iCyclone Typhoon Chasing Expedition - Fall 2013

[HurricaneJosh]

Awesome! You may very well have caught the camera being swept by the surge before it died.

Great news!   

Thanks, guys!

And, to be clear, most of my footage was on another camera, and that was all safe all along. But these were about ten clips that I felt were particularly dramatic-- and, I believe, an important part of the story-- so I'm thrilled they're saved and will see the light of day.

[wxmeddler]

Thanks, guys!

And, to be clear, most of my footage was on another camera, and that was all safe all along. But these were about ten clips that I felt were particularly dramatic-- and, I believe, an important part of the story-- so I'm thrilled they're saved and will see the light of day.

This is great news!

[HurricaneJosh]

So James (wxmeddler), who's a geography whiz, did some careful analysis Re: the elevation at our location during Super Typhoon Haiyan (11.2414N 125.0036E).

 

Blending values from various tools, he gets ~8 m (+/- 1 m).  8 m = 26 ft, which is exactly the value I used to calibrate the barometers, as well as estimate the storm surge.

 

If our elevation was, indeed, 8 m/26 ft, that confirms my initial estimate of a whopping 30-ft storm surge in Tacloban City, as our hotel flooded to a depth of ~4 ft.  That's kind of crazy if that's the case.  It's just an extreme value-- especially given that the cyclone was rather small and very fast-moving.

[wxmeddler]

Happy GIS day!

[somethingfunny]

^ Just devastating.

[ncforecaster89]

I'm very much looking forward to seeing some of your own footage, Josh! Based on James' trailer, it appears you were in a more exposed position to record the extreme conditions.

[HurricaneJosh]

Happy GIS day!

 

 

Awesome map, James!  Thanks!  

 

I'm very much looking forward to seeing some of your own footage, Josh! Based on James' trailer, it appears you were in a more exposed position to record the extreme conditions.

 

Thanks, Tony.  I will say, I think this video will be the best one in my portfolio from all angles-- the ferocity, the human angle, etc.  I hope you like it.

[Roger Smith]

We can add the detail that storm surge was in the range of 12-15 feet for the islands near the northeast coast of Panay. This emerged from a Canadian TV news report where survivors reported that the water came up over the top of one-storey houses (some of which were entirely washed away) and almost reached them where they ran for shelter on second floors of various buildings. It may have helped to reduce the death tolls there to hear any news reports from earlier in the day, and also that the storm hit around mid-afternoon rather than early morning. From the known track of the eye, these locations would have been near but not right at the highest local values for storm surge. Canadian reporters are in Panay because our relief efforts are mainly taking place on that island. Although the damage in Roxas and elsewhere is considerably less extreme, the typhoon has damaged a large portion of the electricity services and so a massive effort is underway to restore them.

[donsutherland1]

OK, I'm really excited.  When I stopped filming the typhoon so I could help people, I threw my camera into a flower pot in the lobby. The storm surge swept it away.  Later on, after the cyclone passed, I found the camera in the wreckage. The camera had been submerged and was totally shot but I saved the memory card. It read initially but then it wouldn't. Back in L.A., I took it to a data-recovery place and they've managed to save the files!  The technician who saved the files was like, whoa, that footage is crazy. Kind of psyched to see it.  I am so glad these files were saved.  Omg.

This is excellent news. It's amazing what can be recovered from memory cards.

[HurricaneJosh]

This is excellent news. It's amazing what can be recovered from memory cards.

 

Yep-- the wonders of technology!  It wasn't cheap, but it was worth it.  The clips I managed to save are pretty dramatic.

[HurricaneJosh]

The official iCyclone Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) video should premiere tomorrow (Friday)-- woo hoo!

 

Very excited about this. I've been dying to share my experience of the storm on video, but unfortunately I'm a little slow with the editing-- I obsess too much about it.  Fortunately, I'm almost done.  

[Ginx snewx]

The official iCyclone Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) video should premiere tomorrow (Friday)-- woo hoo!

Very excited about this. I've been dying to share my experience of the storm on video, but unfortunately I'm a little slow with the editing-- I obsess too much about it. Fortunately, I'm almost done.

great looking forward to this. I am still wondering if that wall of tsunami like surge along the entire coast has ever been recorded at that magnitude before. I have had personal interviews with 38 survivors who all claim what they perceived initially as a fog bank, was in fact a 20-30 ft wall of water.

[HurricaneJosh]

great looking forward to this. I am still wondering if that wall of tsunami like surge along the entire coast has ever been recorded at that magnitude before. I have had personal interviews with 38 survivors who all claim what they perceived initially as a fog bank, was in fact a 20-30 ft wall of water.

 

Thanks, Steve!  It's actually going to premiere tomorrow afternoon!  My editing partner and I got really close to finishing it today, but we finally stopped late this afternoon due to exhaustion.  I want to take a fresh look at it in the morning and tighten it up a tad more before putting it to bed!  

 

Re: Haiyan's surge... Since we were in the heart of downtown and it was blocked by many buildings, we didn't actually see a wall of water, but rather, the water just seemed to appear out of nowhere and rise rapidly.  But it was so sudden, that I wonder if it was, indeed, like a wall of water a block or two closer to the shore.

