Jessica Sloan shared a video she took during the storm. She said she was fishing on May 16, when the tornado hit her area in Williamson County, Illinois. She said around a hundred trees fell around her and the vehicle was shaking due to the high winds. After the storm passed, she said she was stuck due to all the downed trees. A short time later, she was rescued after crews cleared a path for her to get out.
MARION, Ill. (WSIL) -- A woman who was caught outdoors when a tornado started to form shares her story about what she experienced.Â
On May 16, a powerful tornado ripped through the southern portion of Williamson County, creating a path of destruction which leveled homes, injured several people and left many without a bed to sleep in.
Jessica Sloan took a trip out to her favorite fishing pond off of Grassy Road in Williamson County on Friday afternoon. Unbeknownst to her, a powerful tornado was about to move through the area.
"I had my fishing poles ready. I had my tackle box on. I went to go walking and my phone went off," Sloan recalled. "The sky looked kind of weird, but it wasn't like, it looked scarier. And, so I was recording and my phone went off and I looked at my phone thinking it was gonna say thunderstorm warning or something, and it said seek shelter immediately. And so I just got in my truck because I didn't have any time. I had no time to prepare or think or anything."
The area was issued a tornado warning after weather officials determined there was rotation in a storm moving across the southern portion of Williamson County.
"Now knowing that it was a tornado, because I didn't know it was a tornado. I thought it was like a derecho or some kind of straight line winds, Sloan said. "I think if I would have opened my door, it would have either ripped my door off or sucked me out at least."
She had her phone on, recording every moment as high winds knocked over trees and hail fell all around her while taking cover in her vehicle.
"I was just like, please don't let me die," she said.
Sloan remembered there were other people nearby outside in the area as well.
"The other truck that you see in the video, those two gentlemen were not able to make it back to their truck. They laid on the bank of the pond and just laid there and let it pass them," she explained. "So that's scary, but they're fine. They're completely unhurt. And yeah, so we're just lucky. Not knowing at the time, but knowing now that's kind of where the tornado originated in that area."
In the video she recorded, the intense moment lasted nearly a minute. She recalled the scary moments as the tornado started to form above her while she was trapped in her truck.
"As far as you can see, was that first initial spin up. Like it wasn't on the ground yet, but it was rotating," she said. "I'm just lucky that it went past me, before it did (touchdown), because the damage was so close. It was so close to where I was at. Like the houses that were leveled and the people that were trapped inside, it's crazy."
Once the storm passed, she said she got out of her vehicle and found trees littering the roadway. At this time, she said she knew she was going to be trapped there a while. However, she had access to a chainsaw and the help of those two other men nearby.
"It actually took three-and-a-half hours to chainsaw it and get all the limbs out of the way. I'm just so grateful. My boyfriend was close with his chainsaw. I don't know why he had it with him. Thank God he did," she exclaimed. "It wasn't the best chainsaw, but we made it work those two gentlemen helping us. They were super cool. We just we worked tirelessly for those three-and-a-half hours for sure."
She said she will start paying closer attention to the weather forecasts and stay indoors next time storms make their way through the area.
"We have a lot of bad weather around here and a lot of potential bad weather," she stated. I will never take it as a grain of salt ever again. I will listen. I will stay in a safe place, because it was it definitely jarred me."
