ride to the mall to pick up his family, then they go to rescue her pregnant sister-in-law from an elevator. After Amy's cameraman is injured while rescuing her sister-in-law, Harkin stays behind with him and their neighbor. The others rush to reach the airport during the 15-minute eye of the hurricane, where they are picked up in a plane piloted by Harkin's brother, an air force weather pilot. After the storm passes, Harkin keeps her promise and tells London's story on air. Cast Source: Thomas Gibson as Mitch Benson Nancy McKeon as Amy Harkin Chandra West as Rebecca Kerns Brian Markinson as Chris Haywood Nancy Ann Sakovich as Jane Benson Randy Quaid as "Tornado Tommy" Dixon Dianne Wiest as Energy Secretary Shirley Abbott Brian Dennehy as Andy Goodman Ari Cohen as Dan London Christopher Shyler as Craig Shilts Arnold Pinnock as Jason Chad Willett as Jeff Harkin Horis McLaren as Helen Travers Janaya Stephens as Laura Harkin Petra Wildgoose as Lindsey Benson Jeff Sutton as Garth Benson Jeff Clarke as George Kiley Alicia Johnston as Sabrina Rogers Amanda Brugel as Leslie Singer Ryan Kennedy as Eric Andrew Jackson as Walt Ashley Kjartan Hewitt as Tad (credited as Kerr Hewitt) Trevor Botkin as Rick David Lawrence Brown as Control Center Engineer Dean McKenzie as Bob Dave Price as Engineer Brian Frank as Sammy Slots Rebecca Gibson as Honey Brian Kawakami as Mr. Yoshiko Junko Bailey as Japanese Woman Ryan Schenk as Paramedic Production Executive producer Bob Sertner wanted the film to have higher-end special effects to mimic the quality of those seen in feature films. To do this, the film uses visual computer effects created by special effects company Area 51 FX, which created over 100 different shots using the digital modeling program LightWave 3D. During shooting, special effect supervisor Craig Weiss noted that the scenes with Randy Quaid were particularly difficult to capture on film due to his appearing in multiple scenes where his character was chased by twisters and surrounded by their destructive aftermaths. The actors also faced new challenges, as the film often replaced traditional green screen setup, where the special effects were added during editing, with live shots taken with the effects in place at the same time. Nancy McKeon, who was pregnant with her first child during production, filmed some of her scenes using a green screen. She found the experience to be fun, noting that