Mother Nature took a Kansas couple’s relationship for a spin when the storm chasers tracked down a tornado — then got engaged.
When a tornado touched down in Colorado this month, Raya Maday was blown away by what she saw — not just the tornado, but also her boyfriend, Tom Bedard, touching down on one knee.
Bedard brainstormed the proposal idea that put his girlfriend on "Cloud 9."
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"I wanted to make sure that the proposal was of a magnitude that would represent how much I love Raya and how much I like the life that we have together," Bedard said.
"The video speaks for itself. I didn't know what to think. I even backed up. I'm like, 'This isn't happening to me!'" Maday said.
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The two work for AccuWeather in Wichita, Kansas. But they weren't in Kansas anymore.
Bedard convinced Maday to drive six hours to southeastern Colorado on a day forecast as a "slight risk" for tornadoes and severe weather. Neither had ever seen a tornado.
U.S. & World
A friend of the couple helped plan the special moment of Mother Nature taking the couple's relationship for a spin.
"I talked with our friend Rich. We said, 'If we find one, we'll do it then.' Neither one of us really thought it was going to be possible," Bedard said.
Then came the plot-twister: The storm formed, dropping a tornado, and Bedard popped the question.
"Will you marry me?" he asked.
"I would love to. Yes!" Maday said.
"I was already really distracted by a tornado coming from a cloud, so I wasn't anticipating it at all," she recalled.
"Neither one of us could have dreamed up anything better," Bedard said.
It was a perfect storm for their whirlwind romance.
"I was ready, whether or not that storm produced, to propose in that moment. The cloud was beautiful. The surroundings were fantastic. If we didn't see anything, which was just as likely because it was a slight risk from the storm prediction center, then we would have gotten some gas station food, driven home and had a good trip together — and I would have figured out something down the road," Bedard said.
Bedard and Maday said they’d be perfectly fine with it raining on their wedding day.
