June 1st, 2013
02:41 PM ET

At least 9 killed in Oklahoma tornadoes

David Stottlemyre was inside an oil field repair shop in El Reno, Oklahoma, when he saw a tornado "looking at us dead in the eye."

The lifelong Oklahoman said he and two coworkers stayed inside as the building took a direct hit - the roof collapsed and the structure blew apart. Though the three survived unscathed, "We're all pretty shook up," the oil field mechanic told CNN. "Surreal - really no other way to explain it."

Friday evening's twisters killed at least nine people - two of them children - and injured scores more in Oklahoma, the office of the city's medical examiner said. Five victims had not been identified.

Canadian County Undersheriff Chris West said the seven fatalities in his county were inside vehicles.

FULL STORY

Filed under: Missouri • Oklahoma • Tornadoes • Weather
soundoff (7 Responses)
  1. Portland tony

    Very sad to hear that the fatalities included several "storm chasers"........but when you chase the devil......

    June 2, 2013 at 10:58 am | Report abuse |
  2. s kel

    Yeah P tony, but they went doing what they love.

    June 2, 2013 at 11:52 am | Report abuse |
  3. bobcat (in a hat)©

    You live by the storm. You die by the storm. When I go, I also want it to be doing what I love. The bad thing is, there are so damn many things I love to do, even if I can't do them anymore. Otherwise, let me go like they said about Clark Gable. "With a drink in his hand, and a smile on his face."

    June 2, 2013 at 12:56 pm | Report abuse |
    • s kel

      leave it to you bobcat,lol good one.

      June 2, 2013 at 10:41 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Portland tony

    There are some dubious reasons for storm chasing......while all are thrill seekers, most try to profit from selling spectacular video of flying cows etc,....... while a minority are doing their job of scientific research carrying various radars and spcialized equipment....etc.....Too bad we confuse the two!

    June 3, 2013 at 10:21 am | Report abuse |
  5. JAYVIN.B

    What is Mother Nature doing to us it is not cool or funny anymore

    June 3, 2013 at 10:11 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Pete

    Hey wasn't it Bushs guys that said there's no climate change and weather is as usual nationwide,another misquote from the Texas imbecile against Al Gore remember..It's time for Oklahomans ,other states to consider a state run tornado bunker program and give homeowners financial assistance to help cover building them..You can't put a cost on lost,injured lives and these tornadoes aren't going away soon by the looks of their weather in tornado ally either..Good luck to all those in tornado ally as with us in harms way of hurricanes,its a normal thing in our areas but its always good to be prepared,armed for anything that mother nature throws at yah,take care and again good luck,we'll all need it this year ,it looks like it no matter where you're at!!

    June 4, 2013 at 7:10 pm | Report abuse |