What Nobody Tells You About Surviving a Tornado

At 1:00 AM, five jet engines worth of wind tore the roof and walls off his house with his whole family inside. Jon Edlin survived an EF3 tornado in Nashville, jumping on top of his seven-year-old daughter as the windows exploded one after another. Everybody made it out alive. Then the real work started.

In this one, Jon tells me what those ten seconds actually felt like, the year of 1 AM panic attacks and EMDR therapy that followed, and how he rebuilt through his PSI Method: Power, Smart, Important. We get into survivor's guilt, why men need to talk it out, the barber who saved him, and how a tornado go bag turned the worst night of his life into a mission.

Real story, real heart, and a plan that might save your life.

Get Jon's book, The PSI Method, on Amazon.
Website: https://www.jonedlin.com
Tornado Go Bag: https://www.tornadosmart.com

Want to be a guest on Drink O'Clock? Send us a message on PodMatch here: podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/drinkoclock

Know someone who'd be great to interview? Txt us!

Support the show

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:36):
We're live on another Thirsty Thursday.
The best day of the week,because for some reason they
called it Thirsty Thursday.
I don't know what the historybehind that is, but I guess it
I'm guessing it's becauseThirsty and Thursday start with
the same letters.
I don't know fucking know.
I'm sure some internet trollwill tell me back in 1870, here
after they were puttinghorseshoes on horses.

(00:58):
What's that?
My wife is behind the greenscreen, and uh she told me it's
because you're thirsty for theweekend.
And I agree.
I am pretty thirsty for theweekend.
Uh but anyway, listen, guys, myguest tonight survived having
his house completely destroyedby a tornado at one in the
morning with his whole familyinside the fucking house.
Somehow, everybody made it outunharmed.

(01:20):
Instead of moving on, this manbuilt a business out of it.
He's the founder of EdlinTornado Solutions.
He's a speaker, an author, and aguy who genuinely believes you
can grow through the worstmoments of your life.
Welcome to the show, John.
Thanks.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Yeah, man.
Cheers, brother.
I know you're drinking an ITO.

SPEAKER_03 (01:40):
That's right, yeah.
So good.
I love how you're like, insteadof moving on, he did this.
But that is part of the processof moving on from me, man.
It was like, you know, the onlyway to move on for me was
actually to do what I'm doingnow.
Really.

SPEAKER_00 (01:56):
Yeah.
I mean, look, when I so I when Iwas going through your stuff,
and um that's my first uh epicintro.
I'm trying to do something alittle new.
It was epic, it was really good.
Episode 155 or something.
I'm like, ah, fuck it.
I'll try something new today.
Um because I think it's prettycool, man.
Um, you know, I well, obviously,I'm sure at the time it wasn't
pretty cool, but um, I thinkyour experience, and and that's

(02:19):
that's what makes us human,right?
It's the experiences in ourlives that end up taking us to a
particular place that you didn'tthink you'd ever be.
That's right.
Um now before we get into thefateful day and everything that
happened, talk to me a littlebit about growing up, dude.
You know, what you know, um youcould talk about what area you
grew up in, where you're at, uhwhat you you know, what you got

(02:39):
into, like, you know, and andgrowing up, man.

SPEAKER_03 (02:42):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So grew up in Kansas City, uh,just you know, normal suburban
kind of life.
Um Chiefs fan?
A huge Chiefs fan.
Uh and so like.
Sorry about the Super Bowl.
Well, you know, we had a we hada few good ones before that.
So that's true.
I just try to forget.
That's right.

(03:02):
That's right.
Yeah.
So yeah, I mean, in the 90s,though, like you had Joe
Montana, you had Neil Smith, youhad, you know, Derek Thomas and
all this stuff.
So 90s was pretty good.
And then like 2000s, we just hita real bad spot until Mahomes
came and you know, we destroyedthe Eagles that one time, and
then you destroyed us.
So I, you know, I get it.
Um I'm actually listening.
I'm listening to the Kelseybrothers um Audible book that

(03:26):
they just came out called NoDumb Questions, and it's
hilarious.
So I feel like there's there'sconnection, right?
Like between us now because yougot the Kelsey's, you know, that
we can we can connect on.

SPEAKER_00 (03:35):
Um yeah, he's a staple here at this point.
He's just a beer chugging,bearded guy that just he played,
he his pinky would be fuckinghanging off, and the dude would
still play, dude.
I mean, he's just you gottarespect it.
You always gotta respect it.

SPEAKER_03 (03:49):
No doubt.
Yeah, it's a fun, it's been afun book to listen to.
I think it came out on Tuesday.
Not that I'm doing a plug-on forthem.
Um, but if I am, like they couldsend me some money, you know.
I'll have to take a look at it,right?
Yeah.
Um, but uh yeah, so I just grewup in Kansas City, uh, super
normal, kind of like suburbanlife.
Uh, and just to tie in, becausea lot of people ask, like, oh,

(04:09):
you grew up in Kansas City, yougrew up in Kansas, so you must
have like been around a tornadoor like seen a tornado.
It's like, nope.
And then even when they hearthat I was hit by a tornado,
they're like, oh yeah, KansasCity, you probably got hit.
Nope.
Got hit in Nashville.
I moved to Nashville.
So so like I was in Kansas City,um, and then uh we moved out to
Nashville in 2016, and then 2020is when the tornado hit.

(04:30):
So it's kind of ironic.
It's like you come from Kansaswhere everybody's like, you
know, oh, you're not in Kansasanymore, quote, and Wizard of Oz
and stuff.
And then we actually get hit bya tornado in Nashville.
So the irony's uh definitelythere.
And then yeah, we moved back toKansas City here uh four years
ago.
So that's where I'm at now, ismy hometown.
So Midwest boy.

SPEAKER_00 (04:51):
That's awesome, man.
So that's got to be prettyfucking wild.
So I've been to Nashville once.
We had a a meeting there for mymy day job, and uh it was wild,
man.
I mean, it was uh I think it'swild.

SPEAKER_03 (05:03):
Bachelorette uh party uh uh you know, party
place.

SPEAKER_00 (05:06):
Yeah, so like I think our meeting was like on a
uh it was either a Tuesday or aWednesday.
And we go down down to downtownBroadway, because um we had a
bunch of like our our uh ourage.
I work in the insurance world,so a bunch of our uh brokers
were say, you know, come down tohere, this bar, whatever.

(05:29):
So we went down and it's justfucking mobbed.
There's buses, there's there'slive music fucking everywhere.
And I'm like, and I come fromPhilly, and it's not like our,
you know, if you go to CenterCity, it's not like it's dead,
but it's nothing like that.

SPEAKER_03 (05:46):
Dude, it's it's an experience, no doubt.
It is.
And I I literally worked rightthere off of Broadway.
Uh and so we would, I worked fora SaaS company out there, and uh
anytime clients would come in,they just, you know, it's like
it was almost like we call NashVegas, you know, because they
just go crazy and they just beon Broadway, and there's
literally Tootsie's.
I don't know if you, you know,you probably went into a lot of

(06:07):
different bars and stuff, butTootsie's has three levels, and
each level, each floor has adifferent house band.

SPEAKER_00 (06:15):
We I think we did go there.

SPEAKER_03 (06:17):
I think we did go there.

SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
Yeah.
But that's where we did theIrish We did the Irish goodbye
there.
Me and my buddy looked at eachother and he was like, he's
like, yeah, I'm getting an Uber.
I'm like, I'm coming with you.
Because we uh we were on ourfeet, dude.
I was on my feet for uh it hadto have been like 12 or 13
hours.
And I would have been cool if Iwas in my early 20s, but like

(06:38):
I'll be 40 this year.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (06:45):
Yeah, yeah.
You can't you can't do what youused to, no doubt.

SPEAKER_00 (06:48):
Yeah.
On my feet, and I mean, I was inat the time, I didn't know that
Kohl Hans were a thing.
So I was wearing$50 slip-ondress shoes that are not good
for your legs.
No.
So, and I was like uh probably50 pounds heavier at that time.
So it was even worse on top ofit.

