LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A new video obtained by THV11 shows a man who rode out Friday's devastating tornado in Little Rock from inside his work van.
Cody Coombes, a 24-year-old pest control specialist was finishing a service call when the winds starting picking up. Coombes recorded the incredible and terrifying moments from his cell phone and from the dash cam in his work van.
Video from the van's dash cam captures the moment the tornado passes over, leveling trees and propelling debris all over. Debris from tornadoes is one of the main sources of injury.
Just after the tornado had passed, Coombes then shot video of the devastating damage to the houses around him, debris and downed trees all over. He was "shell shocked," as he said in his video.
Coombes said this was the scariest moment of his life.
"Yeah, 100% I did think I was going to die," Coombes said. "Once I saw the winds pick up the way they did, my first thing that made me bring out my phone was the clouds in front of me were actually picking up some debris. So I saw a little chunks of wood roofing was being flung around in front of me. So I knew at that point, it had to be nearby."
The tornado came directly behind Coombes' van. Luckily, the van was parked in the position it was, because the back was completely enclosed and made more secure with metal cabinets. Coombes also told KTHV that the weight of the equipment in the van helped weigh it down.
"But if I had been facing the other way it would have went right through the windshield," Coombes said.
The van did suffer some damage. A branch indented the side, one tail light was torn off and it was covered in debris. Considering that the tornado was rated a "high end" EF3, with winds as high as 165 mph, its incredible that Coombes survived such a powerful force of nature. '