Newscasters in Illinois Halt Broadcast to Seek Shelter from Tornado

The tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest on Sunday, leveling neighborhoods and killing at least six, were preceded by alerts from news stations trying to warn people of the danger and explain how to take precautions. But a pair of meteorologists from NBC affiliate WEEK in Peoria, Ill., found themselves in the middle of the story when, during a live broadcast, they were forced to take cover.

Outgoing New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter posted a snippet of the video to his YouTube page, where it has been viewed more than 175,000 times. In the video's description, Stelter explains that seven minutes after the broadcast, weather anchors Sandy Gallant and Chuck Collins came back and said, "We just had a very scary situation to report. WEEK's TV studio was hit by what appears to be a tornado. We could hear the sound of a train right outside of our station." The anchors said there was damage to the northwest section of the station's property.

This is not the first time a news team has experienced Mother Nature's wrath during a live broadcast. Just this past May, a weather forecaster and employees of NBC affiliate KSN in Wichita, Kan., sought shelter during a tornado. And in 2008, Indiana's WFIE Sunrise team's weather report was interrupted, that time by an earthquake.

Visit this page for ways you can help the victims of the tornadoes in the Midwest.