(07:09):
So uh, but it was wild, man.
I mean, um that I heard at thispoint they're like I said, I
always say that they're up andcoming, but they're there.
Like there's no up and coming.
Like if you're trying to buy ahouse in Nashville, it is not
cheap.

SPEAKER_03 (07:22):
Yeah, no doubt.
I mean, yeah, we were we wererenting because we were just
priced out of the market and Ihad a good job, and you know, we
should have been able to buy inlike a normal area, but moving
from Kansas City, we owned ahouse in Kansas City and uh just
you know didn't didn't have thefunds to to make it happen in
Nashville.
But uh but we live I mean welived really close to downtown,
like 10 10 uh minutes away fromdowntown.

(07:43):
So yeah, so it was pretty coollike to work downtown, uh to you
know, to live close to downtown.
Like it it's a cool vibe, butit's also a lot.

SPEAKER_00 (07:54):
Yeah, I mean I I don't know if I could that
that's like for me is adestination.
I don't know if I could dealwith that all the time because
let's be honest, people fuckingsuck.
For sure, man.
Especially because you, youknow, if you're dealing with
Broadway, you're getting it'sjust like going to LA and going
to, you know, the fucking umcelebrity aisle, celebrity walk,

(08:16):
right?
And seeing the the stars andshit.
It's the same concept, exceptit's just you know, all country
bands and and drinking, whereasin LA it's just like a lot of
homeless people and thecelebrity stars, you know.

SPEAKER_03 (08:28):
But I mean it's fun when people like come into town
because you can show them a goodtime, but day to day, you're
just like, I'm not going toBroadway, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (08:37):
So what's like in Philly, it's like you try to,
you know, if you come down here,uh well, I guess in your case,
if you come over here, um, youknow, it's like, oh, well, I'm
gonna get a cheesesteak.
Well, you're not getting it,don't go to the fucking G Pats
and Genios.
That's the place that you see onTV.
You don't want that.
That's not where Philadelphiansgo for a cheesesteak.
And I'm sure if I if I came toyou and said, hey, I want good

(08:59):
barbecue, you're not gonna tellme to go to fucking mission
barbecue.
Right, right.
You know, you're gonna be like,everyone has their spots for
certain prices.
Um I'm trying to think where Iwent.
I was in Kansas City once.
I'm trying to think where theytook us for barbecue.
What's like the two top spots?

SPEAKER_03 (09:14):
Well, Joe's Joe's KC is so good.
Yeah, Joe's KC is where I went.
And they got the thing calledthe Z-Man.
I don't know what you got there,but the Z-Man sandwich, I cried
the first time I had it, is sogood.
I'm telling you, man.
It's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 (09:28):
That place ruined me for burn ends.
Oh.
I didn't know because like wedon't have burn ends in Philly,
dude.
And if we do, it's it's like ifI type in burn ends in Doordash,
you're not getting shit.
Like, it is it it like the beefjust fucking melts in your
mouth.

SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
It is like that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 (09:46):
If you're if you're listening to this, get burnt
ends.
I don't care where the fuck youare on the planet, burn ends
change your life.
I'm I'm thinking, I'msalivating, just thinking about
it.

SPEAKER_03 (09:56):
Yeah, yeah.
No, it's a I I even say it's alittle bit like a crispy cream
donut, where it does like melt.
It just you put it in your andit just melts.
And if it's good, it melts inyour mouth.
Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 (10:06):
If it's like Arby's burn ends, you know, it's not.
You're gonna be like, uh, likewhat do you what are you doing
there, you know?
Yeah.
But uh, all right, enough.
I digress because that's what wedo here on the fucking drink a
clock podcast.
Take us back to 107 a.m.
March 3rd, man.
What's the the last ordinarymoment you remember before your

(10:29):
whole life changed?
You know, it's uh it's kind ofan embarrassing one because he's
like, I was taking a shit and itwas it was a great shit.

SPEAKER_03 (10:38):
Oh, no, that would actually be that would be funny.
No, it was so, you know, growingup in Kansas City, you know a
lot about tornadoes and and youkind of like think, oh yeah, you
know, big tornadoes can comethrough and all that.
But I thought I knew a lot abouttornadoes, and literally that
night before I went to bed,there was like a severe risk.

(10:59):
And my wife was like, uh, youknow, what would happen if we
were in tornado?
Because we don't have abasement.
And I was like, ah, I was like,Nashville tornadoes, they just
like skip on the hills.
Like they're they're Nashvilletornadoes aren't anything like
Kansas tornadoes.
Like, like they're they'rethere's small little weak
tornadoes.
We literally live in a valley.

SPEAKER_00 (11:15):
So are you still getting shit for that?

SPEAKER_03 (11:18):
Uh well, I shouldn't have to do it.
100%.

SPEAKER_00 (11:21):
100%.

SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
All right, go on.

SPEAKER_03 (11:24):
So so I literally said that.
It's like 10, it's like 10o'clock at night.
Like kids are in bed, they'refive and seven at the time.
Uh kids are in bed.
We were watching, you know, thenews and they had mentioned
that, and I was like, ah, it'sno big deal.
So we go to bed, no, no worries.
At 1 a.m., my alarm goes off onmy phone, and it's like tornado
warning, seek shelterimmediately.
Same thing.

(11:44):
I'm just like, Nashville.
You guys don't like I'm justlike, whatever.
I almost went back to bed, likehonestly.
Uh, but I was like, ah, I shouldprobably get up and just check,
you know.
So I turn on the TV, and it wasthe same meteorologist gal, and
she was like, her eyes were big.
She's like, there's a tornado onthe ground in East Nashville.
And we're 10 miles east of EastNashville, like exactly.

(12:06):
And I'm like, okay, holy cow,like it, because I could see on
the radar, like, this isserious.
So I kind of start to get alittle bit panicky.
I'm like, okay, we got to geteverybody to the hallway because
we don't have a basement.
So put everybody, you know, intothe hallway.
Kids are like not even awake.
They're just like half asleep,you know.
It's 1 a.m.
So it's like, uh, and I'mthinking we're just gonna kind
of like be in the hallway, andthen it's gonna, the tornado

(12:28):
sirens are gonna stop and we'llbe done.
Like all the time, you know?
And as soon as I go to shut thelast door, because like we were
in this little ranch house, andall the doors shut to the
hallway, which ended up beinggood for us.
It was an old house.
I was getting ready to shut thatlast door, and I could hear the
sound, and they talk about beinglike a train, but it's more like

(12:51):
five jet engines that likerumble your chest and just
absolutely terrify you.
Like, you know, you're like, ohshit, like this is not good.
And so I'm like, it's coming.
I shut the door, jump on top ofmy little seven-year-old
daughter, and as soon as I do,windows pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,
pop, and my ears pop.
And then all this wind just isjust like overtaking us, and

(13:13):
it's bouncing us back and forth,back and forth in between the
hallway.
And I'm just like, this doorbehind me is gonna blow open.
I'm just gonna be thrown intothe front yard.
And as soon as I thought that Imean it felt like 30 minutes,
but it was probably like, Idon't know, six seconds or 10
seconds, then it was just done.
And it was just silence, andeverybody was okay.

(13:33):
And I looked around, everybodywas, you know, we were all just
kind of in shock of what washappening or what had happened.

SPEAKER_00 (13:39):
And that's crazy, dude.
That's so crazy.

