Tornado Safety Fatality File

‘We’re going to die, we’re going to die’: Tragic last words of father-and-son storm chasers killed when tornado tossed their car half a mile

A father-and-son team of storm chasers and their long-time partner were heard screaming ‘we’re going to die, we’re going to die’ on highway patrol radio moments before they were killed by one of the savage twisters they’d devoted their lives to following.

Tim Samaras, 55, along with his son, Paul Samaras, 24, and Carl Young, 45, died on Friday in El Reno after a tornado that packed winds of up to 165 mph picked up their car and threw it, somersaulting, a half a mile.

The elder Samaras’ body was still belted into their Chevrolet Cobalt, which was found on an unimproved county road parallel to Interstate 40. The other victims’ bodies were found half a mile to the east and half a mile to the west, Canadian County under-sheriff Chris West said.