Eleven people were killed after a round of tornadoes passed through Oklahoma on Friday, May 31, 2013; three of those who lost their lives were storm chasers.
According to a report by ABC News, storm chaser and meteorologist- Tim Samaras, his storm chaser partner- Carl Young, and Tim's son- Paul Samaras were killed in Friday’s severe weather.
The tornado, an EF3, blew through with winds gusting up to 165 mph.
Tim Samaras, 55, dedicated the previous 30-years of his life learning about and chasing storms and tornadoes.
"They put themselves in harm's way so that they can educate the public about the destructive power of these storms," Canadian County Undersheriff Chris West told the Associated Press.
According to Tim Samaras’ website, he holds the world record for “measuring the lowest barometric pressure drop (100 millibars) inside of a tornado that destroyed the town of Manchester South Dakota, on June 24, 2003.”
One of Samaras’ achievements was creating a probe equipped with cameras which allowed people to safely look inside of a tornado. In June of 2004, Samaras and his chasing-partner, Young, documented a tornado near Storm Lake, Iowa using this equipment.
Another addition to the meteorological-world was Tim's creation of the TWISTEX (Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment) research group, which was featured on the Discovery Channel show “Storm Chasers.”
Several organizations, groups, and charities are making an effort in relief efforts for others affected by the Oklahoma tornadoes. Click here to see how you can help.