Yes, a man was swept up by a tornado, thrown 1,307 feet and survived. Here are the details

Matt Suter was thrown 1,307 feet in 2006

File photo. (pexels.com)

Missouri – Matt Suter was 19 years old when he had an experience that he will never forget.

He survived after being swept up inside a tornado. There have been a few stories like this, but this one is a little different.

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According to the National Weather Service, there was a severe weather outbreak that led to several tornadoes in the Missouri Ozark on the afternoon of March 12, 2006, that lasted through the evening.

The NWS shows a map of the numerous tornadoes spawned during an outbreak of supercell thunderstorms on March 12, 2006. One of the tornadoes swept Matt Suter up and threw him nearly a quarter mile from his grandmother's home in Fordland, Missouri. He lived to tell the story. (NWS)

More than a dozen tornadoes spawned from the supercell thunderstorms that day, claiming the lives of two people.

But Matt was lucky.

[WATCH MATT SUTER DESCRIBE THE INCIDENT IN VIDEO AT BOTTOM OF STORY]

As an EF-2 tornado ripped through his grandmother’s mobile home in Fordland that evening, and Suter was swept up -- inside the twister. Records show Suter was unconscious during this time because he had been struck on the head by a lamp in the mobile home.

Suter woke up in a grassy field sometime later after being thrown over a barbed wire fence. Luckily, Suter only suffered a head injury from the lamp -- and his feet were badly scratched.

The NWS GPS system measured the distance from the mobile home to the field where Suter woke up as 1,307 feet, roughly a quarter-mile.

This shows the average number of tornadoes by state in the USA in the month of March. (NOAA)

Fifteen years to the date, the distance still hold the Guinness World Book record for the longest distance anyone has even been thrown by a tornado and survived.

That day, the numerous tornadoes injured over 30 people and damaged more than 550 homes.

It’s safe to say this is one record no one will want to break.

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About the Author

Emmy Award Winning Meteorologist Samara Cokinos joined the News 6 team in September 2017. In her free time, she loves running and being outside.

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