With his foot mashed down on the brakes of his Jeep, roaring straight-line winds shoved his vehicle — wheels locked — down U.S. 60 east of Marionville.

And then, the inconceivable happened.

"I was kind of twisting back and forth down the highway when it just lifted my car 8 to 10 feet into the air," Norris said. "The wind was so great it busted all the windows out, from left to right. I remember thinking, 'This is it. I'm going to get sucked up inside a tornado and that's it. I'm dead.'"

After whirling in the air for three or four seconds, Norris said the tornado set the Jeep down on its right front wheel.

The noise sounded nothing like the proverbial freight train.

"It was like somebody pouring gravel inside a big drum. It sounded like somebody was hitting the outside of my jeep with mallets."