pizza. one day you might print out thanksgiving dinner. imagine that. i'm joe johns at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. an "ac 360" special report, "storm hunters" begins right now. good evening, everyone. i'm anderson cooper. when the massive tornado touched down here in moore, oklahoma, on monday killing at least two dozen people, some of the earliest and most ominous warnings came from storm chasers. individuals who seek to witness and record extreme weather. tonight, in the eye of the storm, on the ground, an upclose look at the storm chasers who filmed the moore, oklahoma, tornadoes in realtime, getting some incredible footage, risking their lives to help warn those in the path of nature's fury. reporting for us tonight is "360's" randi kaye. >> there it is. that is a tornado. definite cone. on the ground.

>> reporter: more than a mile wide -- >> just turned north. >> reporter: with hurricane-force winds. >> this is not good. >> it is raining pieces of houses. >> reporter: a monster tornado. >> oh my god. >> reporter: cutting a swath of destruction for 17 miles. >> this is a tornado emergency. >> reporter: tens of thousands diving for cover. >> people in moore need to be under ground right now if they are not already. >> kevin, get the pictures, man. get the video. >> reporter: and a hand full of storm hunters. >> we chased one of the world's most dangerous forces on earth. >> all right. let's go. >> lots of rotation in there. >> reporter: running straight into the path of disaster. >> we try to get as close to it as we can and know that if you're in its path, it will take

your life. >> there's thunderstorms happening in the panhandle of texas today. >> i'm kevin. i chase storms all over the country. >> we're checking to make sure at first we have a way to get out. >> my name is lauren hill. i frequently drive. >> my name is colt forney. videoing the tornadoes or the storms is usually my role. when we're out chasing. >> reporter: as children growing up in tosrnado alley, kevin, lauren and colt saw severe weather every spring. now as adults, chasing tornadoes is their passion. >> right here. >> our group mission as storm chasers and as base hunters is to document and see all these tornadoes -- >> wow. that is a long rope. it goes way back. yeah. >> -- right along side that is getting early warning out to the

weather service as quick as possible. >> reporter: but the 2013 tornado season was starting out slowly. >> this year was interesting in that we've had kind of a later spring. we thought, maybe 2013 is going to be mild. >> a benign and quiet april, may. >> we're in a tornado drought. over the last couple days and over the weekend, the jet changed. >> finally now all the ingredients coming together. >> so the cold air is one side, the warm air is on the other side. when the conditions are right, those super cells will begin to spin. when one storm gets to use all of that heat, it becomes the big dog. >> reporter: the conditions were right. >> look at these pictures. simply extraordinary. >> reporter: on saturday, may 18th, the base hunters chase down a twister in kansas. >> looking right at the side of the funnel. it's almost too close. i can't zoom on out to get the whole thing in the shot. >> do you ever feel like you were a little too close, you were in a danger zone? >> not really this particular

tornado. it was a very slow-moving storm. so we had plenty of time to get out of its path. >> just because the way it's getting bigger, it's right here. >> reporter: then on monday, may 20th, they planned their next moves. >> we looked at the weather models. predicting where the strongest winds aloft are going to be, where moist air, where the surface boundaries are located that will initiate storms. >> we actually started out going south of the norman and moore area. we were looking at the radar and it had what we like to say, just the look, of a strong thunderstorm. and that's when we made the decision to go north on i-35. >> if you're anywhere from just north of new castle right into moore, this is your storm. >> reporter: just before 3:00 p.m. central time, cnn meteorologist chad myers spotted the telltale sign of a developing tornado. >> you look down and it was a ball. the next scan, the next time i

looked at that doppler radar, there was a hook echo on the bottom. and i looked at it. i looked at it again. there's the spin. there's the hook echo. and i said, did i just see this? did this just happen in six minutes? because this wasn't here. >> you could feel it all coming. you're knowing as a storm chaser that it's going strong. in fact, it's going to intensify. >> there you go. you see it? you see it. now it's on the ground. >> reporter: moments later -- >> look at it, mike. on the ground. >> reporter: -- a tornado was born. >> we are in moore, oklahoma, and we have a tornado to our west. >> it widened out to a straight up and down skinny tornado. as it moved into the moore area, it widened and widened and widened. >> not ten minutes to go, this was not in contact with the ground. this was a very fast developing storm. we knew it, we saw it, then the tornado dropped right straight to the ground. >> reporter: as thousands scramble to safety, kevin, colt, and lauren raced toward the storm. >> we should go west if we want to get closer, guys.

