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Hurricane Katrina Chase Account - August
29th, 2005 |
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Infrared Satellite Images showing Ultimate Chase's Location
During Hurricane Katrina: |
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Location During Hurricane Katrina's Landfall:
Gulfport Beach, Mississippi |
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Hurricane Katrina's Satellite
Stock Images |
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Hurricane Katrina Stock
Photos and Video From Landfall # 01 in Ft. Lauderdale: |
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Hurricane Katrina sample video clips can be found on
the
Hurricane Video Page |
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Hurricane Katrina's first landfall was in South
Florida - August 25th, 2005 |
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Hurricane Katrina Photos and
Video Stills From Landfall # 02 in Gulfport, Mississippi: |
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Hurricane Katrina sample video clips can be found on
the
Hurricane Video Page |
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Hurricane Katrina makes landfall on the Mississippi
Coast - August 29th, 2005 |
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All casino's
shut down along the Mississippi Coast |
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Almost Daybreak,
No Power ! Jim Reed gives the camera a quick update before
we venture outside. |
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Storm surge
coming over Highway 90 along coast |
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Storm surge
coming over Highway 90 along coast |
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Storm surge
coming up to the hotel now.... |
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Storm surge
coming up to the hotel even higher.... |
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Storm surge
coming IN hotel now.... |
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Storm surge
coming THROUGH hotel now.... |
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Furniture
floating in the lobby.... |
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Storm surge
pushing car through hotel lobby.... |
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Storm surge
really coming up fast.... |
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Storm surge
almost to the 1rst floor roof.... |
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Storm surge
crashing into stairwell.... |
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Storm surge
crashing into stairwell.... |
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Storm surge
rolling waves.... |
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Storm surge
crashing by me.... |
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Intense winds
blowing through the first floor.... |
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First floor
completely gutted !! |
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Ultimate Chase Documents 28
Foot Storm Surge During Hurricane Katrina: |
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The photo above
is the Beachfront Holiday Inn where we rode out Hurricane
Katrina. It is located roughly 250 yards from the Gulf of
Mexico. As you can see the 1rst floor is completely gutted.
The yellow arrow is pointing to a hole in the wall where a
2nd floor air conditioning unit was located before the storm
surge pushed it in. I remember going to the second floor
during the peak of the Hurricane and noticing waves crashing
against the windows of the second floor. Water was surging
in through the air conditioning units and filling the second
floor with water.
The
photo on the left was taken during a storm surge
survey I conducted at Gulfport Beach. I estimate
from visual observations during the storm that the
peak surge reached roughly 9-10 feet into this hotel
with 1-2 foot waves or swells on top. The "Official"
slab elevation of this hotel is 19 feet above sea
level. The hotel sits up on a slight hill and is one
of the highest elevations you will find along Hwy.
90 on Gulfport Beach. I came up with a 28 foot storm
surge by simply adding the estimated 9-10 feet of
surge that came into the hotel to the 19 foot
elevation of the hotel. |
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The storm surge
reached roughly 28-29 feet at Gulfport Beach ! |
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** Revised July 2006 after new flood elevation
survey shows a 19 foot hotel elevation. |
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The Aftermath: |
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Board labeled
"Biloxi" found at Gulfport Beach. |
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Hurricane Katrina Stock Still
Photos Below: |
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Ultimate Chase Storm Video
Productions Teamed Up With Jim Reed |
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Still Photography To Document
Hurricane Katrina's Storm Surge. |
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Storm Surge
starts to subside and we get our first look outside. Trees
were still getting blasted by winds over 100mph. |
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Ultimate Chase
photographer Mike Theiss films Katrina's violent and deadly
storm surge from the stairwell of the Holiday Inn. |
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Storm Surge
starts rising along the gulf coast and is now engulfing Hwy
90 with large battering waves. |
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Ultimate Chase
photographer Mike Theiss films Katrina's violent and deadly
storm surge with large waves crashing on the outside of the
building. |
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Shot of the
Storm Surge filled with debris almost up to the second floor
of the hotel. This was not the surge at it's peak ! |
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U.S. Navy
Members John Gulizia, Roger Ferris, and Michael Latka save a
lady from her room as the Storm Surge starts to rapidly
rise. |
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Catastrophic
damage as all buildings were cleaned off their foundations. |
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Before Leaving
Gulfport We Went To A Residential Neighborhood And Gave Out
All Of Our Remaining Food And Water. |
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Theiss Device Storm Surge
Stock Video and Photos From Hotel Lobby: |
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"Historic" Hurricane Katrina
Chase Account: |
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Landfall
