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Jason C. knew OnStar was with him when he encountered a dangerous storm system on his way home from a weekend at the lake
Growing up in tornado country, Jason C. remembers his father leading him outside when severe weather approached. Jason would stand on the picnic table, and his dad would point to the sky and show him what to watch for before they’d race to the basement and listen to the radio for updates.
On May 19, it was OnStar he was happy to have with him when he ran into a nasty line of storms.
He lives in Kansas City and has a vacation home near Lake of the Ozarks. He had spent the weekend there working on assorted projects, which is why he drove his Escalade. “It’s my people-moving and stuff-moving vehicle,” he says. That decision would pay off on his way home.
“I grew up in tornado land,” Jason says. “If you’re at home, you’re under the basement. If you’re in a car, you get as close as you can to a ditch.”
“Time was slow, but it was also very fast,” Jason says. “Was very scary. I just simply kept an eye on everything around me.” And because his phone was connected to the in-vehicle Wi-Fi® Hotspot*, he was able to watch the weather radar as the storm closed in and moved past.
“Super Cruise* has been an absolute lifesaver, especially on those longer trips where I want that assist in terms of driving the vehicle,” Jason says.
“The app allows me to be able to schedule service, set my appointment time and arrange everything that I need to have done from the palm of my hand.”
As he headed back home to Kansas City, the weather turned. So much so that once when he checked his rearview mirror, he saw a storm chasing vehicle from a local news station. He figured if he went in the opposite direction of that vehicle, he’d be fine. Instead, he drove straight into the teeth of a storm the National Weather Service would later credit with sparking 10 tornados across the region.
He found a spot away from trees that was near a ditch and wasn’t under a power line. And it was then that OnStar alerted him that a tornado watch had turned into a warning. “It was clear that there was an emergency going on via the vehicle,” Jason says.
A hands-free driving fan
When it came time to buy his Cadillac Escalade, Jason spent plenty of time doing online research. There was one feature in particular that had his attention: available Super Cruise® hands-free driver assistance tech. He thought about the roads he drives most often then checked to make sure they were Super Cruise-compatible. They were. “I use Super Cruise almost every time I drive,” Jason says.
When the storm finally passed, a tornado had missed him by maybe 1,500 feet. “It was a very emotional moment,” Jason says. “A tree fell within probably 30 feet of the car and power lines within 20 feet of the car.”
