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A man filmed the moment a tornado ripped through his home while he was taking shelter.
Trevor Jason Kreke, from Effingham in Illinois, was shooting a video to show his friend the severe weather on Wednesday.
He told the news agency Storyful: ‘It started getting very intense, and the whole house started shaking, and glass started breaking.
‘I felt terrified in the moment.’
Jason attributed his lucky escape to divine intervention after he was able to leave his home uninjured despite the building being ripped apart.
The clip shows him sitting in a pile of rubble where his home was, appearing to have escaped with just a cut on his hand.
He reacts: ‘Oh my gosh. What in the world just happened?’
‘I feel alright. I got scraped up. That was insane’, he added.
His whole home and car were both torn up in the violent column of air.
Authorities confirmed a tornado travelled an ‘estimated 12-15 miles through the northern parts of Effingham County’ on Wednesday evening.
Some 30 homes were destroyed, while another 29 sustained heavy damage, the Effingham County Emergency Management Agency said.
However, no serious injuries were reported.
The tornado was whipped up by the first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Arthur, which arrived from the Gulf on Wednesday.
The agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning covering all of Effingham until 4.30pm the following day.
Winds of up to 60mph were forecast, as well as up to four inches of rain, with some 177,000 people living in the warning zone.
Officials said: ‘Strong thunderstorms will move through the area this afternoon and evening. Be prepared for gusty winds, which can knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects, and heavy lightning.
‘Take shelter now!’ the agency added.
Illinois has faced a huge barrage of tornadoes this year, with some 140 having hit the state in 2026 so far, according to the Chicago Tribune.
It is set to well exceed the current annual record of 142, which was set in 2024.
Between 1990 and 2020, an average of 54 tornadoes were recorded annually in the state.
Climatologist Trent Ford said the increase was a ‘step change’ rather than a ‘trend’.
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