The Final Moments of Rangeline Road

Rangeline Road is the main commercial street in Joplin. The video below is from a team of storm chasers going south on Rangeline Road, moments before the F-5 tornado wiped out more than one mile (north-south) of the businesses on the road.

Screen capture from video. Green sign is Jo Anne Fabrics. The tornado is in the background but
appears to be just a dark gray cloud mass. 

Photo of the above shopping center after the tornado.

The video is below. "Can we not break the law?" they ask as they are hung up at a stoplight (that was torn down by the tornado). "Would the Home Depot be a good [shelter]?" The Home Depot was destroyed with multiple fatalities.

The video is below and I recommend you select HD. Video demonstrates -- again -- the tornado was not recognizable visually as it moved across the city.


Put another way, just about everything you see in the video from :35 to 2:33 was destroyed. When they are stopped at the light (roughly 1:00 to 2:00), they are pointing the camera right at the tornado but it is just a dark gray cloud mass.