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Infrared Satellite
Image of Ultimate Chase's Location During Hurricane Ivan ! |
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Location During Intense Eyewall: Pensacola Beach
Barrier Island, Florida |
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Hurricane Ivan Radar Loop: |
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Hurricane Ivan Satellite
Images And Track Map: |
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Hurricane Ivan Photos: |
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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 |
Trash dumpster 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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Hurricane Ivan Stock Video
Stills and Photos Above Copyright © Ultimate Chase Video Services |
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Hurricane Ivan Chase Account: |
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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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Photographer, |
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Special Thanks To: |
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| Special Thanks
to Mark Sigler owner of the "Dome Home" |
| More information
on the "Dome Home" -
www.domeofahome.com |
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| Special 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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Website copyright notice below: |
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Hurricane Ivan video stills are copyrighted and
protected under United States and International copyright |
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laws. These video stills may not be reproduced in
any form, downloaded, stored, or manipulated |
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without prior permission from © Ultimate Chase, Inc. |
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