A STORM chaser from Kendal witnessed first-hand the destructive tornado that killed two people in Oklahoma last week.

Tom Lynch, 63, repairs operations manager for South Lakes Housing, is two weeks into his yearly visit to Tornado Alley in the American Midwest as the driver for a storm-chasing tour company.

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Speaking to the Gazette from the USA, Tom described how the WeatherHolidays team had plotted the May 9 storm's path using satellite technology and mobile internet. Inside their SUV the tour party watched as the situation intensified from a lightning bolt into the 'deadly' funnel cloud of a tornado - "a large churning mass of violent air" alongside them.

"This one was well and truly going to become a supercell - a very large and dangerous storm with large hail in excess of an inch," said Tom, who managed to film the storm which tore through Wynnewood, Oklahoma.

"We could see the funnel coming down, the tornado starting to form. It was a wedge tornado at that point, and it was starting to become a multi-vortex tornado.

"The noise was one big constant roar - it's indescribable, with debris and bits of everything going round it a mile up into the sky. People say it sounds like a freight train.

"Unfortunately we did see some properties which got demolished. A tree at one point uprooted and I think it went round once about 200mph."

Tornado strength is rated by damage caused, from 0 to 5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Tom explained that the 'huge' Oklahoma storm was rated EF4 - the second largest - and the 200mph-plus winds within it were EF5.

The tour party felt great sadness at the lives lost, said Tom. The team always take great care not to block roads or impede the emergency services, he explained, and where necessary they will offer help, such as transporting people to hospital. They will also phone 911 to provide 'ground truth', or first-hand observations that can help to save lives by prompting storm sirens to be sounded.

Peak season in Tornado Alley - bordered to the west by the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico to the south - has been luring extreme-weather follower Tom since 2000. He flies home from Dallas on May 28, just in time to celebrate his wedding anniversary with wife Janette. "She does worry about me," said Tom. "She knows it's something that I want to do. She's happy to a point but also glad to see me come home."