A Dallas man has shared the terrifying moment he felt completely ‘helpless’ after a tornado tore him out of a store and into the storm outside.
Severe weather alerts were issued across the Tri-State area over the weekend, and meteorologist John Gumm said there was “evidence of a tornado in SE Indiana on Saturday” in a post on X.
Obvious evidence of a tornado in SE Indiana on Saturday: "Trackville Rd. (just west of St. Leon/southwest of where that barn was taken on St. Peter's Rd.)" 📷: Chad Gutzwiller @Local12 @NWSILN pic.twitter.com/eTRC8DHjh7
— John Gumm (@JohnGumm) August 2, 2026
Gumm also later took to Facebook to stress just how serious the conditions had been.
“I try so hard to give you guys a heads up on these things days in advance and Saturday turned out exactly as I feared it might.”
Alongside that, he said there were two flash flood warnings, seven flood advisories, and six tornado warnings.
Stories from past storms show just how quickly tornadoes can hit and how little time people may have to react when one suddenly forms nearby.
One such case happened in 2019, when Chris Tuveng was inside a Little Caesars in Dallas during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles game, according to Weather.gov. The tornado that struck that evening on October 20, 2019 became one of the costliest in U.S. history, causing $1.55 billion in damages and leaving zero fatalities despite widespread destruction.
As the tornado struck, Chris later recalled looking outside and seeing dust and debris spinning through the air before the storm reached him. Inside the store, he noticed the door kept flying open repeatedly.
“The things sucking me out of the building, out of the door […] and I was getting pounded by debris. Whatever was flying through the air, just tons and tons of debris.”
He survived by grabbing onto a stucco column as hard as he could, determined not to be carried away entirely.
“I was inside the tornado,” he continued. “I was just thinking, ‘Hey man, this might be it’.”
He later gave a more detailed account of the ordeal to Weather.gov.
“Then it spun me off the column and onto a truck that was parked in front of the Little Caesars. I tried holding on to the hood of the truck but there was nothing to hold on to. I ended up on the ground holding on to the rim of the left front tire until it stopped. It was dead still and all the lights were off because power had been knocked out. People were screaming and cars alarms were going off all over the place. It was like a war zone.”
Chris said the chaos ended almost instantly when the tornado suddenly came to a stop. The entire event lasted only about 30 seconds, though it felt like an eternity to him.
Afterward, he learned the tornado had been rated EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with winds reaching 140mph. The tornado was responsible for only one injury—Tuveng himself—despite the extraordinary destruction it caused across North Dallas and Richardson.
“And it was 1,300 yards wide at its base,” he added. “That is 13 football fields wide.”
Despite what happened, Chris survived, though he was left with serious cuts, bruises, and scrapes. He was taken to Parkland Hospital but was discharged after just five hours.
“Fortunately nothing got broken. It felt like your body’s just being compacted. It just crushed me. I was helpless,” he added. “My back, head, and lower legs were hit the hardest. I have debris (rocks, mud, glass) in there to this day. Most of it is out but not all.”
Reflecting on the experience, he said it was unlike anything he could fully explain.
“Words cannot describe what it felt like. Beyond horrifying. I am lucky to be alive for sure. I don’t think you will meet many people in your life who have survived something like this. Someone was definitely watching out for me.
“[…] If you don’t believe in miracles? Look at me. I’m one. I mean, because, without his [God’s] intervention, I would not be here today.”