7 days ago
Tornado crashes wedding photo shoot in New Mexico
What started as a dream wedding day for William and Daynnely Carrillo ended in a viral moment that they, and their photographer, will ever forget.
The couple was exchanging vows in Portales, New Mexico, on May 25 when the weather began to turn. Just as they finished their ceremony, the wind picked up and dark clouds rolled in.
"It just got windy and then it just got cloudy," Daynnely said. "It just instantly happened, and we just said, 'OK, let's go take pictures.'"
Photographer Chesnea Clemmons stepped outside to scout the lighting and what she saw stopped her in her tracks. A tornado was forming in the distance.
"I walked around the corner of the venue to take pictures of outside and my phone went off and it was like tornado detected in your area," Clemmons said. "I looked up and saw it forming, and I honestly just froze."
Instead of rushing for cover, the newlyweds embraced the moment. They posed in their wedding attire while the funnel loomed behind them, churning over the plains.
"It's just an iconic moment," Clemmons said. "You're never going to get that opportunity again and I mean, being the Plains, we all are pretty weather-aware. We knew it wasn't close enough for us to be in complete danger."
Clemmons captured a dramatic photo of the couple kissing, the tornado twisting behind them under an ominous sky and wrote "Nothing says for better or worse like saying I do with Mother Nature throwing down in the background."
Once she posted the image, the response was immediate and overwhelming.
"Oh my goodness, I am just literally blown away by this picture," she said in a post on Facebook. "It is crazy! What started as a normal wedding day just turned into pure stations, people from around the country have reached out. It's a blessing and I'm humbled but I'm just not able to take it all in."
Clemmons, who is a full-time stay-at-home mom and a guidance counselor at a school, photographs weddings part-time. But she's never seen anything like this.
"I know just how unbelievable this whole experience has been. Crazy is the only word I can think of. Mind-blown is all I was just the right place at the right time. I've never even been that close to an actual tornado. I love weather, I love storm chasing, but I've never just stumbled upon a tornado literally."
"The tornado was rated EF1 with 90-mph winds that damaged trees, power poles and a farm," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said. There are no reports of any injuries.
"It was truly just a moment of epic-ness," Clemmons said.
