I saw took a moment to register. Trees were uprooted; metal siding, insulation and other debris littered the ground. I could not believe what I was seeing. Grabbing my Surefire Z2 from my duty belt I stumbled up the stairs and stood upright, looking around. A small river was flowing by, exiting into the street and the sewer grate. Cars were overturned. The roof of building 100 was torn up. Trees, signs and electric poles were leveled about 75 feet from my location. Involuntarily I shuddered. Maybe from being cold and soaking wet or perhaps because I was numb from the experience.
After what seemed like an eternity of dead silence, everything came back to life. Lights and sirens erupted from every direction. A very excited SGT Donnelly came running across the street, asking if I was okay. He said that from BDOC they had seen the funnel come whipping over my location as lightening flashed. After assuring him that I was not severely damaged, we did a quick assessment of the immediate area. Immediately noting the downed power lines and a strong natural gas odor we cordoned off access to the BCC and bldg 100 with traffic cones that we were able to salvage. Immediately we went to work relaying information to MSO Kozlowski and SSGT Bowen at BDOC, who made necessary phone calls, simultaneously took damage reports, and relayed information, all with no lighting or power.
I returned to my post at South gate to control entry, direct traffic, and relay information to key personnel for the next 5 hours without a break. In between I was able to contact my family via cell phone. At around 01:45 SSGT
Bowen relieved me to go change into dry socks and catch my breath. When I returned to BDOC the generator was not functional so I retrieved spare flashlights, water, and chemical light sticks from my vehicle for use at the main gate. After changing socks and collecting my thoughts, SGT Donnelly asked me to drive MSO Kozlowski to the South side of base to see the damage. MSO Kozlowski had been in BDOC the whole night and I had been at South Gate so neither of us had seen the full effect of the twister.
I was physically exhausted. After driving from Cape Girardeau to work that morning and arriving at 13:15, being tossed around by a tornado, and then standing at South Gate cold and wet for 5 hours, my body was numb to say the least. I had a trailer parked on gravel lot and needed to know if it had sustained damage, so MSO Kozlowski and I drove to the south side to survey the damage, taking a few pictures in the process. It was only after seeing the destruction on the south side of the base that the fact I had just survived a tornado began to sink in.
My neck and back were a little stiff, but everything seemed to be functioning normally. SMSgt Sutton strongly recommended that I go get “checked out”. By this time it was 03:00 and I was spent. After nearly being sucked into a tornado, sitting in a waiting room at a random ER in the city was not appealing to say the least. All I wanted to do was go home, change out of my soaking wet boots and uniform, and crash. After talking with SGT Donnelly and MSGT Parkinson, I made the decision to go home to my family and go to an urgent care facility for an assessment after a few hours sleep. Traffic was backed up on the highways and it was nearly 04:00 when I got home.
Saturday 23 April 26, 2011
I woke up at 09:45, a little stiff with a sore neck and back pain radiating down my right leg. After a quick shower I went to St. Luke Urgent Care. After waiting for quite a while to see a doctor, she examined me. She stated that I had some whiplash and probably strained a muscle in my lower back, causing inflammation, putting pressure on my sciatic nerve. She ordered a muscle relaxer, a pain medication, and suggested applying heat or utilizing a hot tub to help the muscles relax. She advised me to take it really easy for the next week. I told her that I needed to get back to work ASAP because we would be stretched thin because of the tornado damage. She wrote a "quarters" order for the rest of Saturday, 23 April, through Sunday, 24 April; because Monday and Tuesday were my normal days off I told her that I would not be working those days anyway. She advised me to be sure to take the medications at a minimum until the end of the month to relieve the tightness and muscle inflammation so I could heal. I ended up getting call back into work Monday afternoon, driving through a raging storm and tornado warnings to get there, but that is another story not yet for public release…
SSGT Jeffrey A. DeMent
131 Security Forces Squadron