# 01:
I started documenting Hurricane Katrina from her
first landfall in the South Florida area. Hurricane
Katrina came into the Ft.Lauderdale/Miami area as a
strengthening Cat-1 Hurricane and produced winds up
to 100mph. I was shocked by how many people/tourists
were out in the hurricane. The steady 85-90mph winds
had sand blowing everywhere. I filmed tourists
walking in the wind and knew this was very
dangerous, but these people were not going to listen
to me. Just downwind of me was Katrina's first
fatality--a large tree blew over onto a vehicle,
killing the person inside. I was totally shocked by
how lightly everyone was taking this storm. |
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As of
9/07/05, Katrina was responsible for eleven deaths
in the South Florida area. This was from a Cat-1
Hurricane. I eventually convinced some of the
tourists to take refuge in the lobby because of the
danger of flying debris. I noticed a lot of flying
sheet metal and lots of trees falling over from the
wind, along with soft soil from all the rain. I
eventually got into Katrina's center and actually
saw a plane flying around. I assumed this was one of
the NOAA Hurricane Hunter planes. I decided to go
home after about three hours of filming and
discovered Katrina had started to go south after
making landfall. So I went to investigate Katrina's
southern eyewall, as the radar showed a lot of deep
convection. And I figured why not, it was on my way
home anyway. Well, that was the longest drive home I
took in my life. It was dark by now and blowing a
steady 70mph with some gusts reaching 90mph. The
rain was so thick and blinding that everyone on the
interstate drove about 5mph. It took me hours to get
home in these conditions and the lightning was very
intense. I actually had a bolt hit very close to my
car and the thunder almost made me lose control and
drive off the road. I don't know what it is about
this year's storms, but I've seen a lot of hurricane
lightning. |
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Anyway,
I got home in the early morning hours to find a
large tree lying on the roof of my condo building.
The parking lot was under three feet of water and
there was no power. Safely inside, I quickly passed
out and tried to catch some sleep because I planned
on documenting Katrina's next landfall somewhere in
the Gulf Coast. I knew sleep was something I would
not be getting for a while. |
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The next
morning I woke up early to the sound of loud
chainsaws cutting up the ficus trees that had fallen
all over the place. I decided to document some of
the major flooding in downtown Homestead before I
started my journey up to Katrina's next landfall.
Most of downtown Homestead was under three feet of
water from the estimated 20 inches of persistent
pounding rain Katrina brought our way. South Florida
was hit hard, But nothing like the next set of
events that were about to unfold. |
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Landfall
# 02:
On my drive to the Gulf coast, I spoke to
photographer Jim Reed several times and we decided
when Katrina reached Category 5 status, we'd team up
and document this very dangerous storm from
beginning to end. We knew this was a dangerous storm
and it would be tricky to capture it--and stay
alive. This would be my 14th hurricane, and I felt
the lessons I've learned in past hurricanes helped
train me to get through this historic storm. |
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We
decided that strength was in numbers on this one.
Between us, Jim and I had five cases of water, lots
of food, 21 gallons of gas, lots of rope, life
preservers, GPS locators, satellite phones, an
Internet connection, helmets, goggles--basically all
the survivor tools. He and I met up at the Gulfport
Beach Holiday Inn. We had worked out a deal with the
hotel manager that allowed us to stay there if we
signed a liability release. We unloaded all of our
equipment and brought it into one room, making a
checklist of everything and putting together a
survival plan. We surveyed the entire structure,
including the super-strong stairwells, and felt
confident in staying at this hotel during Katrina's
peak winds and storm surge. |
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Trying
to get some last minute rest that night was
impossible! The wind was already picking up, and by
daybreak, the hurricane really was cranking at
Gulfport. We documented the storm surge as it came
over Hwy.90, right in front of our hotel. I ran to
my room and quickly looked at the radar, and saw
that the worst was still two hours away. By then,
the storm surge was already up to the hotel and I
knew we would soon be experiencing an "intense"
situation. The surge came crashing into the hotel
lobby, bringing a vehicle with it on the storm surge
waves. |
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All the
furniture was floating everywhere, and the wind was
really starting to howl. I deployed the
Theiss-Device cam in the hotel lobby, knowing that
it was too dangerous for us to stay in that spot
much longer. We retreated into the stairwell,
knowing we would be spending some time there during
Katrina's wrath. In all, there were eight people in
the hotel that stuck together throughout the
hurricane: myself, Jim Reed, three U.S. Navy
members, and three hotel workers. We all helped each
other make it through this experience. I alerted the
U.S. Navy members about a lady I'd seen earlier in
one of the ground floor hotel rooms and they
instantly went to her rescue. To reach her, we had
to go outside to the back part of the hotel, and
there was glass and lots of other debris already
flying all over the place. The surge was at two
feet, so it was hard to walk back to the room where
the lady was trapped. |
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The
three of them worked together and helped her back to
the stairwell in the main hotel. Now with everyone
in the safety of the stairwell, I went back down to
the first level to shoot some last-minute images of
the car floating through the lobby. It was an eerie
sight because the water had caused a short in the
car, and so the lights turned on as the waves pushed
it into the hotel. We also heard horns honking
loudly in the back parking lot as they, too, started
to short out. |
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By now
it was extremely hard to walk in the lobby, and
furniture and other objects were hitting me in the
legs. I suddenly envisioned what the tsunami must
have looked like, and realized that I was in a
situation similar to that. I watched as the waves
were coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. They were
very long, two-to-three foot tall waves that didn't
crash, but just moved in--the classic storm surge.
