When I was a kid we lived in Wichita Falls, Texas for a few years. We were there when the powerful tornado hit in the 1960s, the one that leveled part of Shepherd Air Force Base.
I remember it like it was yesterday. My brother and I had the mumps, were home from school. I remember seeing the big funnel in the sky and Mom throwing us under a bed.
It skipped over us and hit where my Dad was working road construction. He took shelter under an overpass, and witnessed cars being lifted off the ground, etc.
I had nightmares about tornados for years after that, long after I became an adult.
Wow, your dad was lucky. I was watching a show that said under an overpass is a very dangerous place to take cover. I can't imagine the nightmares I would have with that.
When I was younger, there was a series that came near our house (mile away). We saw them at a distance. When I lived in Boulder, I was on the way to the airort when I saw a cloud come down and touch, it went back up and then back down. Later a friend in construction said that 2 x 4's were driven into concrete.