The Wrath Of A Hurricane | Stormrider: Hurricane | Spark

mother nature is more powerful than any man-made bomb more ferocious and destructive than any army every day she claims more victims showing no mercy and taking no prisoners Chris that's moving I'm Chris Terrell as a filmmaker and adventurer I'm fascinated by extreme situations I never use a film crew I prefer to go it alone just me and my camera and now I want to confront nature head-on take my camera into her very tools I want to meet the people who live in the path of killer natural forces you choose to play Russian roulette with nature at her most trigger-happy it can be beautiful one minute and then kill you the next just don't think it can't happen to you because it can tonight I seek out possibly the most violent destructive and deadly of all storms the hurricane [Music] you should never have to face a storm alone the whole state our town right now for your own hurricane preparation guide it will give you several last-minute tips to help you feel better prepared like 3/4 plywood for reinforcing your windows and doors as if I'm honest I'd have to admit that I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie there are those I think I've got a death wish well I haven't I'm as terrified as anybody else that what storms can actually do but I'm also fascinated in the guiles by these extraordinary forces of nature that's why I want to get as close as I can to look them in the eye feel their heart beat really try to understand them from the inside maybe that's why right now I'm traveling down a completely deserted interstate towards Louisiana all the traffic going in the opposite direction tomorrow at dawn a gigantic hurricane named Gustav is expected to make landfall on the US Gulf Coast fearing a repeat of the infamous Hurricane Katrina that claimed 2,000 lives the mayor of New Orleans is describing Gustav as the mother of all storms and has ordered a mass evacuation I've never seen anything like it never-ending stream of coaches full of evacuees all coming in the direction that I'm going in this concession to say anytime hotel now that's what Gustav has style fell the Texas this is the middle of an incredibly active hurricane season crossing the Atlantic from Africa they've been stacking up ready to smash into the USS southern coastline all hurricanes are named and Gustav is just the next in line to strike probably around Lafayette in Louisiana exactly where I'm headed for I still have a few hours to prepare for his arrival at daybreak well hurricanes are notoriously difficult to predict and even more difficult to film flying debris water wind the lots his whole day and if absolute nightmare water proofing cameras but to be honest I've taken these some of these cameras into some pretty extreme places in my time and I found that never mind all the expensive stuff are they best ways of waterproofing there's a black bin liner and the camera well wrapped up one of these as to me trusty ski helmet and goggles this with the old bounce and this for the eyes 100 ml now winds plus and did a lot of damage but no matter how well protected I am or how well protected my cameras are it's not going to count for nothing if I can't get into the storm in the first place and that's that's number one mission so we're just over the best it's now morning and the weather has seriously deteriorated Gustav has made landfall just east of here and is heading this way although he could change direction at any time there is everybody in love why now to have a chance of getting right into Gustav's path I've hooked up with a bunch of homegrown hurricane chasers so where are we I keep losing where we are I know we're headed southeast on this outer rain bands Michael and his fellow chasers have all these sophisticated gizmos to put me into the violent heart of a hurricane but their plan is far from sophisticated they're going to drive smack bang into the thing five thirty years of doing it you start realizing you know what you can't do what you can't do just awesome to see you know nature's display and such a vivid way hopefully we've all lose any windows to that good that's a real nurse's after about 20 minutes we reach the outer bands of Hurricane Gustav driving is getting perilous so Jim decides it's time to pull in and hunker down in the leave a bill might be the best place regard for a kill they plan to watch the storm unfold from the relative safety of the car but I've decided to venture out I want a sense of what a hurricane is like face to face hi straigt brilliant blowing up now right through the way you suck I can't stand up on the Huracan scale of one-to-five these 100 mile-per-hour winds are only a category two but they're already causing a lot of damage coming down torn off suddenly in this ghost town I catch sight of a solitary figure darting in and out of the house not everyone it seems as de vacu ated you're brave people was it you I saw out there they look like you having a wonderful time yeah I like doing stuff yes yes yes it's just like a good time out there almost everybody left around here we never leave them we always say what's better oh we were watching the trees ball Ray taking again over damn again we've got to stick together you're listening to continuing a hurricane coverage after Mantha Gustav on 102.1 KQ is FM it is 11 o'clock lots of information kind of coming in but we know that tell some big trees will return some branches are down