Former Storm Chasers stars Tim Samaras and Carl Young, along with Samaras' son Paul, were killed while following a tornado in El Reno, OK, on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Tim Samaras, his son Paul and their colleague Carl Young. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families," Discovery Channel said in a statement obtained by People.
The three men were among the 13 fatalities caused by the storm that night. The EF3 tornado marked the second disaster to rip through Oklahoma in the last two weeks.
Tim, 54, was discovered inside his car near Interstate 40 still wearing his seatbelt, while Paul, 24, and their colleague Carl, 45, had been pulled from a car by the severe winds and carried a quarter mile in opposite directions, according to NBC News.
Tim founded the project TWISTEX, the Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment, which is a tornado research experiment designed to increase time for warnings and therefore hopefully save lives.
ADVERTISEMENT
"This is a devastating loss to the meteorological, research, and storm chasing communities. I ask that you keep the families in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time. There is some comfort in knowing these men passed on doing what they loved," TWISTEX wrote on its Facebook page Sunday.
The elder Samaras and Young were part of the last three of Storm Chasers' five seasons, which aired annually on Discovery from 2007 through 2011.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski