Across the south and central Plains, storm chasers broadcast images of funnel clouds roaring through rural landscapes.
"Professional storm chasers I don't have a problem with, " said Sheriff Glen Kochanowski of Saline County, Kan.
WSJ: Extreme Weather Storm Chasers Create Chaos for Emergency Crews
Meanwhile, residents in Oklahoma cleaned up after the storms there killed 13 people, including three veteran storm chasers.
Samaras and Young was featured on five seasons of "Storm Chasers, " which premiered in 2007, according to the Discovery Channel website.
Doug Kiesling, a videographer who chases storms and calls himself "The Weather Paparazzi, " said the three men were more than storm chasers.
But the storm did claim the lives of three other storm chasers.
Longtime storm chasers Tim Samaras, his son Paul and colleague Carl Young were killed Friday when a powerful tornado near El Reno, Okla.
"There are aspects of it where storm chasers and storm trackers are always going to play a vital role in the warning process, " Armstrong said.
Oklahoma is considered the "mecca of storm chasing, " Tim Samaras told National Geographic just last month, and there are often hundreds of storm chasers lining the roads.
Many amateur storm chasers are looking to capture heart-pounding video of a massive, dangerous twister and cash in by selling the footage to television stations or documentary filmmakers.
"Storm Chasers" aired for five years on the Discovery Channel.
Other public-safety officials give qualified praise to storm chasers.
WSJ: Extreme Weather Storm Chasers Create Chaos for Emergency Crews
In Oklahoma, storm chasers with cameras in their cars transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and into Oklahoma City just south of downtown.
WSJ: Tornado-Hit Oklahoma Struck Again; Mother and Baby Dead
Officials say it would be difficult to clamp down on chasers amid the chaos of a storm.
WSJ: Extreme Weather Storm Chasers Create Chaos for Emergency Crews
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