and are they are in the process of assessing damage right now Gustav has pasta the move inland where he'll slowly die it suddenly spookily calm everyone and everything is in a state of bewilderment [Music] damage is widespread the emergency services hemmed in by the storm were too late to save the young man in this house [Music] in all ten people in Louisiana were killed by gustave but this was nothing like the number of fatalities that had been feared okay here's the latest here's what's going on right now um upper and lower say more embarrassed we got a mess but relatively speaking you don't have a big mess so maybe Peters promised this staff in the end all his sound and fury was not the mother of all storms as have been billed Louisiana it would seem has dodged a bullet and the hundreds of thousands of people that evacuated are now coming flooding back the trouble is many of them were now filled with the authorities who called for mandatory evacuation have made a bad call but they've cried wolf and this begs the question next time a hurricane threatens this area all these people evacuate or they stay put well in fact we're about to find out because a second hurricane is following in close behind Gustav his name is Ike and it's looking like an absolute monster [Music] having had my first taste of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana I'm now just days later in hot pursuit of Hurricane Ike which is fast heading for America's Sunshine State Florida it's hard to believe looking out at the clouds that somewhere out there the huge storm is bringing all hurricanes begin life above the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic rapidly rising moist air feed storm clouds which helped by the Earth's rotation generate a swirling mass and rain and wind these circulated up to 200 miles per hour around a central eye which contrary to popular belief is almost completely calm these doughnut shaped storms are so huge they can only be seen in their monstrous entirety from the space this is Huracan lake he's already killed 70 people in Haiti and has now got his sights set on Cuba I'm heading for Key West Florida's southernmost tip just 100 miles north of Cuba and there's every expectation that Ike could veer north and hit the keys head-on again the keys are still under hurricane launch south of Ocean Reef keep listening as we bring you the latest updates this time my aim is to be in place as the hurricane comes off the sea to hit land always the most destructive point of impact celebrites a beautiful day breezy nothing more than breezy but certainly this is an indication that things are beginning to hot up slowly Mike is just around the corner really and will impact here probably later tonight all the tourists have been told by the authorities to get out of town immediately they've abate without question they've come for the sunshine not a full-blown hurricane but I'm amazed to discover that most of the locals are planning to ride the storm completely ignoring the mandatory evacuation you guys live here yes so you're not evacuating no hell no well this attitude may seem a little Cavalier but Key West has often been saved from a hurricanes killer force by the Caribbean islands that take the full brunt whatever the reason he Weston's strike me optimists in fact today there is a palpable sense of gain hurricane puffy yes today we're all families drag show still gonna perform today but you didn't think about moving out [Music] we care about you we're gonna have a great time be safe the only American Caribbean island where gays okay have some fun well this is one way to celebrate a hurricane coming in straight defiance gay defiance Key West is putting a collective two fingers up in Ike but at the bottom of Main Street there are ominous signs minute-by-minute can see that they storm search in the sea is increasing to see is that impinging on the breakwaters actually coming over into the roads is Key West the people here however remain defiant Huracan parties are the order of the day Rivard oh well Dutch courage certainly you want to come with us quietly tank top I would suspect this not a tank top but maybe that's the way you're going to be for hurricane not so much tanked up first made up is Shirley who actually prefers hurricanes to the tornados she grew up with I grew up in the Midwest you know tornadoes come 15 minutes you have not like very little warning at least here you know you know what's going on and your heater brave or not so you know then I'm brave look at me hello so is Ike heading this way there's no way of knowing but the weather is rapidly deteriorating and as all hotels have been closed until the threat of Ike passes I've settled down for a fitful night sleep in the car and wait to see what morning brings at daybreak we discover that Ike rather than smashing his head on has continued West what we're feeling is just his outer fringe but it's still a mighty tropical storm now normal people would still take shelter but Keywest Ian's as I've already found out arf-arf keep label crazy yeah [Music] [Music] this is like in this weakest I hate to think will hit me like this strongest way can really flex his muscles powering up then across the Gulf of Mexico ready to strike anywhere along that coast about three or four days time I hate to a virgin for damage you can do that but I'm determined to get to the point where I quill make his next landfill the question is where exactly will