Believe me, hell hath no fury like a Midwestern twister

As deadly tornadoes continue to pound the heartland of the United States, I'm reminded of personal encounters with this most devilish of storms.

I witnessed the wrath of twisters firsthand in the US Midwest, where many a bright summer day turned dark as night - in the span of just 15 minutes - as a tornado-spawning "wall cloud" swept the land.

But my first impression of a tornado, a gripping scene in the classic movie The Wizard of Oz, remains the most daunting.