Every year, residents of North Carolina and surrounding US regions batten down the hatches and prepare for tornado season.
But this year, it hit at least a month early, and the number of twisters has already exceeded the average for an entire season.
Here are some YouTube videos apparently posted by residents of affected areas from this week and previous tornado seasons.
These videos are from contributors who are not affiliated with SBS, and therefore cannot be verified.
YouTube user Steven Hoag posted this video entitled 'Wilson NC (North Carolina) Tornado AS IT HITS WALGREENS' this week.
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Self-proclaimed 'storm chasers' posted this clip of what they called simultaneous stovepipe tornadoes near Pocohontas, Iowa, last week.
Another video claims to show an extremely violent 'gustnado' in a high pressure super-cell in Perry, Kansas on April 4, 2011.
A poster going under the name Skpiw posted footage allegedly showing a tornado derailing a train in July, 2009.
Another shows footage purportedly from inside a tornado in Aurora, Nebraska, in June 2009.
One of YouTube's most-viewed tornado videos - posted by a user named Slair and boasting almost 8 million hits - is taken from a car on a trip to Alberta.
The 'Alberta trip' clip is trailed by a National Geographic compilation, with over 6.5 million views.
