. >> reporter: yes while most people hunker down and pray, reed timmer drives into tornadoes head on using an suv that can withstand crushing 200-mile-per-hour winds. >> these tornadoes can obviously be very deadly and very dangerous. you have to respect their power. but i guess it's the best of an adventure also when i see a tornado in the field, it's one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen. it's almost not from this planet. >> reporter: but he's not risking his life just for the thrill of it he does it to save lives. >> it's for weathercasters, forecasters, new media, and they can notified people and hopefully they take coverage i've seen the dark side of these storms that what storm chasers are trying to prevent. >> reporter: as for pay, on average storm chasers can earn around 70 grand a year, mostly by licensing jaw-dropping footage like this to media outlets. reed earns a little more than that thanks to a discovery gig, "storm chasers." still he says he's not saving up for retirement for him, that's just fine. >> everything i make goes back into storm chasing, gas, equi