SPEAKER_03 (13:43):
What's going on?
Like, this is this is like youdon't know how to process what
just happened.
It was it was insane.
Um, and so we did we uh I openedup the door because I'm like,
there's glass everywhere, Igotta get shoes on, you know,
because you don't want to stepon glass.
And I opened up the door to mykids' room, and it's like a
movie scene.
It's like orange sky, and allthe trees and you know,

(14:06):
neighborhoods just like looklike a bomb went off.
There's no ceiling, there's nowall.
That's why I can tell you whatthe neighborhood looked like
because there was no ceiling inour wall or anything.
Like, it's just like crazy.
And I just out of shock, like,just shut the door, and I looked
at my wife and I was like, Well,their room's gone.
And I was like, maybe I'll checkour room.
Maybe I can get your shoes.
So I open up the door to theirand brick wall, boom, right on

(14:29):
top of our bed.
Ceiling's gone, everything'sgone.
And I'm like, what are we gonnado?
So you call 911, you know,right?
Well, they're busy because itjust went through East
Nashville.
So I'm like, aren't we supposedto hear like firefighters and
policemen coming for us at thispoint?
Nothing.
And we're just there just alone,neighbors aren't out coming out,

(14:51):
nobody's coming out, and we'rejust sitting there alone in this
eerie silence, smelling propane,cut wood, mud.
I mean, just all the smells.
And I'm like, what what am Igonna do?
Like it was just it was just aninsane experience.
Um, and a lot of shock, a lot ofadrenaline.
And uh, and then you just youjust try to think through your

(15:13):
options, and we had to get outof the house, but our driveway
was completely blocked.
The uh there was a huge treethat fell on both of our cars.

SPEAKER_00 (15:21):
Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 (15:23):
And it's like, okay, so I call my cousin.
Of course it's 1 a.m.
So my cousin's not answering.
He lives just like 10 miles downthe road, and he's not
answering.
So I call my dad in Kansas Cityand he picks up.
And I was like, Dad, we just gothit by a tornado.
Call Jamie until he picks up.
Call my cousin until he so hedoes.
And then he finally texts me.
He's like, Okay, Jamie's on hisway.
Well, it took Jamie like twohours to get there, and when he

(15:44):
did, he could only get likethree blocks close.
And so we're just like trying tolike move the glass out of the
way so the kids can like go backto sleep and kind of sleep in
this like destroyed house.
And then Jamie texts me, he'slike, Hey, I'm three blocks up
the road, I'm gonna try to getto you.
There's power lines down,there's like trees down, it's
just insane.

(16:04):
But we just had to do the bestwe could, just trying to keep
the kids safe, holding them,walking them three blocks up the
road to get to my cousin's car,and then you know, we got we got
to safety.
So that was that was that night.
It was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 (16:17):
So so for for starters, the house had to be
built pretty well.
That at le at least you guys inthe hallway didn't get affected
outside of just kind of gettingtossed around, right?

SPEAKER_03 (16:31):
I mean, it's gonna be I will say this.
I will give myself some credithere, which is you want to go
into the innermost part of thehouse because a tornado, the way
that it works is like it'll takethe roof and the top, you know,
the top floors off, obviously,and then the side walls cut cave
in or suck out.
So you want to be in theinnermost part, and that's where

(16:51):
we were in the hallway.
And so that that is the goodnews.
And uh, and it was, I mean, in asense, you kind of get lucky
too, because it was an EF3,which is not as big as an EF5.
So if we were like in the Joplintornado, no chance.
Like, that's over.

SPEAKER_02 (17:06):
Wow.

SPEAKER_03 (17:06):
You're done.
So yeah, there's a lot offactors that go into it.

SPEAKER_00 (17:11):
I've only seen obviously I born in born and
bred here, so I've seen Ihaven't even seen it.
I I dealt with one tornado whenI was maybe seven and it had
touched down like in ourbackyard, basically.
Um and it but it just knocked atree down.

(17:33):
Like didn't smaller, like asmaller one, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Uh we don't get that likebecause like uh Philly's not
like inland enough to miss someof it, but we're not Jersey, you
know?
So Jersey gets hit with thebrunt of it.
Sure.
Umricanes where you know seriousthough.

(17:53):
Yeah, where we were more on theoutskirts, we weren't on like
the inside where we're gettingfucking decimated.

SPEAKER_03 (18:00):
Um I don't like the I don't like all that water in
hurricanes.
Like hurricanes terrify me morethan tornadoes because of all
that water, it's like you gethit with the winds and then it's
like you got flood and you'retrying to get it, it sounds
awful.

SPEAKER_00 (18:14):
Yeah, I don't know if I'd I don't know what I'd
rather, you know.
Like, do you do you rather afucking like cat three or four
hurricane or tornado, you know?
So it's like we have a sumppump, so we live we actually
live in an in-law suite in ourin our in our house.
Uh we could live upstairs, butum it's cooler down here.
It's a you know, it's a fullyredone basement, so but we have

(18:37):
a sump pump down here that hasprobably saved our lives a
couple times from some prettycrazy rain.
Because sometimes, dude, we getfucking wild.
The Northeast is weird, okay?
And I've talked about this onthe podcast a couple times, but
we get the worst of the weather.
Now we don't necessarily like wewill get a tornado or hurricane,
like we'll get those every nowand again.

(18:58):
But if it's hot, it's hot.
If it's cold, it's fucking cold.
Like we get the worst of both.
Like, and it I don't know foryou guys if it's been weird this
year.
Like we had a week where it was85 degrees, and then for two
weeks straight, it was in the40s and 50s in April.

(19:20):
And it, you know, we're like,I'm breaking out the shorts.
I'm like, yeah.
And then before you know it, I'mlike, I'm still wearing fucking
light jackets to work.
And then we're at 98 degreeslast week on Sunday, you know.
So it's like we we don't getthat middle ground weather at
all here.
Which I don't know if that's agood or a bad thing.

SPEAKER_03 (19:43):
Yeah.
I mean, you know, it it keepsyou on your toes.
And there's a lot of things likewhen I think about, yeah, the
people who live just in that 72degrees, you know, San Diego
kind of weather, I'm like, youkind of miss a little bit of
that extremism where you feellike, yeah, I'm going out, I'm
putting on my coat.
I'm gonna go out in this zerodegree weather, like that kind
of thing, which I kind of like.

(20:03):
I hate the cold, dude.

SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
I I really do.
Um I you know, as as I've aged,snow has become a friend where
it gets you, because in thepast, right, before COVID, if it
snowed really bad, work withclose.
There was no work from home.
I could they're like, hey, we'reclosed, you're getting paid.
Hallelujah.
So I'm like, you know, I neverforget we had a snow day once,

(20:26):
and and the wifey's likesleeping, and they're like,
Yeah, no work today.
I got the text.
And I'm jumping on the bed.
And that was like yeah.
And now it's like those days aregone.
Yeah, now now because I work inan office, so it's like um
they're more likely to just belike, hey, everyone stay safe,
work from home.

(20:46):
But there's no, you know, youget off and you get paid.
That doesn't exist anymore,which fucking sucks.

SPEAKER_03 (20:52):
I know.
Those were the days.
Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 (20:56):
Our generation is like, I don't know, man.
I feel like it's one of a kind.
Um we got to experience it.
You know, I see a lot ofTikToks, and maybe it's just
because I'm nostalgic, but theyshow you things.
It's like you see like that, theAI videos where it's like life
in the 90s.

(21:17):
And uh, you know, they'replaying uh Pokemon on their Game
Boy with a with a worm light,you know, and where they're
trying to play it in the carwith the street lights, you
know?

SPEAKER_03 (21:30):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (21:30):
And um, I saw a comedian making fun of CDs.
He was he was saying, hey, youdon't fucking understand what
what we had to deal with.
He's like, we had the interneton a CD, and I forgot about AOL
on CDs.
He said, What the fuck did theCD even do?
You know, like true.

SPEAKER_03 (21:46):
I don't know.
Yeah.
I just remember getting a bunchof them in the mail, and then,
you know, I don't I don't evenknow what that was, but it was a
lot of CDs.

SPEAKER_00 (21:54):
AOL 3.0, 4.0.
I don't I don't really know whatthe fuck any of it did.

SPEAKER_03 (21:58):
But uh and like Discmens, you're you're in the
car, you know, like you said,you're in the car, and then you
hit a bump, and it's like, youknow, and so you've got to get
like the 30x, you know, skipprotection, and that's like$80,
or you could get the the 10% orthe 10x skip protection, and all
those things are just so funnyto think back on.

