Tornado alert! Tornado alert! just seconds after the announcement, the radio is dead, the lights go out, and the only sound in the unnaturally quiet night is the horrifying wail of the warning siren.

Dans been through a dozen tornado watches before, but this is the real thing -- a twister is about to hit. Alone in the house, be, his best friend, and his infant brother take shelter in the basement. Huddled in the shower, covered by a blanket, they listen to the sounds of the howling, shrieking tornado. The world seems about to come to an end On top of them.

This harrowing story of a day like any other turned -- almost without warning -- into a nightmare abounds with courage, love, and hope.

When a tornado watch is issued one Tuesday evening in June, twelve-year-old Dan Hatch and his best friend, Arthur, don't think much of it. After all, tornado warnings are a way of life during the summer in Grand Island, Nebraska. But soon enough, the wind begins to howl, and the lights and telephone stop working. Then the emergency siren starts to wail. Dan, his baby brother, and Arthur have only seconds to get to the basement before the monstrous twister is on top of them. Little do they know that even if they do survive the storm, their ordeal will have only just begun. . . .