Storm Chaser Journal

After an exhausting, but action-packed 48 hours with little or no sleep, I have departed Galveston in route to my hurricane chase base in Pensacola. It was about a six hour adventure (using a complex of back roads), to travel from Galveston to the LA border. The two extra gas cans I carried saved me from disaster, as I just made it to the first gas station open east of Houston in Sulphur, LA. I found the last room at a second rate motel near Sulphur. I don’t care, as I’m so tired, I could sleep on cactus. Houston is a ghost town. I-10 is flooded in several places with cars casually floating as the drivers wade to shore. I was so tied, I did not even stop to photograph them. Galveston suffered some serious damage, but it will recover quickly. (Nix that last statement…. infrastructure was too delicate to withstand the storm. Sewer, and power were issues). All of the pier buildings were destroyed, including the famous Hooters over the Gulf. You know I made sure it was empty of any possible victims….. lol. Dilchrist, Texas, a town along highway 86 leading to the ferry I took to Galveston was washed away, with many missing or dead. I had that old familiar feeling when I  drove through the small town the day before Ike struck, as Gulf water was already lapping up near the main road. Had the ferry stopped operating, I would have been cut off and stuck along that highway and washed away, resorting to my PLB and emergency life vest. Yikes! Fires raged all night setting an funky orange cast to the sky as the winds howled at over 90 mph. I know there were higher gusts, as the parking garage shook several times…. just like the one I occupied during Andrew. I am guessing gusts will eventually be estimated at over 130 mph. I took over 300 photographs, some of the best ever of a hurricane disaster. I do not have time to add a lot here, but I will later.

While I was standing in the storm surge, some sea creature decided to sting me. After some medication, the swelling has gone down.

I have dramatic footage of Ike, including some of the only footage of the pier buildings as they were tore apart. See Weatherstock for commercial and editorial licensing.

Warren

A man is overcome by a massive wave along the Galveston seawall.

Explosions and flames overcome a boat storage area as a man watches.

Hurricane Ike flood victims wade through flood waters to safety.

Firefighters slammed by a wave as they attempt to fix a gas leak.

An amusement park mermaid prepares to be set free as the storm surge approaches her. (She was gone the next morning).

A truck full of spectators takes a dangerous path as a massive wave full of debris heads towards them.

With the full force of Hurricane Ike bearing down, a local resident takes a walk.

The seawall memorial, in memory of the many children killed in the 1900 hurricane, as a large wave slams into the wall. The memorial survived the hurricane despite rumors it had been destroyed.

A massive pile of debis, from the pier buildings along the seawall, lines the road and sidewalk in Galveston.

Night vision image of Ike during his full fury.