The camera catches a police officer rushing to the car as a tornado descends on Texas Town, and moments later, it records a powerful act of loyalty

When a powerful tornado hit the Houston suburb of Deer Park, Texas last week, Police Officer Joel Nitchman knew he had to save his helpless partner.

In surveillance video, Nitchman can be seen running to a parked police SUV outside the station. Another officer runs towards the building.

Moments later, the tornado hits. For a moment we can’t see anything. Fences appear to be thrown into the cruiser’s side. Seconds later the worst is over.

Nitchman then emerged from the cruiser unharmed with his partner Roni. No last name. That’s because Roni is a dog — or K-9 to use law enforcement terminology.

After KTRK TV In Houston, the Deer Park Police Department went viral last week after releasing video showing the officer running to rescue his animal partner.

The tornado that hit Deer Park (population approx 34,000) on January 24th was an EF3 on the expanded Fujita scale, which measures the strength of twisters, much like the “categories” used to measure it hurricanes. On the EF scale, an EF5 is the strongest, but an EF3 isn’t too silly with wind speeds of anything 136 to 165 km/h.

“The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado that passed through Pasadena and Deer Park as an EF3 and characterized it with an estimated maximum path length of 18 miles, maximum path width of 0.66 miles, and maximum wind speed of 140 miles per hour,” reported KTRK .

Mike Seidel, a well-known fixture on The Weather Channel, was one of the many who shared the video last week.

Watch as K-9 Officer Joel Nitchman of the Deer Park, TX Police Dept. runs to save his #Dog Roni as EF3 #Tornado meets on Tue. As he said, “Any handler would have done the same for his K-9 partner.” Very happy that both are safe!#dogsarelove
📹@DEERPARKTXGOV pic.twitter.com/1jrI8fQuzn

— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) January 26, 2023

“Any handler would have done the same for their K-9 partner,” Nitchman is quoted as saying in Seidel’s tweet.

And just so we’re clear, this wasn’t a case of animal neglect animal rescue report written down.

“Most of the time, the K-9 stays in the vehicle while its operator is inside. When the officer is on the station, he or she is usually doing paperwork or filing evidence that requires the officer’s full attention. The K-9 always remains in a temperature-controlled vehicle with water. If at any point the vehicle loses power, the K-9 can exit the vehicle,” the website reported.

“In some instances, the K-9 will accompany its handler to the station, but while on duty, the vehicle is the dog’s safe location.”

It’s easy to appreciate how you feel about your dog, as many have done on Twitter.

This is my buddy! He was a bit sick this race but it’s getting better! We’ll hold out together, my buddy! Rocky pic.twitter.com/ftvBohZul4

— gets drunk (@msbulldog43) January 27, 2023

Bravo!!!!!!!! I would have done the same!

— Pollyanne (@1Pollyanne) January 26, 2023

good for him He loves his dog.

— Rita Sander (@RitaSander2) January 30, 2023

However, one responder made a stellar point about how deep the bond between a cop and a dog runs:

And Roni would, and probably did, do the same for her human partner.

— Ron S. (@ronamuck) January 27, 2023

And in fact they do it all the time. In May, a K-9 named Kai was hailed as a hero after the dog received two bullets while police in Gwinnett County, Georgia, were chasing an armed and dangerous suspect who was on the run. Officials were able to save Kai by taking him to the vet.

“We gave him as little first aid as we could before he came here [the vet]said Cpl. Aaron Carlyle, loud WXIA TV in Atlanta.

“I think that’s probably the difference as to why he was able to walk out of here today and we as officers were also able to walk out of the woods that day.”

It’s a two-way connection – something Officer Nitchman and Roni can no doubt attest to.