Drake Brooks, 22; Nicholas Nair, 20; and Gavin Short, 19; dozens of buildings. . The weather was rainy and the streets were wet at the time of the students’ crash, the OHP said. All three were students at the university’s College of Atmospheric and Geographical Sciences. Daniel Carter, a University of Oklahoma student who was friends with the victims, told CNN that Brooks, Nair and Short were in an app that showed their location. When Carter noticed that they had not moved from the same spot on a freeway for more than half an hour on Friday night, he said he hoped they were stuck in traffic. But Carter and his friends started calling every hospital within 200 miles, he said. About six hours later, they discovered that their friends had died. “We mourn,” Carter said. “All three of these children were lights for the world.” Video posted on social media on Friday by the accounts of Nic Nair and Gavin Short showed an apparent tornado near Herington, Kansas – about 70 miles northeast of Wichita. Joseph Harroz Jr., president of the university, said “there are no words to express the deep sadness that exists in #OUFamily today.” In a separate statement, the College of Atmospheric and Geographical Sciences said their community is “very much a family and urged students to ‘meet with kindness and cordial support for each other.’” In a tribute posted on Facebook, Carter described “He made me smile every time I saw him,” Carter said. Carter described Nair as very popular. He told CNN that many people called Nair “Mr. OU” because “wherever he went he should stop and talk to people he knew.” And although Carter said he did not know Brooks as well as the others, there was a lot of discussion about the weather and video games. “These three young people are people I try to be like every day,” Carter wrote in his tribute. A university spokesman said the trip that was chasing the storm was not funded by the school. “The university is devastated when it was informed of the tragic death of three students,” the university said in a statement. “Each one was a precious and cherished member of our community. Right now, we are asking the public to respect the privacy of their families.” The accident is being investigated, according to the UN. CNN’s Sharif Paget contributed to this report.