Tributes Paid to Three University of Oklahoma Students Who Died in a Car Accident After a Storm Chase

Three University of Oklahoma (OU) meteorology students died in a car accident just after a successful storm chasing activity from the Kansas tornado outbreak last week.

For the past several days, new details have emerged regarding the circumstances that led to their deaths.

Oklahoma Road Accident

The accident of the three OU students Drake Brooks, 22, Gavin Short, 19, and Nicholas Nair, 20, occurred while they were traveling the southbound lane of Interstate 35 (I-35) in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, near the Kansas border on Friday, April 29, according to the New York Times, as cited by AccuWeather.

After their storm-chasing trip in Kansas, their vehicle "hydroplaned" and "stalled" in the middle of the I-35 before being hit by a truck.

The OU students were pronounced dead on arrival and the truck driver survived the collision and was sent to a hospital for sustained injuries.

The site of the crash was four miles north of Herington, Kansas, and reportedly occurred just several hours after videos were posted on social media that a tornado just passed over the highway in the Herington area.

The twister in the said area is a separate one from the tornado that wreaked havoc in Kansas, wherein an EF3 tornado under the Enhanced Fujita Scale or EF Scale caused widespread damage to property and several injuries.

Tributes Paid

A multitude of tributes poured for the trio, ranging from students and officials of OU, social media users, the National Weather Service (NWS), and even from American storm chaser and meteorologist Reed Timmer.

In a Twitter post on Monday, May 2, Timmer underscored that his future storm chases will be tributed to lost members of the storm-chasing community Nic, Gavin, and Drake.

The storm chase veteran also acknowledged the killed trio's passion will inspire weather enthusiasts.

Meanwhile, a number of students from OU's meteorology department also provided their support on social media.

The university's College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences also showed its dismay on Twitter after receiving the news of the fatal car crash last Friday evening.

Furthermore, a GoFundMe petition has been submitted to support the families of the killed OU students. The fund goal $75,000. With more than 100 people to have donated already, the fund has already garnered $65,513 as of Wednesday evening, May 4.

Storm Chase Road Accidents

Due to damaging winds of the powerful swirling vortex of air from a tornado, road accidents during a storm chase, similar to the incident involving the three meteorology students in Oklahoma, have occurred in the past, as compiled by AccuWeather:

In 2017, three storm chasers Corbin Jaeger, 25, Kelley Williamson, 57, and Randy Yarnall, 55, also died in a road accident near Spur, Texas, when two vehicles collided along a rural crossroad, while the said trio were performing a livestream.

In 2013, a tornado outbreak near El Reno, Oklahoma, led to the deaths of a storm chasing group called TWISTEX, including Carl Young, Paul Samaras, and Tim Samaras.

In 2012, storm chaser Andy Gabrielson died when a car navigated the wrong way and struck his vehicle.