SPEAKER_00 (22:19):
I I'll never forget this.
I don't know if I ever talkedabout this on the podcast, but I
was uh my first job, I was a bagboy at Acme.
It was um I grew up in King ofPressure, so it was probably
like 10, five minutes from myhouse, not even it was 10
minutes maybe.
And uh I would they would haveme do carts, which is the

(22:39):
fucking worst.
If you're a card person, Godbless you.
Like you're fucking out there,it's 95 degrees, or it's snowing
or it's raining, and you gottawear a fucking tarp.
It's just awful.
Well, uh I was listening to M.
I think it was his first CD, andI had a disc man, and in order

(23:01):
to get shit done, I would runaround the fucking lot.
Like I wasn't like, I wasn'tlike the generation now, dude.
You see the fucking cartoonsnow, they're just like taking
their time.
No, I was jogging, I went to getthat shit done ASAP.
There was not a single fuckingcart in that whole parking lot
that I didn't fucking have putaway.
And I'll never forget, I'mrunning so fast, and it's just

(23:22):
constantly skipping.
Constantly, every single time.
And I'm like, I'm like, oh, thisis so fucking annoying.
You know, I wish they wouldchange this.
Uh, but here we are in the 21stcentury where you could just
have magical music in yourpocket.

SPEAKER_03 (23:37):
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah, but we still we crave thevinyl records, even though,
like, I don't know if you are,but I I I get the vinyl records
and uh I don't know why, becausewe have great digital music, but
I'm I'm just gonna listen to thevinyls.

SPEAKER_00 (23:52):
There's just here's my rant of this episode, maybe.
I don't know.
There maybe there'll be anotherone.
There's just so much shit foryou to consume now.

SPEAKER_02 (24:00):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (24:01):
Right?
I mean, think about it when wewere kids.
Like you had to you had to waitfor something to come on, and if
you missed it, you're fucked.
You're gonna wait for a rerun.
And now it's like I could tapelive TV if I want, or uh I have
literally every streaming showthat you could think of.

(24:21):
Uh like I have Apple TV, I haveNetflix, I have Peacock, I have
uh I got rid of HBO Max becauseI'll wait until fucking Thrones
comes out.
But you know, it's like there'scertain things that I'll have,
and and I have access to 8,000different shows and movies, and
I don't watch a fucking onepercent of it.
Like, think about that.

SPEAKER_02 (24:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (24:44):
This world, man, the world we live in.
Um, I digress.
So listen, what did that firstweek after the event look like
for you?
I mean, where does a family ofyour size like if I I'm
guessing, like, look, if it'sjust you and your wife, it's a
different story, right?
I feel like it could be a littlebit more adaptable.
What's a family of your size?
Where do you even go?
Like, how do you handle that?

SPEAKER_03 (25:04):
Yeah, I mean, it it's something where you're
really just trying to tomentally process what happened,
and then you have to do like theactual logistic things, like get
a car.
And so it's crazy because that,you know, we're over at my uh
cousin's house and the kids fallback asleep and you know, the
guest bed, and it's at thatpoint, it's almost six o'clock
in the morning, and I'm startingto get texts from friends that

(25:26):
are like, Hey, I saw a tornadohit, you know, around your
house.
Like, are you okay?
And they're expecting a textback to be like, Yeah, fine.
But instead, I'm like, house isgone, almost didn't make it out
there alive.
And then they're like, Well,what can I do to help?
And so that's what I had to dowas like get a car, find a place
to live.
So we uh got an extended stayhotel place for like two weeks.

(25:49):
Not ideal, like for a family offour, but um, but it worked.
And then you got to rememberthis happened March 3rd, 2020.
So what happens two weeks later?
COVID.

SPEAKER_00 (25:58):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 (25:59):
Which in some ways was nice because the whole world
shut down.
So I didn't have to go into theoffice anymore.
I remember going back into theoffice after tornado, and then
three days later, they're like,everybody out of the office,
like you know.
So it was nice because then wegot to do like just kind of all
just be together, and we endedup renting a house down the road
from where the house wasdestroyed.
Because I mean it was completelydestroyed.

(26:20):
They had to like everything,total loss, everything inside of
it, even the things that wethought we could keep, had so
much insulation and stuff likethat inside the uh the cloth and
and all over the place, like wejust had to to throw it away.
So it's like all that logisticstuff that happens where you're
like have to have to kind oftake it one step at a time and

(26:42):
deal with it, but you're alsolike mentally trying to figure
it out.
So crazy story at 1 a.m.
every single night for threemonths, I would wake up and I
would relive the whole thing.
And it was like on the dot.
It was crazy.

(27:03):
Like I would wake up in like apanic and I'd be like, oh, what
time?
And I'd look at the clock.
It's like 1 a.m.
It was like Groundhog's Day,like it was just crazy, like it
was every single night, and Iwould literally shake, and I
would have to go like some, likeI would get out of bed, and
because we were like in a littlehotel, you know, for a while,
like I went to the bathroom andI just started uh putting in my
notes section in my cell phone,like listed out everything that

(27:25):
happened, like trying to take iteach moment at a time because
your brain's trying to processall that.
So I'm doing that in the middleof the night, and then I wake up
in the morning and I gotta likefigure out, you know, call
insurance and get the kids uh uhuh all their different stuffed
animals that they lost and tryto find those on Amazon and have
them shipped to our house andall these different things.

(27:47):
Well, you're also grateful thatyou didn't get hurt.
I mean, this tornado was on theground for 63 miles, it killed
25 people.
Damn.
So you're also kind of almostdealing with this survivor's
guilt in a sense, as well, oflike, well, why did we survive?
But then also a little bit upsetbecause it's like, well, the
house next to us, the way thetornadoes work, it's like the
house next to us didn't evenlose a shingle.
And it's like, why wouldn't webe in that house?

(28:08):
So you got all these likedifferent emotions that are
happening on top of the factthat you have to logistically
figure stuff out.
And it took a long time for meto even be able to retell the
story like I did to you.
Uh, it took over a year becauseI had to end up going to
counseling and doing this thingcalled EMDR, which is like this
eye movement um thing.

(28:28):
I don't know if you've heard ofit before, but it was crazy, but
it actually unlocked the traumain my body.
And uh, and it helped me be ableto like tell the story without
shaking.
So you know, so it's just it wasit was a long road, uh, for
sure.

SPEAKER_00 (28:44):
Is it kind of like uh like hypnotherapy?
I've had a couple hypnotherapypeople on the show.

SPEAKER_03 (28:50):
Yeah, I mean, um it, yeah, because like your eyes,
you're you close your eyes, andand for me, I think different
therapists do it differently,but they had like headphones on,
it was like beep, beep, beep,back and forth.
And so your eyes kind of go backand forth, just like I would
assume hypno.
I haven't done hypno stuff, butum, and then it allows your
brain to kind of unlock thattrauma, and then the counselor

(29:11):
that guides you through andsays, Okay, like imagine you're
on a train and you're drivingpast this memory of what it was
like in the hallway, you know,and then I have to kind of say
that while it's beep, beep, beepjust for like two minutes.
And as I'm saying it, I hadnever been able to say it
before.
Like if somebody asked me thatwithout the little beep beep in
my ear, I wouldn't do it.
I just wouldn't even go there.
My brain's like, nope, not gonnasay it.

(29:32):
And I'll just be like, I don'tknow, I don't know, I don't
remember.
But instead, like for whateverreason, with that beep beep
thing, it unlocked it and I wasable to say it, and my whole
body was shaking while I wassaying it.
And then we just kept doing wedid like six sessions like that.
And then after the six sessions,I was like, oh, wow, I can talk
about this.
It was it was crazy.

(29:53):
It was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 (29:55):
Look, man, I I was gonna be a psychologist growing
up.
That's that's where me and thewife met.
I met her in college in apsychology class.

SPEAKER_02 (30:01):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (30:02):
Um, and it's an obsession of mine, is learning
how the the brain works.
And it's wild to think, like,especially now in today's day
and age, um, you know, we haveall this technology, but it's
something as simple as a beepbeep and talking about it that
that can get you through atrauma.
Where in the past they'd belike, well, here you either

(30:24):
here's a pill or uh get over it,be a man, right?
And right.

