Wakita is left in ruins, and Aunt Meg is heavily wounded in her leveled house. While Bill and Jo manage to rescue her, her house collapses into a heap that leaves her emotionally and physically in anguish. When a record-breaking F5 tornado is predicted to hit the next morning, Bill has the idea to use the rubble to allow for Dorothy 3 and 4 to be more aerodynamic. The next day, the F5 is revealed to be “at least a mile wide” and has recorded wind speeds of over 300 miles per hour. Their attempts to deploy Dorothy 3 fail when it is hit by an airborne tree. While setting up the fourth and final Dorothy unit, Bill and Jo outmaneuver a flying tanker-truck, farm equipment, and even a house that has been dropped onto the road by the massive storm. Meanwhile, Jonas is attempting to deploy his device but gets far too close; Bill and Jo try to warn him via walkie-talkie but he ignores them and is fatally killed by the tornado. With Dorothy 4 placed in the truck's bed, the two sacrifice Bill's Dodge by placing it on autopilot and driving straight into the tornado, jumping out at the last second; though the truck is swept away, Dorothy 4 is successfully deployed with positive results. However, they must now outrun the F5 on foot as it rapidly approaches their positions, forcing them to seek refuge in a water pump facility. Bill suggests their only chance of survival is by strapping themselves to the water pipes that go “30 feet underground”. The plan works and they survive as the tornado passes over them, allowing them to gaze into the inside of the storm as it immediately flattens the building around them. The F5 soon after dissipates.