Hurricane IAN: Rampage Across the South (2022)

and it's early Tuesday morning crack of dawn and I'm about to hit the road heading toward Tampa Bay the situation with hurricane Ian is growing more ominous it's looking actually very threatening for Tampa Bay here I come I have about nine hours of driving it's gonna be a long day [Music] it's a little afternoon I'm still heading east along the Florida Panhandle and a situation with hurricane Ian's gotten kind of serious across Cuba this morning and I checked the Key West Radar a little while ago to take a look at it and whoa this has got a gorgeous structure I mean just a perfect little inner ring of an eye wall I mean this thing looks like it's ready to really ramp up and get very intense and the other important thing is that the computer models have been shifting and each new run brings the hurricane ashore further and further down on the Florida Peninsula and that matters because of this particular storm the further south it comes in the stronger it's going to be I think this thing could be one for the ages I think it's it's really interesting but I think this is going to be a really huge impact in a populated area I think this is going to be another tough Chase I'm near Ocala and I'm heading south on the 75 in Florida and check this out southbound is fine Northbound is jammed up that's folks trying to get away from the hurricane which is going to be coming ashore south of here in the direction I'm headed that is a mess that's a lot of people trying to get out of there wow the weather's deteriorating a bit too these are some Outer Outer rain bands from Hurricane [Music] after 12 hours of driving here I am so I it's not an ideal hotel but it's close enough at least for tonight I'm gonna have to definitely adjust tomorrow good morning it's 4am got like four hours of solid sleep and now I'm totally recharged and ready to go it's uh windy and it's warm out and it's raining I can feel the hurricane getting closer heading to Punta Gorda to deploy another custom weather meter want to detailed pressure profile of this hurricane as it moves in I'm in Charlotte Harbor in Florida and the wind is starting to really pick up and hurricane Ian is now a category four heading right in this direction this could be Ground Zero in the lobby of the hotel just getting a last hot meal before the hurricane hits it's getting a little stormy outside wow crazy situation so hurricane Ian has just explosively intensified now it's a category four almost a five and it looks like I am right where this thing is going to come in holy crap this thing could be one of the worst hurricanes in American history the way this is shaping up and what a surprise just a couple days ago the computer models were not enthusiastic about this and now we might be in for just a hurricane for the ages wow folks in the hotel seem a little spooked because they heard they heard about how it's how it's deepening how it's strengthening they don't know what to make about it let's go outside and see what it's like out there yeah look at that you can see it's already getting really stormy out here now we might be Ground Zero here Punta Gorda I mean I'll stay here based on the latest radar Trends it looks like this is exactly where the Hurricane's eye is coming and it's a pretty big eye wow man this is it's gonna be uh this is gonna be something I don't I don't like to resort to hyperbole or you know kind of hyping but this is going to be one hell of a punch and I just hope residents here are battening down folks on Southwest Florida around Charlotte Harbor I'm just Sarasota that's Naples you guys all have to be ready this thing is going to come in hot in the lobby of this uh Hotel here in Punta Gorda and folks hanging out having breakfast could be the last hot meal in a while uh folks seem calm for the most part I think they are starting to hear that this hurricane is getting kind of Hardcore um I wonder if they really know how serious this is gonna be because I think this is going to be beyond what a lot of people were expecting even in their kind of Wildest Dreams this is going to be a really really heavy impact wherever it comes in it is starting to really blow in Punta Gorda the wind's getting that angry tug to it and inside the lobby folks are just kind of trying to stay quiet and calm little kid here watching TV and I got my radar here I was kind of following what the hurricane is doing and uh you know it's my instinct you know when I'm chasing hurricanes to like keep moving keep moving keep moving you know it's almost like it's kind of like a you know it's a sport you want to keep moving but this is a situation where the radar is telling me stay put it seems to be wobbling right in this direction so for right now stay put thank you Punta Gorda Florida hurricane Ian moving in foreign I'm on the waterfront in Punta Gorda and check this out that's Charlotte Harbor behind me and look at that the water's actually been pulling out away from the coast that actually happened sometimes before severe hurricanes depending on the direction of the wind the the water can actually pull away from the coast but then what happens is the center moves in crosses the coast of wind shifts and the