>> at that time, you know, i'm focused on driving. a lot of people are, like, stunned watching the tornado so they've just kind of stopped. >> i see tons of police cars headed in every direction trying to get people off the road. >> people were pulling over. they were panicking. they were blocking the interstate. >> the school is about to be let out. it's the middle of a monday afternoon. people are busy going every which direction about their lives. >> reporter: and the tornado was heading right for them. >> put the hazards on. >> put the hazards on. >> put the hazards on. >> at this point, we first stop here, the tornado was very large. roar was just intense. >> reporter: near the high school, the storm hunters caught it all on camera. >> yeah, this is where we were sitting at south moore high school when the tornado was just moving into the west side of moore. >> very large tornado moving into moore, oklahoma. this is not good. >> you could just feel it. this is going to be bad. this is going to be terrible. >> it's coming about right at us. oh my gosh.

that's violent. listen to it. you can hear it. listen. >> you knew people were going to die. >> such an empty feeling. >> you knew it was going to destroy houses and there was nothing you could do but watch it. >> debris. lots of debris. dear, god, please keep these people safe. look at the debris. >> just complete and utter fury. you're feeling people's panic, you know, in the city, and you're knowing the path that it's likely to take. and it's just -- it's awful. >> big -- there's a whole roof just came off. >> this storm was wrapped in debris. so much debris wrapping around this tornado. you really couldn't see the funnel, itself. >> if you live in the creeks of wimberly or rock creek, be in your tornado shelter immediately. >> reporter: at local station koco, they were also tracking the tornado's path. >> okay. you can see right here with our high resolution mapping, we have plenty of neighborhood

developments right eahere. lots of high density neighborshoods. this is moving in a very dense part now of moore. >> reporter: tens of thousands of people directly in the path of disaster. >> kevin, get the pictures, man. get the video. >> colt and i, he was getting video. i was taking photos. just running around everywhere. lauren was waiting in the car so we would have an immediate exit. >> i've never heard a roar like that before. [ tornado sirens ] oh my god, it's going just to our north. >> there's a certain point in the choice where you know you have to stop the chase. >> this thing is violent. coming up, the race to safety. >> dear, god, people stay safe. >> get in the car.

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mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. hold on. it's going to our north. >> reporter: a massive tornado, hurdling toward a city of 55,000.

>> get in the car. >> jump in when you guys are ready. >> fear and furry recorded by storm chasers. >> let's go! let's go! >> schools, hospitals, homes about to be swept away. >> yeah, we need to go! we need to go! >> you could feel the vibrations. it almost felt like an earthquake. you could feel the rubble, hear the roar, clanking of debris. >> we have something called a debris ball which we see now. we know it's not rain, it's not hail. it's literally the pieces of boards, shingles and people's homes and lives getting spun around by this tornado. >> we've heard roar before but never this intense. maybe up on top of niagara falls, just that deafening roar. it sounded just like that. upward motion of violence at the base and then just the sky filled with debris. >> it went from nothing to 166 miles an hour in 10 to 15 minutes then it stayed that speed for at least another 20 minutes.

>> moore, oklahoma was under attack and there was nothing anyone could do about it. >> this thing is not letting up. >> it's probably the worst most helpless feeling you can feel knowing that people's lives and properties are being torn up directly in front of you. you know you're looking at total destruction. it's like watching a bomb fall and you see all of the damage and the debris that explodes out of it. >> it moves so slow that it kept spinning in the same spot and that's why there's no much damage in that one area where there's nothing left. the storm churned over those houses probably a minute or two over each house. >> my god. >> then 40 minutes after the tornado touched down, its relentless assault finally ended. >> this is terrible. this is war zone terrible.

this school is completely gone. >> we are entering the damage path on the northwest side of moore. >> the storm chasers began surveying the damage. >> oh my god. this is the damage, the damage path right now. houses are completely leveled. >> it's unrecognizable. >> houses are leveled. >> we looked up the google street view images around that area and the first thing we did was go and look at the daycare. like they were saying, we thought it was a standalone building all by itself but we looked at the street view and it's a three or four business strip mall that was completely leveled. it was unrecognizable at all. behind that where we thought was just mostly open field, because where we were was on the edge of moore was actually a subdivision of new houses. all you could see was the piping, the water piping and the sewage piping sticking up out of the ground.

that was the real identifier that would have been a clue as to what those structures were before they were wiped off the map. >> trees debarked. wow. complete devastation. >> they couldn't be just observers. they knew they had to help. >> when we first got there were, from the day care from what we heard, there were several kids sitting out by the side. >> crying. >> and we just ran into the rubble where this daycare was and started assisting in any way we could at pulling people out, helping people out. that's terrifying in itself. >> probable close to 15 people. they all made it out alive. cut up and bruised. >> in shock. >> luckily every child was accounted for and all of the adults were accounted for as well. >> you're trying to keep your composure. reassure them. one of the most amazing things i've ever seen in my life, even though those people were in shock and covered in debris, they were carrying kids, they were just helping each other.

>> in the aftermath there was great sadness with 24 lives lost, ten of them children. but also great joy at emotional reunions. and grateful survivors. >> it's just terrible. it's so bad i can't even believe i'm still alive. >> but even storm chasers are not immune to the emotional toll. >> it's not the happy-go-lucky storm chase out in the middle of a field in western oklahoma where the tornado isn't really destroying anything or isn't impacting lives. the human impact here was devastating. >> you close your eyes and you could see it. you can see what happened. if you could see the damage. like some moments you're okay and then it just hits you in a

wave. >> it makes you do a little soul searching because you say, how can i still want to see these after i know what they've done. >> but it isn't over. >> right there's a lot of rotation right there by the way. coming up, more storms are on the way. >> let's go, go, go, go. let's go. >> that's where your inflow and your best chance for tornadoes is going to be. right there in that notch. ♪ [ slap! ]

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oh my god. >> it's unrecognizable. >> storm chasers scott peak and jimmy story also witnessed firsthand the devastating tornado ripped through moore, oklahoma.

