ndows before taking shelter in a basement corner. More often than now, tornadoes caught people without any warning at all. Over time, storms have been dissected and many causes revealed as to what makes tornadoes. Rotation is detected before a funnel forms. Debris balls show up on highly sophisticated radar. Warnings are only for the portions of counties in a storm path. We know that tornadoes don’t create enough vacuum to explode a house, but simply blow it to bits. Underground is still the safe place but we are to seek the innermost room, not a corner. “Chasers” surround storms by the dozens, though the level of expertise varies from trained meteorologists to kids in pickup trucks who have no idea what to look for and look out for under these monstrous, spinning thunderstorms that sweep across the great plains. Fent’s Post Productions is producing a film about an unusually potent batch of storms that made history in north-central Kansas. As producer, director and photographer, I also bring a lifetime of experience as a cameraman, feature writer and storm student to this project. My various assistants and I have researched, traveled and trained all over the state and coast to coast to interview those involved in this disaster. I continue to ride with veteran storm chasers to capture these awesome, timeless storms on camera. In production since 2009, the film’s final interviews will be completed soon and post production is starting. I have personally given everything I’ve been able to give to this project. It has been by turns tedious, exhilarating, exasperating, exhausting, rewarding, scary, bizarre, beautiful, bewildering, educational and always expensive. As citizens, many things have improved for us since 1973. However, so many issues of that year - that decade- remain much as they were. Rhetorical questions continue to be political footballs. Media entities often act on profit rather than on what is true. Divisions among us have widened as these dynamic forces rip and tear at the very foundations of who we are. Yet there is a creative force which continually emerges from the human spirit, and we see time and again how our shared struggles bring out the best in us. This is at the core of this story. This is the source of hope that drives me to complete this film and share it with you. If you want to help out, I’ll also share the credit with you. This is much more than another tornado film. Tornadoes come and go. What endures is the way that we treat each other when the heavy sky descends. We often act out of fear, but we ultimately want the same things for our families, friends and neighbors. Sometimes we have to watch these storms from a different vantage point to understand what is at stake. Sometimes we can’t see the storm for the clouds.
- Ron Fent