that be what we do know is that Ike is heading west across the massive Gulf of Mexico the Paragons are difficult to second-guess so to try and get into his mind I'm heading to the US Air Force Base at Biloxi Mississippi these people have ways of getting into her Isak goodnight very high today's mission is to try and predict Ickes next move to find out exactly where and how hard is strike in no time at all we're over the Gulf of Mexico and in the monstrous presence of Ike himself tonight the eye itself even at 10,000 feet we can't see Mike in his entirety he actually fills the whole of the Gulf of Mexico 2,000 miles in circumference and 600 miles in diameter to build a more intimate picture like songs of probes are dropped deep into his body these measure wind speed and direction temperature pressure and humidity it's like measuring the heartbeat impulsive the master to see just how strong [Music] [Music] [Music] okay here as long as the pilot flies with the winds we'll be okay traveling at 350 miles an hour he can outrun the fastest hurricane winds but if he were to fly across them even this solid old prop plane would be ripped apart of the seconds as we peered down to be calm I of this monstrous storm information from the probes make one thing very clear Mike is wounded the mountains of Cuba have ripped a hole in him sapping his energy but like all injured beasts it doesn't mean to say he's no longer as organized as we expected it to be but it's still force to be reckoned with but it's got plenty of time between here and it's predicted landfall somewhere in Texas plenty of time over ice water to develop it with decide to do feeding voraciously of the warm energy giving waters of the Mexican Gulf Mike must inevitably strengthen before he reaped his land determined to outrun him I Drive through the night towards Texas the state now bracing itself for Ike's impact Louisiana Texas Gulf Coast areas who are facing the wrath of hurricane I pray Lord that you would grant wisdom and what to do whether to leave or to stay and I would pray tonight for all of these folks who are traveling on the roads as well Hurricane Ike is well on its way now and everybody is in total panic Galveston on a coast they're saying could be underwater by this time tomorrow underwater and they are also saying that death is an inevitability so this is a very very serious hurricane this isn't this isn't time for playing games like they did in Key West this this really is we are being told a life and death situation nevertheless I need to get myself into the best possible position to film pike head-on to minimize the risk I've hooked up with a couple of British storm chasers instability now in the in the cloud structure well you know don't say Stuart as an amateur wild weather enthusiasts but a very experienced is very annoyed what we can do is drive to a place called free ports where then probably going to push up to Galveston we're gonna set up there so we're in the path we're in the track of it so I can tell you now we're sitting in the car and we got 110 mile an hour gust it will be white-knuckle absolute why not it appears ike is heading straight for the town of Galveston built on a coastal spit it would be incredibly vulnerable but that's exactly where we intend to dig in but on our way there we pass through the small town of frequent and are shot [Music] that is amazing it's still hours hours before Mike actually arrives here but already the storm surge the the wall of water being pushed ahead of the hurricane on the way in is already flooding this whole place I'm actually shocked by how far inland the water is already coming we need to be careful here that we don't get too stuck where we are it's a it's annoyed because we needed to take that road to get to our Snyder we caught thousands over there we don't get now we're gonna have to drive back inland and rail I've never seen anything like this I've never seen anything like this the storm surge is coming in fast and furiously nothing is going to hold those waters back absolutely nothing a hurricane storm surge can increase normal tides by 15 feet or more for the Gulf Coast communities that are on average only 10 feet above sea level this spells real danger 9 out of 10 fatalities in hurricane are caused by drowning we've got people down here that are stuck in the middle of the roadway trying to drive out they can't make their vehicles are stalled out are they right later to this morning to leave we've got another family over Lee couple back there that they don't want to leave they won't stay there with their house they are not using their intelligence their their emotional box of property in their houses here so what can you do about that can you make them leave no there's no way to make a person leave their house this is not nothing compared to what's coming we've got high winds coming we've got higher water coming the tide is already coming over Beach Drive so this is nothing to watch until you expect what's coming in the future the wording from the National Weather Service is stark basically they say if you're down on the coast you will die you will face certain death now I'm used to stern words in the National Weather Service it doesn't put me off as a storm chaser now that's really focused my mind today they say the road down here is getting impassable oh really yeah yeah so we may have to get everybody down if we don't move fast we're going to be stuck here it's coming