A tornado is terrifying enough on its own, so the last thing you worry about as a storm chaser is someone attempting to kill you in the middle of a storm. That’s exactly what happened to Jeff Piotrowski, though, right in the middle of Texas’ deadly tornado on Saturday night.
I was attacked tonight I'm ok the guy was trying to kill me. I hurt my arms from fighting him off of me. I glad I'm alive. #txwx #okwx
— Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) December 27, 2015
“This guy just tried to attack me with a knife! I stopped to help him and he took a knife and tried to stab me! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! I’m going to tell the police right now. Oh, my God. I’ve got to get the police. This is unbelievable. That guy just tried to stab me. Oh, my God! Oh, my God! OK, I’ve got to go get the police. This is unbelievable. I stopped to help the guy and the guy just tried to stab me in my truck. Where is… There’s a policeman. I’m going to get him. That guy is out of his mind! I don’t know if he’s drunk or high or he looked like he was… I’m OK. He didn’t get me. I drove off before he got me. He almost got me. Almost stabbed me. I’m going to get this policeman right here. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Stop to help someone and they stab you.”
Piotrowkski captured the chilling encounter on Periscope, which was then uploaded to YouTube. Police were luckily nearby, but it is still about as frightening as can be considering the environment at the time.
The tornadoes that struck parts of Texas left several dead and devastated houses all along the area. At least 25 are reported dead across other southern states following a week of strong storms according to Yahoo News:
The extreme weather, fueled by unseasonably warm air, is likely to continue for the next few days, the National Weather Service reported, snarling holiday travel across a large section of the country.
The late Saturday deaths in Texas came as millions of residents in the southern United States struggle to recover from fierce storms and heavy flooding, with more rain in the forecast.
At least 17 people were killed in storm-related incidents since Wednesday in Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, local officials said.
At least eight people were killed as tornados touched down in parts of the densely populated Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, local officials and media reported.
The sights of the destruction, while familiar, are always unsettling to see. Even worse when you run into someone who might be looking for trouble.
https://twitter.com/BenRogers/status/680947740075933696
https://twitter.com/tonyarolandtr/status/680951424662913024
#Texasweather #Tornado #Rowlett #dallastornado #Dallas pic.twitter.com/6SOq70aYSQ
— Artneo (@artniu) December 27, 2015
(Via Inqusitr / Yahoo News / Dallas Morning News)