Randy and the Kansas Twister

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Randy and the Kansas Twister

• or
• Dorothy got off easy!

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Overview

• Friday, May 23rd, 2008 I was driving (alone) from
  Denver to Hutchinson for the Memorial Weekend.
• Then, on I-70 between the Kansas metropoli of
  Park and Quinter

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Actual Location
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What It Looked Like to Me
I-70
Kansas approx 400 x 200 80,000 sq. miles
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Car/Tornado Paths
Car Path
Tornado Path
I-70 West
I-70 East
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Storm-Chaser Report, Photos, and Video

• May 23, 2008 Tornado Outbreak near Quinter,
  Kansas

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Tornado Photo 2
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Tornado Photo 3
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Aftermath
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Car Photos
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Car Photos
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Car Photos
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Car Photos
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Car Photos
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Car Photos
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Injuries

• Cracked right rib
• Collapsed right lung
• Ruptured left eardrum
• Pulled neck muscles
• Many scrapes and bruises
• Dorothy Gale Ooh, you got a nasty bump on the
  head!

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Hospital Staff Gift
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Head Abrasions
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Left Elbow
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Right Upper Arm
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Left Forearm
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Body Parts Intact

• No leg injuries except for one bruise
• No other broken bones or sprains
• No serious head or neck injuries

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Rocky Ford Couple Killed by Tornado
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Items Lost/Destroyed (pt 1)

• 2002 Honda Accord 9500 (insured)
• Glasses (progressive lenses) 484
• Carry-on bag (found 2 weeks later, wet--contents
  destroyed)
• PDA
• Camera (100 (Ebay)
• Laptop
• Binoculars 25
• 3 Audiobooks from library 122

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Items Lost/Destroyed (pt 2)

• Cellphone
• Garage Door opener 40
• Watch 25
• Jacket 25
• 1 soccer shoe 100 (new pair)
• 1 goalie glove 60 (new pair)
• Keys
• Ericsson badge 98

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Items recovered

• Flashlight (in glove box)
• 1 soccer shoe
• 1 goalie glove
• Soccer Goalie shirt
• Suitcase

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11 Days Short-Term Disability

• Not exactly a Vacation!
• Hospital 3 days
• Sleeping
• 9 hours per night
• At least one and occasionally two naps/day
• Doctors
• GP 1 1 follow-up
• Ear Doctor 2 1 follow-up
• Dentist 1 (check for TMJ)

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Short-Term Disability (cont)

• Correspondence with friends, relatives, storm
  chasers
• Replacing lost items, car shopping

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Recovery

• Hearing in left ear 100 after 5 Weeks
• Rib almost healed in 6 weeks, no pain after 10
  weeks.
• Neck muscles 3 weeks
• Energy level 3 weeks

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Ambulance Chaser Letter

• We were very sorry to hear about your terrible
  auto accident. Our law office would like to do
  an investigation about the driver of the other
  vehicle. Your case may be worth 25,000,
  50,000 or more.

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My Reply

• Thank you for your letter Unfortunately the
  incident was a hit-and-run, so I do not have any
  contact information for the responsible party.
  However, I am including a photo of the
  perpetrator
• I thank you for your careful research and
  dedication to individual customer needs.

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Stardom!

• Storm chaser passed my info on to Pioneer
  Productions, a London-based production company.
• Doing a series for the Discovery Channel Raging
  Planet series on bad weatherincluding
  Tornadoes.
• Interview dates were July 16-17, 2008 in Wichita
  (where the car was in a salvage yard)

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Stardom (2)

• 1-1/2 days of interesting but often tedious
  filming and answering the same set of questions
  in 3-4 different scenes
• --Stationary head shot
• --Driving
• --Alongside the wrecked car
• 1-2 days to edit the footage into a couple of
  minutes of air time.
• Original air date was August 9, 2009.
• Clip is now on YouTube

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Production Crew
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First-location Setup
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Director and Cameraman
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Simon the Sound Man
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Car at Salvage Yard