With every surge, the force of the water would bang
new objects into my lower legs, threatening to knock
me off my feet. I stood right next to the stairwell,
holding onto the railing and hoping to capture as
much as I could. Storm surge from a major hurricane
has rarely been captured on video, so I knew my
video could be beneficial to scientists and
meteorologists to learn more about it, including how
fast it can come in, and how high it can get. |
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I shot
for another three to five minutes and then retreated
to the stairwell to regroup with the others. I took
a barometer reading--955mb. This was the lowest
pressure I saw, but it could have gone lower when I
was shooting video or moving around. That was the
only time I checked it. |
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Now the
storm surge was at its max, causing water to come
into the second floor through the wall unit air
conditioners. I estimate that the surge, at its
peak, came up to the second floor, and the waves on
top of the surge crashed into the side of the
building and sprayed in through the wall-unit air
conditioners, flooding the second floor. The
official elevation of the hotel is 19 feet above sea
level. We were basically sitting in a hotel on top
of a small hill right on the beach 100 yards from
the Gulf of Mexico. Calculating the nineteen foot
foundation and the 9-10 foot of surge into the hotel
tells me that the storm surge was roughly at 28
feet. |
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One of
the most memorable parts of this experience for me
wasn't how fast the surge came up, but how fast it
subsided. It was like someone pulled the plug and
instantly drained all the water. When the surge
subsided and the winds died down, we quickly went
down to the lobby, only to find the entire first
floor completely gutted! Exterior walls were gone,
Interior walls were gone, doors, sinks, bathtubs,
front desk--gone! All that was left on the first
floor were the concrete pilings that kept the hotel
standing. |
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Jim and
I stayed and surveyed the area and noticed the
destruction to be even more catastrophic just about
half a mile to our west. This was because Gulfport
had hundreds of shipping containers that came into
the port with the surge, completely plowing down
everything in their path for about a quarter mile
inland. Where we rode out the hurricane, the live
oak tress were still standing, but just half a mile
to our west, even the live oaks trees were gone! It
didn't matter if a structure was wood or concrete,
if it was downstream from these shipping containers
and on the immediate coast, it was gone! There were
gas leaks everywhere. It was complete destruction.
We were standing where a Days Inn used to be and it
was simply gone. Nothing left but foundation. |
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With the
assistance of the three Navy guys, we were able to
clear the roadways so we could drive up to the
interstate and head back home. Before we left, we
gave out all of our remaining water and food to
residents in a Gulfport neighborhood. We wrote down
phone numbers so that we could call the residents'
loved ones to tell them they were alive. I didn't
have any cell coverage, but I knew once we hit the
road and got away from the affected area that the
phone would work again. It was a great feeling to
call someone with good news. One gentlemen I spoke
with broke down and started crying when I told him
his wife was alive and OK. |
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August
29, 2005 was a tragic day for the Gulf Coast region.
This hurricane will be talked about for many many
years, just as Hurricane Camille has been in the
past. My heart goes out to everyone that was
affected by Katrina and I pray for their speedy
recovery. |
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Photographer, |
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Website copyright notice below: |
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Hurricane Katrina stock video, photos, chase
accounts, and surge reports are copyrighted & protected under |
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United States & International copyright laws. These
video stills may not be reproduced in any form, |
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downloaded, stored, or manipulated without prior permission from
© Ultimate Chase, Inc. |
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