Motorist shoots Illinois tornado up close with an iPhone

ROCHELLE, Ill., April 13 (UPI) -- A motorist on a stretch of Illinois road used his iPhone to capture close-up footage of a tornado that came dangerously close to his vehicle.

Sam Smith, who was visiting from North Carolina on business last week, was driving from Minnesota to Indianapolis April 9 when he encountered the tornado outside Rochelle, Ill.

Smith shot footage of the storm with his iPhone.

"I don't know what direction it's going in, so I don't know how to get away from it," Smith can be heard saying in the video. "But, it looks like it's coming right towards me."

Smith was able to back his vehicle up a short distance, but he said it felt as if the storm was lifting his truck into the air when it passed nearby.

He later said he was unable to back his vehicle up any farther.

"There was another car -- when I backed up, I actually backed up to the bumper of the car behind me," he told the Weather Channel's AMHQ program.

Tom Wachs, a meteorologist with WITI-TV, said motorists who find themselves in Smith's situation should avoid overpasses.

"Overpasses act as wind tunnels, so the wind will increase underneath them putting you at a greater danger," he said.