A tight-knit community of weather enthusiasts and storm chasers mourns the deaths of three University of Oklahoma meteorology students in a car accident late Friday as they returned to Norman from storm hunting in Kansas.
The Loss of Students, Nicholas Nair, 20, of Denton, Texas; Gavin Short, 19, of Grayslake, Illinois; and Drake Brooks, 22, of Evansville, Indiana, led many to express their grief, as well as to remember why they loved them.
Leigh O’Neil, a geographic information science major at OU, said the three students were the “nicest, brightest people” she’d ever met. O’Neil said a selfie of the three robberies on camera that they sent to their friends on Friday is a perfect representation of how funny they were.
“You couldn’t be around them without laughing your ass off,” she said.
“They would really do anything to help others, even for their own well-being,” O’Neil added. “They are already greatly missed. Their loss is insanely painful for all of us.”
Deadly collision occurred during rainstorm in northern Oklahoma
Nair, Short and Brooks were driving south on a wet Interstate 35 near Tonkawa when their SUV came up with a water plan, veered off the lane to the right, then came back onto the freeway and stopped. The 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan was hit by a semi driving in the same direction, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The three were pronounced dead at the scene, about 85 miles north of Oklahoma City. Tonkawa fire officials and paramedics worked nearly five and a half hours to get them out of the wreckage. The truck driver was taken to a hospital in Blackwell but has since been released.
The accident happened around 11:23 PM Friday night, just three hours after the students witnessed a small tornado north of Herrington, Kansas, according to their Twitter accounts.
Evan Short, 17, Gavin Short’s younger brother, said Gavin has “lived at OU more in his 1.5 years than in his first 18 years of life.”
“I can take comfort in the idea that he can now live among the clouds he loved so much,” said Evan Short.
OU’s College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences released a statement saying that as the final weeks draw near, counseling was available “as we are all grieving this unimaginable heartbreak.”
“Our community in Atmospheric and Geographical Sciences is close-knit, and our School of Meteorology is truly a family. Now, more than ever, we need to come together in kindness and genuine support for one another. Join us in offering thoughts and prayers for those who most affected and provide them with privacy,” the statement said.
Meteorological community mourns death of OU students on social media
Those in the weather and meteorology community took to Twitter on Saturday to express their condolences on the news.
Chris Dixon, a fellow meteorology student at the OU, was part of a separate group of students who stormed Friday. He saw his first tornado over Andover, Kansas, but woke up Saturday to learn that three of his peers had died.
“Words cannot describe this rollercoaster of emotions, from one of the highest points in my life to one of the most serious points at home,” Dixon wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Renowned storm chaser and OU meteorology alum Reed Timmer called the students friends and said they are close to his heart.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to their families and friends,” said Timmer.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Three OU Meteorology Students Die on I-35 After Storm Chase in Kansas
