As one of the biggest Tornado outbreaks since the 1980’s rages through America’s midwest, a gay storm chaser has taken advantage of the situation and proposed to his boyfriend in front of one of the meteorological monsters.
Meteorologist Joey Krastel proposed to Chris Scott on a dirt road in Kansas as a huge tornado drew closer and the picture has gone viral.
On Tuesday, Krastel 27, Scott 23, and two of their mutual friends set out to catch a tornado in Kansas, a tornado that inspired the National Weather Service to issue a “tornado emergency” for several counties in the state, as well as the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The group began their tornado watch in Salina, Kansas, and wound up following the storm to Tipton, where Krastel popped the question.
“It all just kind of came together and happened so quickly,” Krastel said.
“I was like ‘OK, this is it.’”
His friends snapped the photo of Krastel down on one knee with the grey tornado looming in the background.
The photo has since received more than 13,000 likes on Twitter.
The 2 loves of my life pic.twitter.com/Cv4eviechZ
— Joey Krastel (@NimbusStorms) May 29, 2019
“The 2 loves of my life,” Krastel captioned the photo.
Krastel said the picture doesn’t reflect how close the group was to the tornado — and during the proposal, Krastel said it moved even closer to them.
Krastel explained to NBC that he developed a fascination for tornadoes at a young age when he saw one when he was four. He turned that interest into a career as a storm chaser.
In fact, it was his partner Scott’s mutual interest in tornadoes, (his favourite movie as a child was 1996’s Twister), that was one of the factors that brought the couple together.
They met after Scott, who followed Krastel’s Instagram profile, reached out to him, asking if he was a real storm chaser.
“That’s why it was always in the back of my mind to get engaged during storm chasing,” Krastel said.
“I felt like it would be this perfect way to seal the deal.”
No fatalities have been reported from the most recent Kansas tornado, but at least 15 people suffered from storm-related injuries, according to the Douglas County Office of Emergency Management.
Last Updated on May 31, 2019
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