There is plenty to fear about nature, from deadly storms to the unexplored depths of the ocean. When it comes to extreme weather, tornados are about as terrifying as they come. Movies like Twister and Into the Storm have instilled in us a healthy fear of large, swirling funnels that tear away everything in their path. It’s pretty simple: you see a tornado, you run in the other direction, and hunker down wherever you can. But when a tornado hit Little Rock, Arkansas in April 2023, one person’s reaction was a little different than most people’s.
“Literally rode the tornado out on my porch,” wrote Tony Bohn Garlington underneath a video he posted on Facebook of a vicious tornado tearing through his suburban street. It’s a jaw-dropping sight that would make (almost) anyone want to run for the hills, yet Garlington calmly records the video from his front porch.
At the beginning of the video, things don’t seem so bad. The weather looks a little cloudy, but nothing too concerning. Then the wind begins to whip louder and louder, causing the tree branches in Garlington’s front yard to sway back and forth. The sound becomes overwhelming as debris flies down the street and trash cans begin falling over. Rain pelts the front lawn and the sky turns grey as the tornado approaches.
At this point, most people would cut and run. But Garlington continues filming, even when the tornado approaches and literally uproots a tree in his front yard. The amount of force it would take to rip a tree out of its roots is shocking, yet Garlington doesn’t seem to flinch.
As the tornado begins to pass and the wind dies down, he takes the camera out into the yard to survey the damage.
“Okay,” he says. ”That was pretty jacked up.”
That’s putting it mildly.
The video has understandably gone viral, with over 4,000 comments and 1.5 million views on Facebook.
“Still a teenage thrill seeker I see…lol” commented Rick Skinner, a Facebook friend of Garlington’s.
“I hope they don’t make you pay for the trash bin,” commented Paul Perez.
Garlington later posted pictures of the wreckage online, showing trees having crashed into houses and cars in his neighborhood.
We’ve seen a lot of thrill-seekers on social media, but this one takes the cake. The tornado did extensive damage to Little Rock, killing one person and injuring at least 50 more. In all, 147 tornadoes touched down, with 116 occurring on March 31st alone. It’s a miracle that Garlington escaped unscathed, but the footage he shot will certainly go down in history as one of the most thrilling inside views of a tornado of all time.