water just comes rushing in there's a good chance it'll come spilling over this sea wall and then up to the hotel possibly it's going to be a very serious situation either way because the winds in this thing are really intense this is a high-end category for a hurricane I'm actually having trouble just sort of imagining what it's going to be like in an hour or two when we get into the inner core of this thing this is a serious serious hurricane I was not expecting this this just kind of it's just sort of like exploded today into this big event potentially it's just you never know with these things look how far out the tide is that fishing pier is barely in the water that water has pulled way out that is crazy and it's all gonna come rushing back in later so last minute last minute adjustment I'm looking at the radar and it looks like the hurricane is looks like the eye is wobbling a little to the north if we want to get inside of it we got to relocate I don't want to do it I hate relocating this close to the core of the violent hurricane they're not going to be angry at myself and I miss the eye gotta go frantic last minute position change God I hate this yeah we gotta head north about 10 miles probably I'm just gonna do it 11 45 a.m We are just outside the inner eyewall hurricane Ian and I notice the conditions are pretty good because we're in that mode it's kind of a dry area of the Hurricanes just outside the craziness but uh yeah the look it's actually good conditions for driving and it's gonna be that way for a few minutes we got about 20 minutes to get to where we're going in Northport all right so uh it's 11 15 we crossed over the bridge heading toward Northport basically just kind of chasing the radar at this point all right so tough situation right now um the eye is wobbling as it's coming ashore I can't decide is it going more toward Punta Gorda where I was or is it more going toward Northport gotta decide one or the other North Port or Punta Gorda gotta make a decision gotta bite the bullet make a decision I don't want to miss the eye yeah I can't figure out where it's going it drive me crazy and it's becoming dangerous because now we are just just outside of the violent inner core conditions getting your ear oh boy all right 12 33 looks like we're heading back to Punta Gorda this is crazy just back and forth like nuts ugh getting crazy from this we're gonna have to go over that bridge that's not gonna be pretty going back over the bridge going back over Charlotte Harbor to Punta Gorda this is a rough Drive the winds are crazy that I could hardly keep the car on the road the gusts are just tugging it out of the lane uh the radar is playing tricks with my eyes causing me just to be totally neurotic and uh overthinking it maybe so back to Punta Gorda be careful folks are watching the storm and it's almost like people are watching a movie they're they're just entranced at what they're seeing and the show has actually not started yet Prater says the eyewalls mile or two from here foreign just almost here whoa thank you 209 starting to get that approaching white out can't see across Charlotte Harbor 210 bam foreign don't hear that often thank you foreign [Music] just look at those winds ripping out there now when I looked at the radar looks like we're right on that boundary between the eye and the eye wall and where those two things meet as often where the most violent winds are as you can see behind me man this thing is ripping apart whoa check that out dangerous conditions you should be in the comma anytime now hopefully just a few minutes all right foreign thank you Sky's brightening 4 30 I'm in the eye of hurricane Inn in Punta Gorda Florida still kind of windy we're still getting some gusts but definitely it's calm down I'm just out here walking around and uh so are other people folks are just kind of curious to see what happened thank you it's a little before 5 p.m and we're in the eye of hurricane Ian I'm in the hotel lobby and you can see folks are just kind of hanging out playing music relaxing it's kind of a cheery mood I think folks are maybe I don't know feeling good that we got halfway through the hurricane and uh we have a long night ahead of us because the other side of the hurricane is going to hit but for now it's calm it's about 5 30. still in the eye of hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda it's kind of windy we're getting some drizzle but we are definitely in the eye check out all the tree destruction look at that grand old tree that came down that's a shame here's some other ones too behind me yeah this uh this town definitely took a beating but one thing I'm noticing a lot of the newer houses ones that were built after Charlie Hurricane Charlie which devastated this place in 2004. a lot of those houses look like they performed very well in these Fierce winds just goes to show you if you uh if you build stuff properly it'll withstand even powerful hurricanes uh we're gonna be in the eye probably for I don't know I'm estimating another hour or so and then we got the back side of the storm it's gonna be a long night here 5 45 and we inadvertently drove right back to the eye wall okay yeah just just drove into it without realizing it