The Ogletree House on the University of Southern Mississippi campus was severely damaged by the 2013 tornado.(Photo: File photo/Hattiesburg American)
HATTIESBURG – Last September, Karga Seven Pictures — a subcontractor of The Weather Channel — stopped by Hattiesburg to let residents recount their experiences with the EF4 tornado that ripped through the area in February 2013.
Now, those participants will get a chance to see their stories come to life on television when the Season 2 premiere of “Tornado Alley” airs at 8 p.m. Monday on The Weather Channel.
The episode will retrace the tornado’s path through Forrest and Lamar counties, featuring survivors’ tales, first-hand footage shot by witnesses, and footage from police dash cameras.
“One reason we chose Hattiesburg is because we’re doing an hour-long program, and we can’t shoot any video, because the storm already happened,” Karga Seven producer Kim Kantner said. “So we rely on the people there and what they shot, and having access to that. And we had great access to great video, and great feedback from people once we reached out.”
Some of that video was provided by former Hattiesburg resident Ross Andrews, who was able to capture footage of the tornado as it barreled east down Hardy Street.
“It’s been very exciting to be a part of this documentary, but I hope it never happens again,” said Andrews, who now lives in Southaven. “All of my family and friends are looking forward to watching the show.”
One notable story that will be featured on the show is that of Jared Pierce, a patrol officer at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Police Department, who was able to assist a University of Alabama student who got stuck while riding out the tornado in her car next to the heavily-damaged Ogletree House on campus. After getting the student out of her car, which was covered in brush and debris from the storm, Pierce was able to escort her to safety at a women’s dorm on campus.
“It was kind of weird telling your own story, because you know it’s going to be made into a TV show,” Pierce said. “So it’s humbling for someone to recognize that you’ve got a story to tell, and they want to help share that story.
“But at the same time, the real story was the student — her surviving the tornado just sitting there. I was glad to be able to help her and do anything I could.”
Like Andrews, Pierce is looking forward to watching the episode when it airs.
“I’m excited; I think it’s going to be great,” he said. “I think it’s going to be fun to showcase it and to see where we went from that day in 2013 to now, and to see campus where it’s at now. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Viewers can even look for an appearance by Mayor Johnny DuPree, who took the opportunity during his interview to praise the work of the first responders after the tornado.
“There‘s nothing else that really highlights the great community that we live in, that we have men and women who are willing to risk their life to make sure that people in Hattiesburg have a better life,” he said. “I’m excited because Hattiesburg will be highlighted, and that will hopefully help us out across the nation (to be recognized) as a place to live, because we know how to bounce back from things like tornadoes and hurricanes.”
Subsequent episodes of “Tornado Alley” will feature cities including Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Henryville, Indiana; and Washington, Illinois, all of which were hit by recent tornadoes. Like Hattiesburg, each city will get its own hour-long episode.
But there’s one thing that sets Hattiesburg apart from most of the other cities the show visits.
“The Hattiesburg tornado was unique in that no one died,” Kantner said. “For an EF4 tornado to go through a densely-populated area like it did and not kill anyone is a miracle and amazing, and we wanted to tell that story. Unfortunately, many of the other episodes that we do don’t have that story attached to them.”
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