Meteorologist surveys tornado damage

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

Hundreds of families in Tennessee and Arkansas are dealing with the aftermath of destructive tornadoes.  One Oklahoma man spent the last week surveying the hard-hit areas.

Michael Davis has worked with the National Weather Service in Nashville for a decade. He surveyed the damages in towns all week while his wife has continued her studies at the University of Oklahoma's meterology school. He said he's never seen tornadoes as powerful as the ones from Super Tuesday's outbreak before.

"It is an emotional toll because, I've been unfortunate enough to have to deal with it also," he said.

Davis lost two homes to tornadoes in the past, but this time he was able to avoid the same devastation.

"I have a closer relationship with the people who are impacted because, I've had to deal with it on my own," he said "I've had to deal with the trauma of coming home and seeing half your roof ripped off and having to clean up and so forth."

Davis' wife, Lela, said it was difficult to watch the news of the tornadoes while she was living in Norman.

"These storms are heading towards my families, my friends, my husband," she said. "That's hard because you're so far away and you feel like there's nothing you can do."

Lela Davis said she will be working at the National Weather Service with her husband in a few months after graduating from the meteorology school in Norman.