Hurricane Charley: Storm Chaser Reflects One Year Later
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Charley, the most violent tropical cyclone to strike the United States in the past 12 years. Professional storm chaser Jim Reed, who survived the full fury of the deadly hurricane near Punta Gorda, Florida, says he feels lucky to be alive now, more than ever.
Columbia, South Carolina (PRWEB) August 12, 2005 -- Saturday marks the
one-year anniversary of Hurricane Charley, the most violent tropical cyclone to
strike the United States in the past 12 years. Professional storm chaser Jim
Reed, who survived the full fury of the deadly hurricane near Punta Gorda,
Florida, says he feels lucky to be alive now, more than ever.
“Looking
back at Charley a year after crunching data and studying the storm makes me
appreciate how close I really came to death,” says Reed.
Reed, an
award-winning extreme weather photographer whose credits include National
Geographic, and meteorologist Greg Zamarripa departed Tampa, Florida on August
13 with a mission of testing new radar equipment while penetrating the eye of
Charley, initially only a category two storm.
Charley abruptly surprised
the hurricane chasers and even the National Hurricane Center by rapidly
intensifying into a monstrous category four storm. Reed was photographing palm
trees in a Port Charlotte residential neighborhood when Charley began to build
to full force, much faster than expected.
The two men took cover beneath
a carport at an abandoned house. 20 seconds after repositioning their Ford
Explorer, wind gusts topped 140 miles per hour. Glass, uprooted trees and hunks
of debris flew by the two men. Fighting to remain standing, Reed struggled to
videotape the full force of the hurricane.
“We are watching a
neighborhood disintegrate,” Reed recorded. A few seconds later, a large metal
roof exploded into the lens, striking Reed and the camera. The rare footage of
flying walls and roofs has since been seen on televised weather specials
worldwide.
As the eye of Hurricane Charley passed directly over Reed and
Zamarripa, the two were able to crawl out, check their injuries and secure
better protection.
“It was dead calm inside the eye,” recalls Reed, a
veteran of 14 hurricanes. “We went from wind gusts in excess of 140 miles per
hour to absolute peace in a matter of seconds. It was extraordinary.”
Reed, who lives in Columbia, South Carolina during hurricane season,
went on to penetrate the eye of hurricanes Gaston, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, but
says nothing came close to his experience with Charley.
Hurricane Charley
courtesy photos and video are available upon request. Samples can be viewed at:
www.jimreedphoto.com
Contact Jim Reed at (803) 782-6226
or (316) 371-9621.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb271561.htm