we're on the bridge over Charlotte Harbor and boom back in the eyewall so we gotta turn around get back to shelter damage yeah driving over the bridge over Charlotte Harbor and we are right on the border between the eye and the eye wall trying to hurry back to the hotel before we get into a full on hurricane water looks like it's higher 547. it's up back in the hurricane and it also looks like the water's coming up we go we're gonna go to the Shore and check it out I thought we were going to be in the eye for longer here we here we go it looks like we're going back in there's been a noticeable shift in the wind direction that's concerning because it starts blowing on Shore those waters are going to come in it's starting to rip again look at that just all of a sudden you're arriving along the edge of the eye and then let's move back in the hurricane totally back in it it's whipping hard whoa foreign how strong this hurricane has come back wow this is a surprise okay yeah do what you have to do wow this is a surprise that the backside of hurricane Ian is a little more intense than where we were expecting we're getting a full-on white out now crap wow we are getting raked just before 6 p.m and maybe maybe we hadn't seen the best hurricane in Florida area foreign [Laughter] look at that go look at those winds car is rocking like crazy dude 625 probably the strongest wins of the day right now foreign all right foreign backside of hurricane Ian is Relentless it is just pounding but the word out it's getting dark it's gonna be a very long night for this town yeah [Applause] look at those waves breaking over the uh over the steel ball up onto the ground we're gonna have storm surge problems thank you foreign still blowing outside but uh folks in this hotel are done with it everyone's just hanging in the lobby drinking having a good time and uh I think we're all ready to see hurricane again go take a hike it's been a long day epic impact very worried about what we're going to see tomorrow in terms of damage but I think for tonight we're done with the end thank you I'm in Punta Gorda the morning after Hurricane Ian and my initial impression is that we escape the massive storm surge here that happened in other parts of Florida like Fort Myers and Naples but the water still did wreak havoc like look at this The Surge just tore this boat up and threw the pieces on to land against trees and everything else and you can see the Waterfront semester there's like a lot of debris and everything else but what I haven't seen are whole neighborhoods underwater and stuff like that so in that sense it looks like Punta Gorda might have gotten off a little easier than some of its neighbors still chasing Ian gonna meet up with his second time in South Carolina right now I'm racing across the Florida peninsula and late this afternoon I'll be Crossing Georgia and then tonight I'll arrive in Charleston I'll get a little sleep and then the storm will hit again tomorrow [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's Dawn in Charleston and hurricane Ian is heading for South Carolina looks like the center circulation is going to come ashore a little Northeast of here and that's where I'm heading I want to see what happens up the coast where the real action is going to be uh even though Charleston's gonna miss the worst of it it's probably gonna get a good kick here and probably some flooding thank you and we're in I used to work Georgetown South Carolina [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you and we're heading out of Georgetown and we're gonna go up the coast more toward Myrtle Beach see if that's where the eye of hurricane Ian is going this is the heart of historic Georgetown it's totally underwater under storm surge it kind of surprised me I wasn't expecting it well I should have been expecting it because this place has almost no elevation problem is I deployed a barometer a few blocks from here down the street and I gotta I gotta go get it so uh gotta walk through this water I think it's uh I think it's walkable I don't think it's too high let's see foreign wow this is some serious serious flooding in the historical districts of Georgetown I mean check this out this is underwater as far as the eye can see wow category one hurricane and the storm surge here means business [Applause] unfortunately in my my Kestrel weather meter is on the other side from this so I gotta walk through it man oh this is a really bad walk through this flood water and I know it's not [Applause] came out on the beach and I saw this rainbow and I said to myself this Chase is over this devastating just tiring through Florida through South Carolina it's done flood waters are receding and I'm going home heading back to Mississippi going home [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: iCyclone

Views: 175,514

Keywords: hurricane, Ian, Florida, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, Tampa, weather, storm, storm chaser, storm chasing, hurricane chaser, hurricane chasing, hurricane chase, Morgerman, Josh Morgerman, iCyclone, Hurricane Man, disaster, cat 5, category 5, Hurricane Ian

Id: BB__9FaSHcc

Length: 39min 5sec (2345 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 04 2023