SPEAKER_03 (30:29):
I'm which I wouldn't have been opposed to the pill.
Like I wouldn't have uh beenopposed to that, but I I wanted
to try this first.
And a friend had told me aboutit, and I was like, okay, I'll
try it.
And I'm glad I did because it itworked.
I was surprised.
I didn't expect it to work, butit did.

SPEAKER_00 (30:43):
Look, I'm a big proponent of take meds when you
need them.
That's right.
Right.
Um my stepdad growing up, and mystepmom, who is no longer with
us, uh had bipolar.
And they, I mean, it never goesaway, you know.
So they they they need meds.
Yeah.
I don't think everybody needsmedication.
Um, you know, I'm all abouttalking it out if you can.

(31:06):
But sometimes, man, you know,especially when you go through
trauma and shit like that, man,dude, the the id ego, all that
shit just absorbs all of that.
And then it just never fuckinggoes away unless you find a way
to bring it, bring it out.

SPEAKER_03 (31:21):
Right.
Well, I mean, let me tell youlike where I was like struggling
the most.
So anytime there was a severeweather threat that happened, my
mind would literally just turnoff, it'll go into fight,
flight, or freeze, and I wouldfreeze.
Like I couldn't think.
So I remember I was in sales atthe time, and I was back in the
office, you know, because thisis a whole year after a tornado,

(31:43):
and I would be like on a salescall, and then I would get a
little alert on my phone thatdidn't, it wasn't like tornado
warning, tornado watch,anything.
It was just like severe weatherexpected tonight.
And I would just shut down.
Like I could not do anything.
And I have to tell my boss,like, I gotta go.
So I would then just lay in thebed, I would go home, I would
lay in bed, shaking, and justrefresh the radar until the

(32:04):
storm passed for hours, likefour or five hours.
So that's where I was at.
And then it was actually mybarber who told me about the eye
movement thing.
And uh, and I was like, Yeah,man, I'll try anything.
So I did that, and it literallytook that away.
So big fan of that.

SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
Wow.
So, so how is it for you now?
Like, do you still have kind ofthat a little bit of PTSD or not
at all, dude.

SPEAKER_03 (32:28):
So, so the way that I tested this, you know,
Twister, the movie right fromthe 90s, and you know Twisters.

SPEAKER_00 (32:34):
Twister one is the best, the is the best movie.

SPEAKER_03 (32:37):
Right, but Twisters came out, the Twister Two, uh,
what, like a year ago, maybe ortwo?
Maybe in the theater.
Okay, yeah, it's pretty simplerecently.
That was my test.
So I went to the movie theater,and I'm like, if I can if I can
feel all this with like all the,you know, I'm like, then that
EMDR shit worked, right?
And uh, and so I sat there andI'm like, let's go.

(33:00):
And I came out of there feelinggreat, and I was like, done.
And I mean, think about it, andyou know, I'm like you
mentioned, author, speaker.
That's what I speak about.
I speak about tornado safety.
I tell my story all the time.
And I wouldn't be able to dothat without having gone through
that.
Uh, I watch storm chasingvideos.
Uh, I like if whenever there's atornado warning here, it's okay

(33:23):
because, well, one, we have abasement, so that's that's nice.
Uh, but we have a plan and likewe know about it, and like I
know when it's coming, and I'vejust like I've I've really
jumped into education, and Iwouldn't have even been able to
do the education if I wasn't uhlike healed from all the trauma
because uh my brain justwouldn't have allowed me to
immerse myself in uh tornadoeducation without you know

(33:49):
getting past that trauma thatwas kind of the roadblock.
So now I get to like speak, Ijust speak about overcoming
adversity, I speak about uhtornado safety and training,
especially to like kids and helpthem with their storm anxiety.
Because a lot of kids have stormanxiety who've never seen a
tornado, never been around atornado, but they just, you
know, it can be scary in themiddle of the night to hear loud
thunder and hear the tornadosirens go off.

(34:11):
That can be a scary thing.
But if you know that you have aplan, like your storm anxiety
goes way down.
So I get to see that every day.
And I just, I just freaking loveit.
Like it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 (34:21):
Yeah, I mean, I I have a buddy uh that I work
with, Dustin, who is shout out,Dusty, who's who is afraid of
heights.
And like, dude, I flew with him.
He like white knuckles, youknow, as we're flying.
And he he's still to this day,he's gotten a lot better because
he flies a lot more, but uh hestill, you know, will get a
little jittery and he alwaysends up getting the flight

(34:42):
that's like just fucking stupid,right?
You know, it's like has apressure drop or something
crazy.
But yeah um he he actually triedto get rid of his fear of of
flying by going skydiving.
He's done it twice.
Yeah.
And love that uh that's awesome.
It has not necessarily fixed ita hundred percent, okay, but
it's got it got him to the pointwhere he has two Tito's and he

(35:04):
gets on a flight, he's good, youknow.
But that's amazing.
Um I think it's funny how youknow, if you have an issue like
that, you just take it head on.

SPEAKER_03 (35:11):
Yeah, yeah.
I think, you know, I'm sureeverybody's different, but
definitely for me, that was theway to go.
And uh, gosh, like so glad.
So glad I did.

SPEAKER_00 (35:20):
You know what we need to do?
We need to get you in the spherein Vegas when they're doing the
uh the Wizard of Oz shit.

SPEAKER_03 (35:26):
No, I I 100% wanted to do that.
Like, I thought that would be Isaw a CBS Sunday morning about
it.
Yeah, I love CBS the othermorning.
Um, I guess because I'm 40,right?
And that's like I gotta be old.

SPEAKER_00 (35:38):
It's a 40 thing to say.
You're not sure.
You're not 40.

SPEAKER_03 (35:40):
I'm over 40, so I love CBS Sunday morning.
Um, but but yeah, no, it was,and I was like, I gotta go, but
I never ended up going outthere.
I don't think they're doing itanymore.
But if they if they open thatback up, man, let's go.
You and me buying tickets to LasVegas, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 (35:53):
100%, dude.
So Vegas, you know, for mylisteners, they're they'll
probably let you know, they knowthat it's me and the wifey's
favorite place to go.
I love Vegas because we're notmorning people.
We're we're we're night people.
We've always been that way.
So, like, you know, I liketaking a nap at 7 p.m., getting
up at 10, and then just going.
Like, because if you're inVegas, dude, there's no clocks.

(36:14):
You don't fucking know what timeit is.
We'll know what time it is.
You're fucking gone.
We, we the last time we werethere, this maybe two or three
years ago.
Uh, we we passed, we're like, welook at each other, and you
know, we're we're in our 30s, sowe're like, let's take a nap.
We take a nap.
We get up at like 10:30, we'relike, all right, let's go
gamble.
You know, you just go down andgamble.

SPEAKER_03 (36:35):
Love it.
That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (36:37):
There's no uh there's just something special
in my heart about Vegas.
It's not quite like Nashville interms of the streets, but the uh
the the gambling scenario, whichI I I love gambling.
It's it's just a beautifulthing.
I'm not a degenerate gambler,but I'm a degenerate enough to
enjoy it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 (36:54):
Right?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (36:55):
Now it's everywhere.
You can fucking gamble.
I can gamble on like if I'mgonna fart in a CVS tomorrow and
call shit.

SPEAKER_03 (37:01):
You know, is somebody gambling on this
podcast right now, you think?
Like on what we're gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 (37:05):
100%.
They're like, all right, tornadoguy, how many times is he gonna
say tornado?
Is it over under 10, 10 and ahalf, you know?
Um so look, you so you talkabout the simple way to not just
survive adversity, but to growthrough it.
Walk us through, you know, yougot a lot of people that talk
about that, right?
Just grow through it.

(37:26):
What does that actually mean?

SPEAKER_03 (37:28):
Yeah.
I, you know, I mean, it was oneof those things where I kind of
had to go back and look at whatwere things that I did, like
what were the beliefs that I hadright afterwards where I had to
make a choice on like how thiswas gonna define me.
And and so, you know, I came upwith this thing uh called the
PSI method, a little cheesy, butyou know, that's that's just
what you do.