up by the van I was standing in it god knows what they're gonna do about the people they've got still in those houses I just they cannot understand what's about to hit them I think they've they've grossly underestimated the damage there this waters got a cause I think you know it's a massive storm Oh God we're blocked off we go around here you know your Dave shut that's alright we'll have to go back a factory new route I've just workers around it yeah take that one and we'll probably go up and come back round hang on guys luckily we find the one remaining road to Galveston that's not under water the model forecast tracks can take the eye of the hurricane dead center over this bit here it's not very high above sea water as we could see and it's whether or not there's anything they'll provide as protection but I'll tell you now if I can find a multi-story car park and you get the car up one or two layers then I'll game on very tough and very interesting intercept this early Galveston is no stranger to big storms in 1900 it was hit by a massive hurricane that to this day remains America's deadliest ever natural disaster over 8,000 people were killed when 15-foot storm tide swamped the whole island but history is quickly forgotten you know there's a hurricane coming okay where you can hide out I'm staying in a place over here on Avenue are okay so well-built house older okay I got this okay maybe modern Galvis Toni ins have confidence in this 17 foot seawall which to date has held surging seas at bay oh my word look at that it's boiling just come oh yeah you can see behind me this is Galveston this is likely to be right in the path of Hurricane Pike when he arrives and already the search finding are they say this is the sea search on a normal day people would be sunbathing on a beach just below this seawall the circle you can see in the middle is actually the eye of Hurricane Ike black circle exists spinning around spinning around the red line is the projected path and as you can see we're sitting right on the projected path on the on the coast line we're gonna have absolutely wallets here Ashley absolutely whacked there's nowhere on this planet I'd rather be right now a really very very excited of what this evening all bring it's a quite incredible ten days ago when I intercepted Hurricane Gustav billed as the storm of the century virtually everyone had evacuated even though the storm failed to live up to predictions now his brother Mike's arriving and despite a mandatory evacuation 1/3 of the residents that's 20,000 people think the Galveston authorities are crying wolf and are sitting tight it's now down to people like police sergeant Michael Gray to persuade residents to take Ike seriously and get to the public shelter called the shelter of last resort before it's too late if it hits where they say it's gonna hit it's going to be very nasty we're saying you need to go to the shelter okay oh okay thank you we're okay you need something call this okay bad yes sir all right thank you now on it's gonna deteriorate well look young y'all need to get inside okay and I would recommend getting in your car and driving to the shelter Michael hadn't got luck to try and get people to a shelter after dark he and all emergency services will be withdrawn from the streets for that phone safety but conditions are deteriorating so fast that residents assume reconsidering their options yes sir someone we could go like a shelter yeah we have we have a shelter blasters yeah we do have a shelter of last resort do you need to ride there yeah because uh it's fun everywhere man okay come here and hop in the back over here you live here yeah for like seventeen years now it's not like this I didn't think then that so I started feeling the winds and I seen the water then the water started coming in that touched my thirst that's just this is just the beginning so I told myself so you know I gotta get out of here I'll tell be able to make think positive what does everybody have to be off the streets eight eight o'clock the sea surge increasing by the minute is threatening all coastal buildings and structures the dollar needs were built on sturdy wooden struts is one of Galveston's most famous landmarks a venue to such grapes as Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra for 75 years it's worth at every storm thrown at it though now some of the supporting cross beams are already working loose as the light begins to fade Michael drops off the frightened but grateful Hurricane refugee at the shelter of last resort meanwhile a sense of threat increases precious to you roads are now possible likes a big boy there more rain an hour later it's Michael's last chance to help anyone seeking shelter he's already been called in to take his own refuge who didn't heed the mandatory evacuation that was called this is the time that if they are able to get through to us we have to tell them that we can't we can't go out we're running from the water right now Michael and the rest of the emergency services hunker down to the night in the strongest Hotel on the island I on the other hand I'm joining Stuart on the second floor of the multi-story car park that's already taking on a lot of water we're actually here this white dots here well the situation is that the eye is now approaching us it's less than an hour offshore and of course the strongest strongest winds of the hurricane always span around the periphery of the eye wall you'll