Ryan Donovan from Westfield shot compelling video as the tornado passed him at the Memorial Bridge. Learn his story.
Ryan Donovan knows what everyone else with a daily commute out of Springfield knows well.
If you're just a few minutes behind schedule, you might as well not even try the South End bridge. The way traffic jams from Columbus Ave onto the bridge and moves slowly off to Route 5 or the Agawam rotary, you're much better off heading to the Memorial Ave bridge and taking your chances there.
That is, unless an F-3 tornado is barreling down that stretch of Route 5 and heading directly for the bridge.
Donovan, a 25-year-old chemist from Westfield, learned that lesson the hard way but was miraculously spared injury last Wednesday when the now infamous tornado washed over him and his 2003 Ford Escape XLT. He actually has the video to prove it.
"I was running a little late and normally take the south end bridge," he said. "I decided to take Route 5 north and came over the Memorial Bridge and saw the funnel cloud developing in West Springfield."
It was then that he received a text message from his mother, telling him that a confirmed touch down was just reported on Union Street. He decided to stay put where he was. He made it just past the north side of the Memorial Bridge and the rotary connecting Route 5 and Memorial Ave. He bunkered down at the Bridge Street pumping station and watched, with phone in hand, recording it all.
"When I stopped, I tried to see where it was and where it was going," he said. "It wasn't on the ground when I first saw it and seemed to be moving counter-clockwise and due east from north of me.
"I thought the safest spot was exactly where I was."
Then, the tornado made a turn southeast and headed directly for Donovan and the Memorial Bridge. At this point in the video, as you can see to the left, Donovan hops back into his car and all but braces for impact.
"I remember thinking to myself, 'This can't be happening'," he said.
He grabbed a pair of coats in his backseat to cover himself from the broken window glass.
The next instance, the camera angle changes completely. It begins to shake and goes to black.
"When you see me duck down in the video, that's when I saw the roof from Felciano's Ethnic Food come flying at me."
And after all that, Donovan has just a small scratch on his elbow. Literally, just a scratch.
"I was extremely lucky," he said. "I don't know but there was someone looking over me that day."
In the days following, Donovan's video has gone viral via YouTube and Facebook. He has become a sort of celebrity, interacting with fans of Western Mass. Storm Chasers on Facebook about his ordeal and handling interview after interview with various local media outlets.
What has Donovan taken from the whole experience?
"Just the raw power of the tornado is amazing," he said. "It's so unfortunate to look at the destruction. It just took everything away."
After experiencing and surviving the F-3 funnel cloud, Donovan says that he's certainly in awe of the storms and wouldn't mind continuing to study the phenomenon.
There's one caveat, though. Rather than be chased by a tornado, Donovan says he'd much prefer to chase the storm.
"I've always been fascinated by the weather," Donovan said. "So long as I'm at least a mile away, I know I'd have time to find a safe place to hide."