(37:48):
If you're gonna write a book orwhatever, you're gonna make it
cheesy.
Gotta make it memorable.
That's right.
So I wrote a book, PSI method.
It's on Amazon.
Uh, if you know, type that in.
So the PSI method is exactlylike PSI is gonna be like a
tire, you know, where you got tofill up a tire, the PSI.

SPEAKER_00 (38:03):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (38:04):
And uh and after an averse pressure per square inch.
That's right.
You know it.

SPEAKER_00 (38:07):
Hell yeah, baby.
Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 (38:09):
So, you know, like after an inverse situation, you
might feel like your tire'sdeflated, like life's a little
deflated, so you got to pump itback up.
And uh, and the P is gonna standfor power, which is I have the
power to choose how I'm going toreact to this adverse situation.
So I had a choice of saying,like, okay, am I gonna play the
victim mentality and be like,oh, so sad for me, I was hit by

(38:29):
a tornado.
Because I could have, like, Icould have been, that was fine.
Or I could say, hey, like, thisis something I'm gonna learn
from, grow from, and teachothers about.
And uh, and so you have thepower to choose that.
Then smart, I had to remindmyself, that's what the S stands
for, smart.
Because I had to remind myselfthat I was actually smart
because I was kicking myself forlike not knowing enough about

(38:49):
insurance, right?
Because we're not all insurancepeople.

SPEAKER_00 (38:53):
Insurance, I work in the Medicare field specifically,
and it's it's fucked up, man.
Yeah, it's uh it's it's not easyto navigate.

SPEAKER_03 (39:00):
So if you can imagine, like after you lose
your house and you're goingthrough this like traumatic
event and you're scared ofstorms, and then you got to go
talk to this insurance personwho knows everything about
insurance, and they're like,well, you got to fill out the
PSI and the Pla-la- And I'mlike, the what?
And it's like all this stuff,but you got to remind yourself
that you're smart, and justbecause you don't know
everything about that area, youcan find a friend who does.

(39:22):
And and you don't need to bekicking yourself because I gotta
go to bed, she'd be like, ohman, I'm so dumb.
Oh, I don't know anything aboutthis, and that kind of thing.
So there's a choice to remindyourself that you're smart.
And then the I is for important,that you're important enough to
get help.
Because I did wait a pretty longtime before I decided to get
that EMDR treatment.
And I think that was justbecause I was like, oh no, I
gotta make sure everybody elseis okay, like, and kind of feel

(39:43):
like I'm not important enough towork on myself.
And so that's what I tell peopleis like, if you know somebody
who's going through an adversesituation, make sure that you
tell them, like, hey, you'reimportant enough to get the help
that you need.
And if you're going through anadverse situation, remind
yourself you're important.
So it's power, smart, important.
That's how you fill that tireback up.
And uh, and that's just likelooking back at what the past

(40:06):
six years have been like for me.
Those are the things that I hadto do in order to overcome
adversity.

SPEAKER_00 (40:11):
That's awesome, dude.
And I mean, look, think aboutit, like, and you know, I have a
lot of I have a a lot of malelisteners.
So um we as males over thecentury, as well, probably
forever have been told, suck itup, be a guy, don't talk about
it, don't cry.
Um, I know, you know, obviouslymore recently in today's society

(40:32):
it's changed quite a bit, butit's still be a man, suck it up.
So um I always implore people,you gotta talk it out, man.
Like whether that's like ifyou're afraid to go talk to a
professional, at least talk toyour significant other.
If you don't have a significantother, talk to a parent.
And if you don't have a parent,talk to a friend.
If you don't have a friend, uhyou should probably talk to a

(40:54):
professional, you know.
Right.
There's always so many thingsyou can go through.
Yeah, there's always so manythings you can go through.
You could pay for a counselorwho can be your friend, you
know.
Um, but I think even justsometimes just talking about it
can really relieve a lot ofthose things because you know,
you might act out withoutrealizing it.
Um, you know, in some cases youmight wake up and just not want

(41:17):
to get out of bed.
And sometimes it's good to havesomeone you can text and say,
Hey, I don't feel like gettingout of bed.
And they say, Hey, get out ofbed, man.
Life, life is good, you're good,you're you woke up alive, move
on.
And um, I think that that thatis important, you know, and
look, not everybody has all ofthat, so I get it.
Um, but you know, if you seek itout, like don't just don't just

(41:40):
ignore it.

SPEAKER_03 (41:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
No, I think I think that's good.
And like you mentioned, for guysfor whatever reason, that's just
been hardwired into us, but youcan't do that.
And I think that was a big partof it for that year for me, was
just like, all right, like I'mI'm the dad.
I'm gonna, I got this, you know,I gotta be strong.
You know, you leave it to yourbarber to be like, bro, like you

(42:02):
can do this.
And and I think that's one ofthe cool things, just real
quick, also like if you don'thave a friend, uh talk to your
barber, right?
I mean, it was the cool thingabout in Nashville, it was um it
was a one-chair barber shop, andI'd been going for five years.
And the dude, his name's StephenMason, was just incredible.
And was I mean, just it was justhe was his life-saving and he

(42:25):
knows it, you know.
And and in the book I put, Isay, like, be somebody's barber,
like Steven was to me.
Um, because like you never know.
I mean, that that I think that'san important message that I want
to say is just like look out forthe people who've been through
an adverse situation, look outfor the people who are
struggling and be their barber,be like let them know that
they're important.

(42:46):
Um, because gosh, like I neededthat and I didn't even know I
needed it.
But I was glad that he he knew Idid.

SPEAKER_00 (42:53):
Yeah, yeah.
And I'm look, man, I think it'sjust about being human, you
know.
Um, you know, I I've talkedabout this on my podcast uh you
know plenty of times, but mybrother's an addict.
He's uh four years sober, youknow.
I have a a nephew now, and he'she's got a life.
And I always I always tell him,like, hey, if you ever need
someone, talk to me.

(43:13):
And anytime I ever, I always Ialways try to be for some some
I'm like a magnet for peoplewhen they have issues.
I don't know what it is.
Uh I think I would have I thinkI actually would have made a
pretty good therapist in life.
Uh, but I always tell people,man, like, yeah, look, if you're
going through it, text me, callme, you know.
And I think we as people, if youhave friends or family that are

(43:34):
struggling, just just throw outthat olive branch.
You don't need to do much, youknow, and you'd be surprised how
many people will take it.

SPEAKER_03 (43:41):
That's right.
Yeah.
Yep.
I love that.

SPEAKER_00 (43:44):
And I think that there's we need more of that in
humanity.
Uh and with the with socialmedia and the presence of people
being happy all the time, that'sbullshit.
It's always bullshit.
You know, not everybody's happy24/5.
But they have to throw a smileon, um, you know, just to to
make sure that the listeners arelike, oh, or their their viewers

(44:07):
are you know great.
I'll be the first person to tellyou if I'm in a fucking bad
mood.
Half the time, if like if I'm ina mood, sometimes I'll get in a
mood to a point where I'm like,I don't even feel like doing
this podcast.
And I'll be like, hey, somethinghappened at work and I'll cancel
because I'm just yeah, I can't.
I I I so before this podcast, Istreamed, and streaming video
games is just a different beast.

(44:28):
And I I always tell people arealways like, oh, you you made
money doing video games.
And and yeah, that's that's theconcept, but you have to be on
24-7.

SPEAKER_03 (44:36):
For sure, right?

SPEAKER_00 (44:37):
Yeah, and and you're a sales guy.
I was a sale, I did sales formost of my life up until
recently, and you have to be on.
Yeah, and if you're off, you'renot making money that day, or if
you are, it's not much.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah, 100%.
And there's nothing you can doabout that, you know?
It's like uh so just I think thepoint is is just go fucking talk
to people.