>> it was making this roar. i've never experienced anything like it before. >> the ground was vibrating. >> we started seeing roofs from housing flying up in the air. we knew it wasn't good at all. >> in less than 24 hours later, as colleagues colt, kevin and lauren decide to stay in moore, scott and jimmy head back out on the road. >> we're just north. in corsicana right now. >> heading south from oklahoma into texas they are chasing a storm they think may spawn another tornado. >> the storm is right here. >> they have taught themselves to read weather patterns. >> as it's coming up from the south we'll try to intercept it. they are both supercells now. >> a collision course that may put them smack in the path of

another tornado. >> we pick an area where we think the best conditions will be and then we'll drive out there where the atmosphere is prime and the conditions are ripe for tornado or severe storms to occur. >> racing to intercept the brewing storm in scott's honda, the pair will drive more than 600 miles. >> with weather it changes, it changes very quickly. >> a notch right there. a beautiful notch. >> as they get closer, the chasers stop to observe the storm. >> the best chance for the tornado is right in that notch wherever it's hooking in, right there. there's a lot of rotation right there by the way. what is that? is that a funnel? >> yeah. >> that looks like a funnel. we're going to have to go, guys, let's go, go, go! let's go. get in. get in. we need to go. >> scott and jimmy quickly

decide it would be safer to follow the storm further east. >> hours and hours of being on the road and maybe a couple of hours of sleep just to see about maybe five seconds of a good tornado, just the anticipation is an adrenaline rush and that's what drives us. >> scott has been chasing storms for ten years. >> kick them up high. there you go. >> by day he teaches gymnastics. >> and drop. >> jimmy is an ultrasound technician. >> let me show you what we have inside our vehicle. >> but in the spare time they're on the road chasing storms. >> our ultimate goal is to get great footage and warn the public of impending danger. just destroyed that barn. i hope they're okay. we're going to have to stop and make sure nobody is hurt. >> scott has criss-crossed the country gathering breathtaking video and photos of severe

storms and tornadoes, calling in alerts to the national weather service. >> tornado! right there, tornado! >> it's past us. it's past us. >> back in 2008 i was chasing a tornado -- >> we just got hit by a tornado. we just got hit by a tornado. >> it broke in my back windshield of my suv. >> son of a -- we're fine now. we're fine. we're fine. >> that window is broken out. >> i know. i know. >> a little shaken up and a little in shock that that just happened but very lucky. >> the danger is not knowing what you're doing. we know where the tornado is going to form. we look at our radars. we know where it's at. we try to be close to the area that the tornado is going to form. we're also smart and we're not going to get in its way. >> there is rotation right here. >> back in the thick of their chase in east texas, jimmy and scott close in on their pursuit of an intense thunderstorm. >> boom. boom.

there's the dominator right there. there's the other dominator. there's the other one. >> this storm has also caught the attention of other storm chasers. >> they're going the same place we are. >> who, like jimmy and scott make money selling images of violent storms. scott and jimmy continue on. driving directly into the storm looking for forming funnel clouds. they encounter heavy rains. >> there's hail, a little hail. >> some of the hail stones can go right through your windshield and break all of the windows out in your car. so that's actually what scares me the most. >> right here, right here right here. >> yeah, that might be something. >> lots of rotation. look at that. >> they spot a small funnel cloud. >> funnel. funnel. funnel right there. >> but on this day no tornadoes. >> we're probably going to call it an evening.

that's a wrap, man. >> this is the most violent time. >> look at that. >> for those storm chasers, it has been an emotional week. >> this is the first time -- >> yeah. >> those feelings are being conjured right back up of the hopelessness. >> that was my first violent tornado that i'd ever seen in my life and to watch it unfold and to know that it was causing death and destruction. >> jimmy remembers arriving in moore shortly after the tornado touched down and finding an injured boy wandering the streets. >> he was alive but caked in mud and had a head wound. and when i went to sleep last night, you know, every time i

closed my eyes i saw that little boy, you know. man, i still kind of do. >> witnessing the tragic toll of nature's furry this week has given scott and the other storm chasers a new perspective of their work. >> i've always been passionate about storm chasing and i don't think i could ever stop. but seeing images like this makes you step back and appreciate what you have. you know, we can at least help people in some way. [ female announcer ] girls don't talk about pads... but they do talk about always infinity. [ marcy ] it's like memory foam. [ female announcer ] the only pad made from a revolutionary material. [ erina ] it totally fits to your body. [ female announcer ] it's incredible protection, you'll barely feel it. always infinity. tell us what you think.

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