On Friday night, three University of Oklahoma meteorology students were involved in a car accident that killed them as they returned from Kansas storm chasers.
According to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report, Nicholas Nair (20) of Denton Texas, Gavin Short (19) of Grayslake (Illinois), and Drake Brooks (22) of Evansville (Indiana) died in the accident just before 11:30 p.m. on Friday.
They were driving a vehicle driven by Nair southbound along Interstate 35 when the vehicle hydroplaned. The vehicle was then struck by Tonkawa’s tractor-trailer trailer rig, which is about 85 miles (137 km) north of Oklahoma City.
OU released a statement saying that the university was devastated to hear about the tragic deaths of three students. Each of them were loved and valued members of our community.
The tornado that destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in South-Central Kansas produced winds of up to 165 mph, and left a trail of destruction almost 13 miles long.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that caused severe damage in Wichita’s suburb of Andover on Friday and left many people injured was rated EF-3 by the Enhanced Fujita scale used for assessing tornadoes.
Chief Chad Russell, of Andover Fire Department, stated that the storm caused at least 300-400 buildings to be destroyed. This was in addition to 1,074 buildings that were also damaged. According to the Weather Service, the tornado was active for 21 minutes on Friday evening.
Although four people were hurt in the storm, two firefighters responding to an Andover call sustained minor injuries.
Russell stated that Andover will need to rebuild from the storm over many years.
He said that “The city and surrounding areas of Andover will be impacted by this for many years.” “We still have scars of the EF-5 tornado in 1991. This tornado was not as severe as I expected, but it is something we will continue to do for many years.
Utility crews had restored power to almost all 15,000 customers that lost power due to the storm by Sunday. Evergy stated that less than 1,000 customers still had no power in Wichita on Sunday morning.