(44:57):
And it's it's important as we ashumans, you can't necessarily go
through everything in lifealone.
Um so uh now when did the ideafor Edlin Tornado Solutions
click?
Was there a specific moment?
Did it build slowly?
Were you thinking about it, youknow, after you, you know, did
your your treatment?
Like, you know, how'd that comeabout?

SPEAKER_03 (45:18):
I mean, I think it definitely built slowly because
organization that I was in had alot of young dads, and uh, and a
lot of them came out and likehelped clean up the house and
all that kind of stuff.
And then I'd be eating lunch inthe cafeteria and they'd be
like, John, like I can't evenimagine what I would do.
Like if my family was sit bytornado, like, and they would
ask me all these questions, notabout adversity, but like about
like literal like logistics,like where would my family go

(45:40):
and all that.
So I was hearing that enough tobe able to write kind of this.
I wouldn't even call it a book.
It's like a small littlepamphlet called the Tornado
Survival Guide.
But I made it small on purposeso that like dads would just
like read it while they'resitting on the crapper, you
know?
Just can't you can just read itthat fast, right?
It's like a pisser book, I guessis what they call it.
Uh and so it doesn't take verylong to read.

(46:01):
And it just kind of interweavesmy story, but then like talks
about the myths and talks aboutexactly what you would do.
And I just did that on Amazonand just put it out there.
Um, and people were still like,yeah, but like you said I need a
go bag, like to pack everything.
Like, what would go in there?
And I'm like, oh my gosh, like,do I have to do this for you?
You know, apparently I do.
And so uh, so yeah, so then Idid, and I created like a

(46:23):
tornado go bag.
And so then now I got thisproduct that's like this tornado
go bag.
I got speaking engagements and Igot a book.
And I'm like, let's just makeEdlin Tornado Solutions.
So it did kind of like evolveinto uh something.
And so now you can get thetornado go bag, you can get the
tornado survival guide insidethat bag, and I did a recording

(46:43):
of like six uh video sessions,so people can go even deeper.
That comes with the bag as well.
So it's like the bag comes witheducation, it comes with lantern
and uh first aid kit and all thestuff, you know, that I wish I
would have had.
So it's like a pre-packed bag,so you can just like get it and
forget it, kind of thing.
So it's it's been fun because Ithink it's it's hidden uh a need

(47:04):
that was out there, especiallyfor young dads uh who wanted
just to be like, I don't knowwhat I'm doing, you're a
survivor, tell me what to do,and click, and they can forget
it.

SPEAKER_00 (47:14):
So that's awesome, dude.
Now, you know, Melinda and thekids live through this with you,
dude.
So how do you feel like it'schanged your family?

SPEAKER_03 (47:23):
Oh gosh.
Well, I mean, it is interesting.
Even we were talking a littlebit where I started to talk
about vinyls, you know, vinylrecords a little bit.
Yeah.
Uh it's it's interesting becausethere was a time, I feel like
I'm just now getting to thistime where I'm not thinking
about everything that I couldlose in a tornado again.
And I and I've seen that withthe whole family.
It's like we're not supermaterialistic and haven't been,

(47:45):
especially early on.
It was like, well, should I evenget this?
Because, you know, it doesn'tmatter, which is a it's a good
thing.
Um and it helps you likeprioritize everything.
So I feel like going throughsomething like that saves you
some money.
It saves you some money and justjunk, you know, and just like
filling up with a bunch of junkbecause you know, like in you
know, three seconds it can begone.

(48:07):
So I think there's been that,and then also just this idea
that you can take something likethat and get on the other side
and help and save people's livesbecause of something you've been
through.
And then the other thing that Iwould mention is the community.
Uh, seeing the community comearound us and the people just
who came out of the woodworkright after the tornado was
incredible and incredible, likeum, just an amazing, beautiful

(48:30):
picture of humanity and asociety that's there to help
others, even when they didn'tknow us.
Like we would always go to thehouse, and there were probably
like a dozen people therecleaning up that we didn't even
know.
It was just it was humbling, itwas just incredible.
So, so I think that kind of lookon life has been incredible for
all of us.

SPEAKER_00 (48:49):
Yeah.
Um, do you have any mementosfrom the house?
Were you able to keep anyanything that you still have
today?

SPEAKER_03 (48:55):
Well, yeah, I mean, it's interesting because in the
moment I didn't want to keepanything.
You know, I would just wanted aslike, I don't want to blame this
happening.
Yeah, yeah.
But one of my friends texted me,he's like, make sure that you
take like a brick, because whenwe found out like the house was
going to be completelydemolished, he's like, take a
brick.
So I have a brick and it'sactually I can see it right over
there.
And I'm so glad I did.
Yeah.
So I got so I got the brick.
Um, and then honestly, not notnot a whole lot else because

(49:18):
nothing else was like, you know,I could keep.
Um, but I'm glad that I grabbedthat brick and I'll I'll always
have that brick.

SPEAKER_00 (49:25):
Yeah, I mean, I guess it reminds you of the
fragility of of things, youknow.
I mean, I guess we get so set inour ways, and it's very quickly
life life throws people forloops, man.
Um, I I think it's never just uhI mean, look at all the things
that our generation has beenthrough, man.

SPEAKER_03 (49:42):
I mean COVID 9-11.
Like I was telling my kids kindof what it was like, like at
9-11 uh, like like what was thatday like?
And I was like, look, thinkingback, I was like, that was
crazy.
And I was just in Kansas, youknow, I can't imagine people who
are closer to the whole thing,but like for me, it was just
dude, we've lived through someweird stuff.

SPEAKER_00 (50:00):
Well, where were you when it happened?

SPEAKER_03 (50:02):
I was at in school, like I was in uh it was
sophomore year of high school,and I remember that first hour,
like it came over the speakerthat you know this had happened,
and then all the teachers werewatching on TV if we could get
like the TV on in there, and andit was just the weirdest feeling
to the day.
And I remember walking home withmy friend, and I was like, Well,
I guess we're gonna be draftedinto the army, you know, because

(50:25):
like we just assumed this waslike World War III.
It's like, well, all right, Iguess I don't need a plan for
anything out of high schoolbecause I know where I'm going.
And uh yeah, it was just a weirdday.

SPEAKER_00 (50:37):
Wild time.
Yeah, I had my dick in my hand.
I was taking a piss.
They went over the loudspeaker,you know, and I guess they made
the announcement in high school.
Yeah, yeah.
And uh I was in uh marketing.
I took a marketing class, it wasan elective, and uh, you know, I
was taking a piss and I walkedback into the class and they
had, you know, I know kidslistening to this.
We had giant tube TVs that hadstraps on them on a fucking

(51:01):
rack.
No doubt.
Yeah.
That they they rolled into theroom, and you're like, I'm like,
what the fuck?
Why are we we were just learningabout something else?
Why are we why are we watchingthis?
Okay, and yeah, and we actuallywatched the fucking second plane
hit the tower.

SPEAKER_03 (51:15):
Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 (51:16):
Wow, and we're just like, what the and you know, I
go home, my dad's like, you'renot going to school tomorrow.
I don't want, I don't know whatthe fuck's going on, but you're
not going to school tomorrow.
And I think a lot of people justdidn't go to school the next
day.
Um wild to think what ourgeneration.
Now we didn't live through aworld war technically, right?
I mean, not World War II people,but you know, stock market crash

(51:39):
after that.
I mean, COVID, the pandemic, Imean, that was that's changed a
lot of things.
So I I always tell people, man,it's it's uh being a millennial,
which is technically I guesswhat we are, is it's just a wild
phenomenon that we we all thecrazy shit we live through, you
know?

SPEAKER_03 (51:57):
So true.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (52:00):
Now, what is a common misconception about
tornadoes that you thinkactually gets people hurt?

SPEAKER_03 (52:09):
Um, you know, I think it's that it won't be that
bad.
Kind of like how we started offa little bit the conversation
where you said, like, oh yeah, Ihad one, it was in my backyard,
and it just snapped a few trees.
And sometimes that's people justtake that and they're like, Oh,
you know, that's all there is.
And and I kind of was doing thatsame thing too, where it was
like, oh, Nashville, like youknow how big tornadoes are.

