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5/13/09 DISC: MO/IA/IL/KS/OK

There were a lot of people that made a lot of really poor decisions yesterday and then are posting their video... Being IN a tornado is not a good thing people! Not that some of these 'I'm in a tornado' clips are even from within a tornado but still...

For Mike, that video on FB (and also on YouTube) shows him driving 110mph down the road (he actually tapes the speedometer) and then shows him ending up in the outer circulation of the tornado and then turning the camera on himself and talking about how wonderful he is.
 
Wow. Its one thing to speed, but to record the speedometer as you swerve through traffic almost killing numerous other drivers. Then getting hit by the tornado and being proud of it. After all that, actually posting it online and giving to CNN. Now that is epic fail. He should be on suicide watch.

This image sums it up.

idiot2.jpg
 
Yup, that's the same guy.

Not to pile on the guy, but the big thing that gets me isn't that he got caught in a tornado -- clearly he's in over his head and got caught out by his lack of experience. But recording yourself doing 120 passing 5 cars on a 2 lane with no shoulder really takes the cake. It's not just that he was driving recklessly, it was that he was actually taking time to make sure he documented the fact that he was driving recklessly. That to me should be worth a month or two in jail.
 
It's to damn bad it didn't suck him up and drop him about 5 miles away at 200 mph and rid the world of another fookin idiot. You have to wonder what he cut out that he thought was to bad to post.
 
In his own words . . .

"
Michael Ambrosia at 11:31pm May 13
I think it was 115, but when there are tornadoes about, you gotta move! Thats when the camaro z28 ss comes in handy. BTW that was a cop that pulled over in front of me...I don't think he was ready to give me a ticket then ;-)"
 
Obviously Mr. Ambrosia isn't a full on storm chaser, but having chased enough now for the last 4 years, I've seen PLENTY of well known big time storm chasers drive like it's the last lap of the Talladega 500, putting many peoples lives in jeopardy for their own gain without even batting an eye.

I've been doing 80 mph in a 65, and gotten passed like I was standing still!
 
This is one of those times when using a video editor and maybe cutting a few scenes out, adding music or voiceover, etc. might have been a good idea. ha That COULD HAVE been great video when cut up. Why document recklessness? Why be reckless in the first place?
Wonder which network he will be working for next year?
 
I just viewed his video on youtube and posted a text comment as a bit of a lecture. That was completely idiotic behavior, especially the driving. No damn reason to be going over 100mph on a 2 lane road to catch a ****ing tornado. Last I heard, there'll be more tornadoes. Maybe some more this year, but deffinately more next year. When it comes to being as close to the tornado and it, there's no reason for that either. This seems to be becoming a trend, with people being hit by tornadoes while chasing. Hell, I was getting a bit nervous when Quinter #1 was approaching us on I-70 till it began to rope out. We all want to get close, but not that close. I have yet to hear the "roar" of a tornado so when I get to chase again next year I'll try and get close but I'll know when its time to stop or turn around and haul ass out of there. This guy clearly needs to grow up and learn what chasing is all about, as well as the ethics of it.
 
IMHO there was a lot of wreckless chasing yesterday. This case was the worst, because it combined extremely dangerous driving with getting too close. But there were others that got too close too, and what bothers me is that videos of "inside the tornado" with dust, rain, and/or debris pounding the car becomes 1) more and more the standard for what viewers and networks expect to see and 2) the image of chasers presented to the public (which new idiots, like the one we are discussing, then emulate - it has a very self-pertetuating aspect to it). I agree that it is a matter of time until some chaser or wannabe chaser dies. Three people did yesterday in Kirksville, so that tornado was not to be messed with.

On a totally different aspect, the Litchfield, IL target everyone was talking about for days verified - only problem is it did so at nearly midnight. Major damage, including structural damage to a number of buildings, in nearby Gillespie, and a semi overturned on I-55 near Litchfield. Bad part - it does not appear there was even a SVR warning when the storm hit Gillespie (or if there was, it did not show on the COD warning page). Not sure yet whether it was a downburst or tornado.
 
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