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Hurricane Ivan Storm Surge Stock
Video & Photos |
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Category 4 Hurricane Ivan
photos, video, and chase account |
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Pensacola Beach Barrier
Island, Florida |
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September 16-17 2004 |
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Infrared Satellite Image of
Ultimate Chase Video Services Location During Hurricane ! |
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Hurricane Ivan made
landfall as a major category 3 Hurricane ! |
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Pensacola Water Tower |
Receding surge in early
morning hours |
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Receding surge in early
morning hours |
Destroyed Pier |
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Storm Surge |
Construction equipment
floating by |
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Wind blowing rain through
concrete block walls |
Palms in sandblast |
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Corvette buried in sand |
Road washed away |
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Buried fire hydrant |
buried mailbox |
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Destroyed house |
Candy machine in surge |
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Houses completely washed
away |
Bulldozer in storm surge |
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Sailboat washed onto road |
Sailboat washed onto road |
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Collapsed House |
No Parking |
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House swept of stilts |
Total Destruction |
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House swept clean of
foundation |
Truck on side |
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Fallen telephone poles |
Collapsed house |
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Trashed car |
Buried trash dumpster |
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Sailboat washed onshore |
Destroyed house |
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Half buried jeep |
Flooded houses |
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Pensacola civic center fan landed on
car |
Palms on beach |
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Mark Sigler - Owner of the
"Dome Home" |
NBC News cameraman - Craig
White |
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People filling gas jugs at a
gas station off I-10 |
Long line waiting for gas
near I-10 |
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| Chase
Account: I
arrived onto Pensacola Beach barrier island around 3:00pm and
decided this would be the best place to be to document the
effects of storm surge on a barrier island. I found a
condominium complex that had a built in parking garage that was
5 floors high and had an additional 10 floors of condos on top.
I knew in this location I would be able to document the storm
surge and keep my truck safe and prevent it from being swept
away as so many cars did. I set up shop and received frequent
radar updates from Jim Ponce, Dave Lewison, and Gary Padgett. My
laptop was having a few problems and figured I had a few minutes
to spare to work on it so I could get a glimpse at the current
radar. The storm surge was already all the way up to the sand
dunes and the waves crashing offshore were around 10-15 feet
high. The sun set and I realized the most intense part of Ivan
was going to make landfall at dark and I knew I would not be
able to document the huge waves that were predicted to happen
because it would be too dark to see. I estimate I experienced
sustained winds of 100mph with gusts up to 130mph during the
most intense part of the storm that started around midnight. The
entire first floor was under water and 10 foot waves were
crashing on top of the surge into the building. The waves were
huge and every wave that crashed into the building would shake
it as if in a minor earthquake. I estimate the highest storm
surge the island experienced was around 15 feet. I was getting a
bit concerned thinking about what would happen if the storm
surge eroded away the sand from underneath the building, would
the building sink or just fall over ?? I tried to hide this
scary thought into the back of my mind as I was already here and
I knew by the morning hours the worst of the storm would be over
and I only had a few hours to go. I occasionally shined the
spotlight out and witnessed the water rushing over the island
like a river you would see while white water rafting, The water
was moving very fast and any structures or vehicles in it's way
would be swept away! I documented water getting blown through
concrete block walls from the raw power of the wind driving it
through. The entire night I heard houses being destroyed and
huge waves crashing onto the building that would produce a
chilling low frequency rumbling bass sound. |
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| Daybreak!
I snoozed in the truck from 5am-7am and the sunlight woke me up
to a complete war zone! Major Destruction ! Ummm, were did the
roads go, GONE ! The roads were completely washed away and the
area was completely devastated. The sand dunes were gone and
many houses were swept off their foundations. I shot some video
for a few hours and waited until the surge completely subsided.
Around 1:00pm I attempted to drive off the island, but got my
truck stuck in the sand under a mile into the drive. I decided I
could walk off the island if I could find a safe route without
stepping into any sinkholes. The wind was still blowing hard
with some gusts up to 60mph. I was getting completely sand
blasted by every gust and got tons of sand embedded in my hair,
ears, and eyes. I decided to carry what ever I could carry on my
back that would keep me alive, including my camera and laptop.
So, I was now on foot carrying 2 camera bags, a laptop case, a
pillowcase full of food, and a gallon of Hawaiian punch. Just
when I thought I had seen it all, I witnessed a house on stilts
lean back as the back stilts sunk about 10 feet into the sand.
I wasn't able to capture this because it happened so fast and
the thick sand blowing in the wind would ruin my camera
instantly if I pulled it out of the bag. I started to realize
that this day was going to be long and challenging and I had to
really go into survival mode as the soft spots in the sand were
becoming more frequent and I didn't want to sink into one of
these sinkholes never to be found again. I walked for what
seemed eternity into the sandblast and caught a glimpse of
someone walking in the distance, Another human being, Hello ! I
yelled. It was Kerry Sanders of NBC news and he was snapping
pictures of the destruction and instantly introduced himself and
asked what I was doing on the island and if I needed a place to
stay. We went back to the "Dome Home", where NBC news
correspondent Kerry Sanders, NBC news cameraman Craig White, NBC
news sound engineer Chuck Stewart, and the owner of the "Dome
Home" Mark Sigler rode out the storm. They were working hard
trying to figure out a way to get their video off the island as
NBC news and myself were the only journalist on the island to document this event. I spent the
next 24 hours in the "Dome Home" and documented the story along with them as we
walked around the island in disbelief and shot video and ran
into a elderly couple in shock who rode out the storm in their house and
shot a survival story of a man who's house completely fell apart
around him and was thrown into the storm surge and luckily was
able to crawl into another house and lay in the bathtub with a
mattress over his head for the remainder of the storm. I picked
the brains of the NBC crew during dinner on their past
experiences and let me tell you, these guys are some of the best
in the business and have been in the
media for a long time and have covered allot of huge stories,
including being embedded with the U.S. troops in the Iraq war. I was able to catch a ride
off the island by boat and felt like kissing the solid ground I
stood on when I stepped off the boat. I'm Alive ........ |
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| Special
Thanks to Mark Sigler owner of the "Dome Home" |
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information on the "Dome Home" -
www.domeofahome.com |
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Thanks to the NBC news crew that helped me out while in
distress, NBC should be proud to have them apart of their team ! |
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| NBC news
correspondent Kerry Sanders article on Hurricane Ivan -
Click Here |
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Hurricane Ivan Stock
Video Stills and Photos Copyright © Ultimate Chase Video Services |
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Hurricane Ivan Stock Video Contact: |
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Mike Theiss at 305-394-6000 |
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All hurricane Ivan
photographs, video stills, and sample video throughout this site are
copyrighted and protected under United States |
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and international copyright
laws. These photographs, video stills, and video may not be reproduced
in any form, downloaded, stored, |
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or manipulated without prior permission from ©
Ultimate Chase, Inc. - Storm Chasing Photography |
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