SPEAKER_00 (52:29):
Yeah, it's just gonna bounce off the the
mountains.

SPEAKER_03 (52:31):
Right.
And and so it's just that likeyou're just assuming that's
what's what it's gonna be, orwhen the tornado sirens go off,
you assume like that it's gonnabe real small or whatever.
But the thing is, is even if itwas small, like uh if you
understand tornadoes, you canunderstand it can start off as
an EF zero, the smallest one,and grow to EF4 or whatever,
which is gonna be extremelyviolent in a matter of seconds.

(52:53):
And so you like you literallydon't know what's gonna go roll
over top of your house until itdoes.
And so just a lot of themisconceptions, just like, oh,
it's not that big of a deal, itwon't happen to me.
Or if it does, it's gonna besuper light, it's no big deal.
But man, when you're in there inthe moment and it's rolling on
top of you, you're like, I wishI would have been prepared.

(53:14):
Like, I wish I wouldn't havebelieved all these myths, you
know, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 (53:17):
Uh can you explain what what's that system?
What is an EF for?
Oh yeah.
What does that system look like?

SPEAKER_03 (53:22):
So it stands for enhanced fajita scale.
It's actually a reallyinteresting story about the guy,
Ted Fajita, um, who is the onewho came up with that scale,
like I think in the 60s, uh itwas just called the Fajita scale
back then.
And then with more technologyand everything, they kind of had
to make it more enhanced Fajitascale because they could kind of
like determine it's like ahurricane scale.

(53:43):
It's like determined the windspeeds and uh and the
destruction that was done.
So you have like everybody'sfamiliar with the 2011 Joplin,
Missouri tornado.
That was an EF5.
It was gigantic, and it was justlike mowing down houses and just
throwing cars and semis.
I mean, that's super rare.
That only happens once or twicea decade, thankfully.

SPEAKER_00 (54:03):
Wow.

SPEAKER_03 (54:03):
Um, but then your EF zero is gonna be like what was
in the back of your house.
You know, it's like 65 mile perhour winds and knocks over a
lawn chair, and you're like, Isurvived a tornado, you know?
Yeah, you're like, yeah, silly,yeah.
So you got, you know, zero, one,two, and then a three is the one
that I survived, which uh willuh, like I mentioned, like take
apart your walls and yourceiling and all that kind of

(54:25):
stuff.
Then the E of four is gonna beobviously in between the three
and the five, which will it willtoss some cars, like lightweight
cars, and it will it will do alot more damage uh than the than
the three.
So it's just kind of likeunderstanding how quickly these
can change.
And a lot of times they don'tknow, like when they're looking
at the radar, they don't know ifit's a one or three or a five uh

(54:46):
yet, and that it can grow.
They don't know if it can growor if it can't grow and that
kind of thing.
And so you really have to takeit seriously because it can just
change in a moment's notice.

SPEAKER_00 (54:57):
That's crazy, man.
Um all right.
Well, let's end on this.
You had five minutes, basically,right?
From warning to impact thatnight.
For someone listening right now,they don't have a fucking plan.
Maybe they're in Kansas orthey're in who God knows where.
What should they do with theirnext five minutes?

SPEAKER_03 (55:20):
So as soon as there is uh a warning on your phone,
you need to get to the innermostpart of your house or the
basement or somewhere, right?
Away from windows, becausethat's what kills people in
tornadoes is the debris.
And so you have to ideally you'dbe thinking about that now.
Like listening to my story.
I hope that you're taking itseriously, and you're like,
well, where would I go in myhouse?

(55:40):
You know, and so you know whereyou're gonna go because
obviously that can help you getthere a lot quicker.
And then if you have time, likeyou're gonna want to grab your
laptop.
Like I didn't have my laptop, itgot smashed.
You're wanna grab like keys andwallet and those types of things
that literally are justscattered across your yard and
you can't find them.
So you're gonna want to havethose things with you if

(56:02):
possible.
I've heard some people say,like, open up a window so the uh
windows don't pop.
And I'm like, that that'sstupid.
Like, you don't want to spendyour five minutes opening up
windows because here's the thingwindows open or not, they're
gonna pop.

SPEAKER_00 (56:14):
Like it's over.
If they don't pop, the wall'sgonna smash in or it's gonna fly
we tried to save here, like alittle window.

SPEAKER_03 (56:20):
Um, so yeah, so don't do that.
Don't run around and open upwindows, but go ahead and the
the main thing is to get in thatinnermost part of your house.
And then if you can, like have ahoodie, like cover up, get shoes
on, those types of things, getmattresses, blankets, whatever
you can to keep from debris fromhitting you.
So, you know, that that's thenumber one thing.
Just protect yourself from thehigh winds.

SPEAKER_00 (56:43):
And you had mentioned your your to-go bag.
Is there, is there like um kindof a set couple things that you
think everyone should have intheir to-go bag?

SPEAKER_03 (56:51):
Yeah, I, you know, it's definitely first aid kit
because if you get cut, likeyou're gonna want to have gauze
pads and you know, just a goodfirst aid kit.
Um, and then light, even thoughyou have like your phone, uh,
for us, like one of the thingsthat was kind of sad is like we
had the light on our phone andwe would like walk around trying
to find stuff, and then the kidsare kind of like left in the
dark, you know.
So I wish we would have had likea lantern so that we could have

(57:14):
had an area where we all werewhere there was enough light.
Um and then a whistle, a lot oftimes I say like throw a whistle
in there because if you'reunderneath that you're trapped
underneath, you can blow thatwhistle and emergency crews can
find you.
So uh those are those are thethree main things that we pack
in our tornado go bags.
Of course, you can add all sortsof different things, uh, like a

(57:35):
dog's leash if you have a pet.
Uh, you know, those kinds ofthings are are helpful.
But for the most part, you justwant to make sure you have quick
access to first aid and light.

SPEAKER_00 (57:45):
That makes sense.
And half the time you're notthinking about that shit, man.
I'm cozy here in my basement.
Like, you know, I'm not thinkingabout making sure my dog leash
is in there or you know, like Ihave a first aid.
I don't even, I mean, we havebandages and shit, but I don't
think I have a legit first aidkit here.
So uh great stuff, man.
Great stuff.
Well, look, um, tell mylisteners where can they find

(58:06):
all your stuff?
I know that your book is onAmazon.

SPEAKER_03 (58:09):
Um yeah, the the tornado go bag they can just buy
on tornadosmart.com.
Tornadosmart.com, and you justgo there and it's like I said,
one click, you get everythingyou need, get it shipped to your
house, and then you just set it,forget it.
Kind of thing.
It's the way to do it, man.
Be smart, right?
Be smart around tornadoes,tornadosmart.com.

(58:29):
That's it.

SPEAKER_00 (58:30):
Dude, love it, man.
Love it.
And then uh and your websitetoo.
Plug your website.

SPEAKER_03 (58:35):
Uh well, so yeah, they got johnedlin.com, um, just
my my full name,J-O-N-E-D-L-I-N.com, and then uh
tornadosmart.com.
Uh, you know, you can go thereas well.

SPEAKER_00 (58:47):
Well, if you ever need somebody to do an audiobook
for your book, you let me know.
Oh.
Um I would love to do it foryou.
Uh I like that.
I just say that because I'm anaudiobook guy.
I listen to audiobooks everyday.
So uh you should you shoulddefinitely think about doing
that.
And I got the wifey listenaudiobooks, which she said
they're not books, and I I begto I beg to differ on that, but

(59:08):
we'll have our argument afterthe fact.

SPEAKER_03 (59:12):
Love it.

SPEAKER_00 (59:13):
Um now my podcast is drink clock pod on all socials,
drink a clock podcast whereveryou listen to podcasts, and uh
we'll have this up soon, man.
It was a pleasure having you on.
And uh shit, dude, you got methinking about fucking tornadoes
now, so I gotta make sure I havea to-go bag.

SPEAKER_03 (59:27):
Love it.
Sounds good.
Thanks, man.

SPEAKER_00 (59:29):
Have a great night, man.