Video Shows Tornado Smash Into Cargo Ship on Lake Erie: 'Direct Hit'

A video showing a tornado smashing into the side of a container barge on Lake Erie, tipping it sideways and pushing waves over the top, has gone viral on social media.

The footage, initially posted to TikTok by Nicole Willard, taken by her husband, Andre, a freight worker, captures the moment a recent twister touches down on the water before the cargo vessel narrowly avoids a collision with a dock while being battered by hail.

After being posted to Twitter by Chris Vickers, a meteorologist for local news station WTOL, on Tuesday afternoon, it has since attracted more than 360,000 views as of 7:45 a.m. ET Wednesday. Vickers said the "incredible" footage showed "a direct hit."

The video emerged after northern Ohio was battered by a series of tornadoes on Thursday, with the National Weather Service (NWS) recording a total of nine over the course of the day but no injuries. It follows similar weather patterns in central and southern states in May.

Tornado season usually sees twisters form between May and July, but they typically occur earlier in the year in the South and toward the end of the season in the North.

The viral clip, which is sped up, shows dark clouds forming over the waterway, twisting into a vortex from the view of the freighter's wheelhouse.

As the cloud formation passes over the lake, the water begins to stir into waves before the fast-moving cloud touches down. "What!" one of the crew can be heard exclaiming.

With the windows to the bridge consumed by flying debris and spray, hurried radio messages are audible before the holder of the camera appears to crouch down.

Once the worst has passed, the barge is seen being battered by waves on its right flank, as it comes perilously close to the side of one of the docks. The whole ship can then be heard being battered by hail.

Newsweek reached out to Andre Willard via email for comment on Wednesday.

Vickers identified the footage as being shot onboard the Barge Maumee and Tug Victory, an 815-foot vessel with a 25,500-ton load capacity. He claimed the onboard wind gauge "maxed out" at 148 mph during the tornado.

The incident occurred near the Maumee Mooring Basin on Lake Erie, near Toledo, Ohio where the Maumee River ends, on June 15.

The local NWS station recorded several tornadoes with estimated peak wind speeds of 115 mph in the area that day that it later reported snapped trees, destroyed some buildings and downed power lines.

One of the tornadoes, which touched down north of Toledo before moving eastward toward Maumee Bay, reached gusts of 130 mph just after 6 p.m. ET, a preliminary NWS report found.

In subsequent social media posts, Vickers reassured that nobody was harmed by the incident and there was "little to no damage reported."

Newsweek reached out to Rand Logistics, which operates the vessel, via email for comment on Wednesday.

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