In May of 2013 in the month of May 2013, The El Reno tornado hit Oklahoma and became the biggest tornado documented. [1] In this particular event there was a group of storm chasers employed by TWISTEX, a channel on the Discovery Channel, named TWISTEX were caught by the tornado after it abruptly changed direction. Three storm chasers on the vehicle perished, leading to the first time that a storm chaser died while on duty. [2]
A video camera within the car [33 and the rear-facing dashcam belonging to the driver in the vicinity [4The dashcam of a nearby driver [4 recorded the bulk of the event, however neither have been released publicly.
Background |
El Reno tornado El Reno tornado was a large-scale tornado that came down from a supercell storm that occurred on the 31st of May, 2013,, southwest in El Reno, Oklahoma. 5 Three of the people who make the up-and-coming TWISTEX storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son photographer Paul Samaras, and meteorologist Carl Young – set out to conduct research into the tornado. Tim Samaras, the founder of TWISTEX was well-known and respected by storm chasers. Ironically his name was also regarded for being “one of the safest” in the business. [6] TWISTEX had earlier installed one of the first units for ground-based study, referred to by the name of “turtle drones”, in the path of less powerful tornadoes to examine them from within. The drones gathered seismic and atmospheric data, significantly advancing the study of tornadoes. Tim was assigned to launch one of these drones in the direction of a stronger tornado to further study. When radar detected the storm’s progress The team left to take pictures of lightning. However, when the tornado was observed and they decided to follow itand try to put the drone of a turtle within the path of the tornado. [7]
The team travelled alongside the tornado that was quickly shifting speed, direction and even size. It even reached the record-breaking length at 2.6 miles. The team was heading towards the highway, in an effort to head south and set up pods and avoid the path of the tornado suddenly turned upward before accelerating toward and then remaining nearly stationary at the top of the team’s position. The tornado then ripped through its toll on the car, Paul and Carl were removed from the vehicle, and Tim was trapped inside. Tim was found in the vehicle that was damaged, and Paul along with Carl were located just half a mile away. [8] [33
Footage |
Following searching for Paul as well as Carl’s remains, investigators discovered a number of items scattered across the nearby creek which included cameras Carl Young used to record the storm. Gabe Garfield was a close one of the storm chasers’ friends was among the few who could view the video footage. [9] While the footage was never published, Gabe has provided a description of the footage. In the video, Carl can be heard saying “there’s no rain around here” as the camera displays the skies around them becoming “eerily calm”. Tim says “Actually, I think we’re in a bad spot. ” 10: The video concludes here, however Tim was heard repeatedly yelling “we’re going to die” on Radio. [2]
A storm chaser identified as Dan Robinson barely escaped the tornado when he tried to capture it. The dashcam in his car recorded the moment he encountered the tornado. The footage has made public. The camera captured the TWISTEX team who were traveling behind the TWISTEX team. This footage captures the TWISTEX car moving as the tornado moves on it. Dan has declared that in order to honor the families of the three dead storm chasers, he’ll likely not release the footage. [4]
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