Awful awful writing + acting

Yeah, these storms are pretty scary. I was actually in the real storm this book/movie is based on.

The movie of course was exceedingly cheesy and doesn't nearly capture the helpless feeling of holing up in a basement while the freight-train of a tornado ploughs through what used to be the house above you.

This was a true monster of storms. The winds in the afternoon were amazing. We didn't officially clock them, but as we were trying to secure our belongings ahead of the incoming weather, my dad and I had our 17' aluminum canoe ripped out of our hands and thrown over the fence(we lived on a small lake)while our legs were blasted by wind-whipped sand.

Most of our upper story windows in the house were blown out long before the tornadoes came. Wind, rain and debris were pelting the house for hours. We were hit twice that night, and by at least one anti-cyclone because the house was twisted "the wrong way".

One thing a movie can't replicate is that when you are that close to a twister(we were directly or nearly directly underneath two of seven that night), the air pressure oscillates and vibrates your head. It's like being thrust to the bottom of a swimming pool and back to the surface several times per second. You feel like your eardrums will burst.

Fortunately, Hollywood has recognized that this type of natural disaster is only good for some much hyping and have stopped making these lame movies. It's a scary event, but doesn't last long enough to build much real drama- even on a night full of them. The real drama is dealing with the months of aftermath, cleanup and war stories after the event.

(This storm was so devastating, our little Nebraska town even got a visit by then president Jimmy Carter)