VALLEY VIEW, Texas — Conner Stines and his twin sister of Bedford were returning home after visiting a friend in Oklahoma.
What should have been an unremarkable trip home turned into a near deadly one.
Stines and 70 others had scrambled into a Shell station in Valley View and waited out the tornado that ripped open the store.
"Within 5 minutes, it was on top of us," Stines said.
Stines, who is studying meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, looked at the radar and knew what was about to hit them was 'not good.' He was taking cell phone video of the power flashes moments before the tornado tore through. He tells WFAA he did not know he was recording for a full four minutes inside.
The one-minute edited video now posted all over social media has been viewed thousands of times. What he captured was humanity at its rawest form. He captured the sounds of screaming parents, roaring wind and glass and metal breaking.
"It was probably only on us for 15 seconds...but it felt like minutes," he said.
He recalls a mother screaming for her son in the moment. He also recalled a woman who was struggling to get to her feet as the storm raged. In the first few seconds of the video there is a woman who appears on screen and the terror on her face is telling.
"That was my sister Katie," he said. That's pretty much engraved in my mind at this point."
Stines tells WFAA within minutes the windows of the store gave in and the walls were breached by the strong winds. Glass shards and debris were whipping around the store.
"How suddenly that wind shifted was intense," he said.
Stines has minor cuts on his forearm. Fortunately, everyone escaped the Shell station and some had minor injuries. WFAA asked Stines if he still intends to study meteorology considering everything he just experienced.
"I'm still just as curious about [meteorology]," he said.