Man who caught giant N.Ky. tornado on tape feared for his life

Matthew Pickett has been chasing storms for eight years. While he's seen a few rope twisters in the distance, he's never gotten close enough to get video. 

That's until March second when out of the blue, Pickett, 26, and a friend drove straight into the path of a powerful tornado when he wasn't even looking for storms.

When we think of storm chasing, the 1996 action movie 'Twister' may come to mind. For this Indiana storm chaser, his encounter wasn't as dramatic as the Hardings portrayed in the movie, but every bit as intense and terrifyingly real. 

"I was freaking out to be honest. It's like it's coming towards us. It could change at any minute. It could come right at us, it could pick us up and kill us," said Pickett of the experience.

The video Pickett took of the massive storm is the genesis of an EF4 tornado with estimated wind speeds of 175 miles per hour.  Matthew captured the video on a small Fuji camera. It's the very twister that tore through Crittenden and Piner, leaving a 10-mile path of destruction a half-mile wide. (Watch the video below. Mobile and tablet users go to a browser version of WCPO.com for the video).

"When it started crossing I-75 it was definitely the biggest tornado I've ever seen," said Pickett.

Pickett says he and a friend were just in the area to sure up a home in preparation for some nasty storms. They never intended to get that close, never thought they would be chased by a deadly twister.

"My buddy was trying to help me," Pickett said. "He could tell I was nervous. He was too, but he was trying to comfort me and was like 'dude, we're not going to die. We're not going to die,'" Pickett said.

Just like the movie, when the Hardings made the decision to keep on chasing, even as a huge tornado was about to bear down on them, Pickett's will continue too. His harrowing experience hasn't taken away his thrill of chasing. It just makes him more eager for the next storm.