Stars of Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers were killed Friday in the tornado that struck El Reno, Oklahoma. The three men who lost their lives were veteran scientists. Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul Samaras, 24, and friend Carl Young, 45, were among the 14 people that were killed Friday. The group had tracked down more than 125 tornadoes since 2003.
Discovery Channel dedicated Sunday night’s special on the tornados in Oklahoma to the lives and memories of the three men lost. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Tim Samaras, his son Paul and their colleague Carl Young,” the Discovery Channel said in a statement to FOX411. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families.”
Fox 17 reported, “Tim Samaras is a 20-year veteran of storm chasing and founded the project TWISTEX (Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment), which gathers weather information by placing devices in the way of tornadoes.”
A total of five tornadoes swept through the Oklahoma City area on Friday. The EF-3 tornado that took their lives was not as powerful as the EF-5 tornado that destroyed parts of Moore, OK; but this one took most people by surprise. It was not well predicted and after touching down Friday afternoon, it suddenly shifted directions, causing those unprepared to face the worst.
Storm chasers from around the country turned on their GPS trackers to spell out the initials of their colleagues Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young.
