Braggadocio resident captures destructive tornadoes on home video

As Brenton Wilson, the son of Joy and Mike Wilson, stood in his grandmother's front yard at Braggadocio with video camera in hand recording the now much talked about tornado that ravaged the area in early April, 2006, the last thing on his mind was the thought of major television networks calling from places like New York to request a copy of his home footage.

A then 17-year-old senior at Delta C-7 High School stood with feet planted in the soil beside his grandmother, Jewel Wilson, watching as two tornados merged into one another creating one massive and deadly twister that whirled around aggressively in the cotton fields just yards away.

Wilson was visiting his grandmother when they heard over the local news channel that funnel clouds had been seen traveling toward the Braggadocio area.

"As soon as we heard the news we looked out the windows and noticed the sky growing extremely dark," Wilson said. "I went outside and immediately saw two large funnel clouds in the sky across the fields. I was in complete awe of the situation and without thinking too much about it, I ran for my car and grabbed my video camera."

Wilson said the two funnel clouds came from opposite positions within the field and combined into one monstrous formation at least one mile wide at the horizon that seemed to be approaching at increasing speeds. Still, he stood there watching fearlessly and kept filming.

As the mammoth twister thundered through the fields before him, Wilson said the thought of death did cross his mind but his adrenaline kept him outside in the midst of it all.

"I was obviously afraid of what might happen but I was caught up in the moment and couldn't believe what was happening," Wilson said. "This wasn't something that you see everyday."

As the camera rolled, you could hear Wilson talking to his grandmother.

"That thing is coming right for us. Look, don't you see it," Wilson shouts amid the noise that he describes as sounding like a freight train.

As the tornado gets closer, less than one mile away, and louder Wilson again comments on his disbelief of what is taking place.

"Oh my God!" he screams while recording the unbelievable footage.

The deadly force of nature demolishes everything in its path including electrical towers. Brenton witnesses the twister completely destroy the nearby home of long-time friends and neighbors.

"It just destroyed that house," cries Brenton. "Oh my God."

Just when Wilson screams to his grandmother to take cover, as quickly as the twister arrived it turned and died away, departing and leaving only unrecognizable wreckage behind in its aftermath.

"I was really taken back by it all," Wilson said. "But grateful to be alive."

Wilson continued filming, documenting the damage left from the storm. He also provided help with search and rescue efforts as well as with area clean-up.

After the event took place, Wilson made a decision to send the tape to a local news channel, KFVS 12 Heartland News, a channel that serves the Cape Girardeau area and other areas in Missouri including the Bootheel.

"I wanted to share the footage so that others like myself who had never experienced or viewed an act of nature like this could see what tornados look like and are really capable of," Wilson said. "I had no idea what would follow after sending the tape in."

According to Wilson, now 18 years old and a student at Arkansas Northeastern College at Blytheville, Ark., within a matter of a few days he was receiving phone calls from every major television network and news channel imaginable.

"These major television shows and news channels were calling me to request a copy of my tape and an interview about what happened," Wilson said. "I was very shocked, but it was cool."

Wilson's video has been featured most recently on Spike TV's Most Amazing Videos and was also shown on television programs such as the KAIT 8 news channel of Jonesboro, Ark., the National Weather Channel's Storm Stories, CNN News, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360º, Inside Edition, Prime Time and Fox News.

In addition to being aired on national television, another remarkable thing is being done with Wilson's video.

"The National Weather Channel contacted me about the tape and requested permission to use it for some of their storm chasing training," Wilson said. "That was pretty cool news."

Though Wilson never initially intended the footage to be viewed by anyone other than family, friends and classmates, his tornado documentary has perhaps reached millions of viewers because of his unselfish willingness to share the story.

Wilson even donated 100 percent of the proceeds earned from the video to victims of the tornado.

"I never thought about excepting money for the video to benefit myself," Wilson said. "But after it received so much attention I made the choice to use the money for something good."

The events that took place on April 2, 2006, not only changed the lives of those who became victims of the killer tornado, but also left Wilson a changed person.

"It definitely made me think about things in a different way and appreciate the things that you don't always think about," Wilson said.