NELK Boys team up with storm chasers to hunt tornadoes during “insane” livestream
Instagram: kyle / YouTube: Reed TimmerThe NELK Boys came face to face with a tornado during an “absolutely insane” livestream that saw the content creators team up with storm chasers.
Steering away from their usual content of prank videos, the Nelk Boys blew viewers away after collaborating with American meteorologist and storm chaser, Reed Timmer to hunt tornadoes.
The group traveled to Kansas City after a multi-day severe weather warning was issued for the central U.S. and some southern states. “Several” tornadoes, flash flooding, and gorilla hail were forecast from northeast Kansas into northwest Missouri and southwest Iowa.
The resulting five-and-a-half-hour stream shared on Timmer’s channel has since been dubbed “absolutely insane”, with fans left stunned after the YouTubers intercepted a massive tornado.
Prior to heading off, Kyle Forgeard told fans via Instagram stories the experience was expected to be the “craziest 48 hours” of the YouTubers’ lives, and Timmer himself referred to the storm system as a “legendary outbreak”.
Sure enough, the group encountered multiple tornadoes — including a particularly “huge” one that they were able to drive alongside, capturing “magnificent” footage of the violently circling column of air.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) praised the group for managing to document “so many tornado interceptions in one day,” thanking them for “rendering aid” to those caught in the storm while simultaneously “giving viewers a live look at tornado genesis and tornadic aftermath.”
The thunderstorms left “widespread damage”, Fox Weather reporting flipped semi-trucks, building collapses, trapped civilians, and more than a dozen injuries requiring hospital treatment. Homes also suffered “significant” damage, with many appearing to be entirely “flattened”.
So far, five tornado-related deaths have been recorded in the U.S. this year, bringing the total to 15 worldwide. According to the CDP, more than 150 tornados have already been recorded in the U.S. in the first three months of 2024, with 306 confirmed twisters as of April 19. This number is expected to skyrocket following this latest series of storms.
The NELK Boys’ “unreal” stream didn’t impress all viewers though, with one person writing on X that they considered the YouTubers’ inclusion on Timmer’s hunt “weird” and “unprofessional”. They said, “Very inappropriate to bring the goddamn Nelk Boys with you during an extremely serious tornado outbreak. I know a lot of storm chasers dabble in the sensationalism, but that is really so beyond absurd.”