A group of storm chasers in a specially-designed tornado intercept vehicle took a direct hit from a funnel cloud in Kansas on Monday, walking away from the encounter with a stunning video from inside one of the most destructive environments on the planet.

The video below features the TIV 2, an Armadillo-like vehicle owned by IMAX filmmaker and Discovery Channel “Storm Chasers” star Sean Casey. Casey and compatriot Brandon Ivey were in Kansas where a supercell thunderstorm belched out several smaller tornadoes on Monday.

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Just northeast of Smith Center, Kansas, they suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of the weather they’re paid to help predict. Bringing the car to a halt as winds whipped up to 175 miles per hour, the storm chasers could do little more than ride the twister out, so Ivey turned on a camera.

The chaos that ensued didn’t get the best of the TIV 2, but it did rip some equipment off its roof, according to StormChasingVideo.com. The crew was otherwise unharmed.

“I wouldn’t want to intercept anything much stronger,” Ivey later wrote on Twitter. “That’s our upper limit right there!”

This video was published to YouTube on Monday, May 27, 2013. Used with permission.



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[“Stock Photo: Tornado And Lightening Bolt” on Shutterstock.]