hear a lot of debris flying through the egg shards of wood bits of glass broken bricks and they're literally lethal though they'll cut you in half if they appear the next hour to an hour and a half are going to become very very hairy there is no way you can go out there's even lethal power on those streets absolutely lethal despite Stuart's chilling warning I decide to go out anyway I haven't chased Ike all over America to hide from him in a car park the question is will my camera stand up to the challenge and will I Goodspeed now give me on five feet all I can do the winds are now well over 100 miles per hour and the law is deathly and spray see this at his strongest hikers like nothing I've ever experienced it's terrifying and thrilling all at the same time Oh [Music] fighting not to be hurled into a murderous see I take immediate advantage of a dip on the wall and wind and make the sanctuary of the carpark guided in by Stuart worried my safety not long afterwards Stewart notices a change in the wind conditions approaching us we've been we've not had any really significant gusts now for a couple of minutes noticeable it's still very windy and very you would call it gale force but it hasn't got that raw energy and it's almost becoming more quiet it's the ten minutes and you will be will be outside walking around you wouldn't even need an umbrella Stewart was right just minutes after being blasted by the first I wall of Hurricane Ike I am for a while safe in the surreal calm of the storm died that was some experience and we are now in the eye of the storm winds died down the rain stopped war has ceased so we just got a little bit of rest bite and gather ourselves and prepare ourselves for whole thing whatever game sure enough the second I will soon explodes upon us even more powerfully than the first once again they cannot resist the lure of being part of this extraordinary force of nature right now the eyeball of upon earth winds punish Mara plus mic is smashing up the place the Smashing meal Shirley is going to be massive destruction and loss of life here in Galveston must now be a certainty [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] the incredible experience of meeting Ike face-to-face couldn't have prepared me for what I find this morning everywhere you go it's just destruction the devastation is everywhere flooding wind damage and of course power lines are down as well which is led to short circuits all sorts of electrical problems and fires like this one by me now that house survives a hurricane okay in a fire the firefighters can only stand and watch with water mains ruptured there is nothing to fight fires with and down on the coast I find well last night I was filming some of the restaurants build-outs on the moon tears wouldn't tears they have to see well they didn't make it look like this these splintered Timbers all that's left of the famous Balinese words listen on trees to see all those and I see this falls right there that's used to be the ballroom it's it's pencil gone look at here makes you feel real sad no I've never seen anything like this in my life I'm 54 years old I've never been anything through this but we made it another big problem now we'll be looters as well the shops are smashed apart smashed open and also now the National Guard are out to come in by helicopter nobody's be anything to chance anymore in Galveston not the day after Hurricane Ike Mike's huge storm surge and screaming winds have left virtually nothing untouched or intact cars are in the sea and boats are on land even by Stuart standards this level of chaos and destruction I enjoy seeing the weather and I enjoy the the aspects of the horican but it's the aftermath when when you're faced with this and you realize that you know that's someone Bohdan they probably worked all their life to be able to afford and it's their dream and there is life smashing on an interstate and it's everywhere you turn you know it's all I'll get no pleasure no pleasure from saying this Galveston is cellphones nobody can quite believe whatever we went to sleep we woke up in and stepped out into water up over our bed I was praying all night long and I woke up thinking the good Lord I was still alive Oh found him stranded in under underneath there that's one that got lucky a lot of died I tell him what your name Galveston will bounce back Galveston was destroyed in 1900 pretty much and it bounced back he'll bounce back Galveston Ian's they're very resilient Ickes impact was felt right across Texas where he was to prove the third costliest hurricane ever causing thirteen billion dollars worth of damage two million people were to be without power for weeks Mike led to the biggest rescue effort in Texan history but miraculously only 12 people were killed in Galveston out of a total of 103 deaths across the southern states of america and the caribbean 34 are still missing 19 of them from Galveston

Channel: Spark

Views: 133,652

Keywords: Emergency response, Evacuation, Extreme weather footage, Global warming, Heavy rainfall, Hurricane landfall, Hurricane survivors, Hurricane tracking, Hurricane-ravaged areas, Hurricanes in [location], Life-threatening conditions, Little Dot Studios, National Weather Service, Rain, Spark, Storm aftermath, Storm safety tips, Stormy skies, Violent storms, Weather data, Weather monitoring

Id: 4h788_Gewyc

Length: 44min 57sec (2697 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 31 2020