[Amped]

Thanks, Steve!  It's actually going to premiere tomorrow afternoon!  My editing partner and I got really close to finishing it today, but we finally stopped late this afternoon due to exhaustion.  I want to take a fresh look at it in the morning and tighten it up a tad more before putting it to bed!  

 

Re: Haiyan's surge... Since we were in the heart of downtown and it was blocked by many buildings, we didn't actually see a wall of water, but rather, the water just seemed to appear out of nowhere and rise rapidly.  But it was so sudden, that I wonder if it was, indeed, like a wall of water a block or two closer to the shore.

Sounds like it stayed high for several hours, unlike a tsunami. which goes back out after a few minutes.

[HurricaneJosh]

Sounds like it stayed high for several hours, unlike a tsunami. which goes back out after a few minutes.

 

Actually, it didn't. We noticed it around 7:45 am-- it came in rather suddenly.  People were literally scrambling to safety.  By 8:45 am, it was already starting to recede.  It was extremely dangerous but very short-lived compared with other hurricanes I've been in.  It felt like it just swept in and swept out.

[thewxmann]

I wonder if the speed of the storm made the surge come in faster but also recede rather quickly.

[Ginx snewx]

I wonder if the speed of the storm made the surge come in faster but also recede rather quickly.

You might be on to something there. In fact 1938 had an incredible forward speed. Interesting storm surge to say the least.

[HurricaneJosh]

Here's my baby.  I don't think I have anything better in me:

 

[apm]

Wow, Josh.  Thanks for sharing.

[Jebman]

Josh - you do an incredible job. Thanks for sharing and I am very happy you are safe.

[bkviking]

Great job and best of all the chases. One thing that was helpful was that this storm hit during daylight. It really was great seeing this peak out in light without you missing much overnight (~4am it seemed tame). Additionally, daylight seems to have certainly helped in your team's rescue efforts and probably saved lives overall.

[HurricaneJosh]

Wow, Josh.  Thanks for sharing.

 

Hey, no prob-- thanks.

 

Josh - you do an incredible job. Thanks for sharing and I am very happy you are safe.

 

Thank you so much-- I really try.  Glad you liked the video.

 

Great job and best of all the chases. One thing that was helpful was that this storm hit during daylight. It really was great seeing this peak out in light without you missing much overnight (~4am it seemed tame). Additionally, daylight seems to have certainly helped in your team's rescue efforts and probably saved lives overall.

 

Thank you so much-- I really appreciate that, and I totally agree. this has been my most-notable chase, by far.

 

And, yeah, to get this daylight was incredibly fortunate.  Filming aside, I really feel a lot more people would have died if this had happened in the darkness.  When the cyclone peaked and the hotel started to get really hammered, it was scary enough by the light of day-- in pitch-black darkness, it would have reached a whole other level of terror.

[HurricaneJosh]

Well, the video's gone viral-- well over 100K views after less than three days live.  Folks are just really interested in it-- particularly in the Philippines:

 

[bowtie`]

My dinky dial-up always times out around the six minute mark but I had to chuckle at the voice of reason I heard at the five minute mark that uttered, "we are going to be hurt out here". Did I hear that correct and who was it that suddenly decided to be sensible?

[HurricaneJosh]

My dinky dial-up always times out around the six minute mark but I had to chuckle at the voice of reason I heard at the five minute mark that uttered, "we are going to be hurt out here". Did I hear that correct and who was it that suddenly decided to be sensible?

 

Ha ha ha, I was wondering if anyone was going to hear that.    That was me having a rare moment of clarity.  

[Ed Lizard]

Half an hour long, stolen from the iCyclone FB and TYphoon Chaser.  Behind the scenes and background before, during and after Haiyan/Yolanda.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWJf1ou2FDo&feature=player_embedded

[HurricaneJosh]

Thanks for posting that, Ed.  James did such an awesome job with this-- I love it.

 

And, as dramatic as my eyewall footage is-- I'm very happy with my video-- his superior equipment captured more of the little details when the cyclone was blowing full throttle, so it's just awesome to watch.

 

He also got a lot of the rescue operations-- stuff I didn't even remember.  For example, there's a shot of me carrying a child to safety at 15:43.  I simply didn't remember that until I saw it in the video-- then I was like, oh yeah, now I remember!  It's all such a blur-- like trying to remember a dream-- just random little pieces of it come back.

 

P.S.  Ed, you should repost the video link alone, without the embed-- then it previews nicely:

 

[HurricaneJosh]

My video hit 300K views today.  It's really gratifying to me that so many have found this interesting and useful-- if somewhat disturbing.  A whopping 59% of the views have been in the Philippines-- and the feedback from Filipinos has been overwhelmingly positive and gracious.  It supports my belief that victims of cataclysmic events want their experience to be documented, and they want the world to see and understand the terror they went through.

 

[crossthread]

Josh, just a suggestion, Next Season, & those thereafter, You may want to seriously think about acquiring a small "pocket size" First Aid Kit to carry on your travel(s).. gauze/Bandages, Med-tape, a bit a saline solution, Ladocaine & sutures to pack in it,(or the tape-type sutures) antiseptic spray etc.. 

[HurricaneJosh]

Josh, just a suggestion, Next Season, & those thereafter, You may want to seriously think about acquiring a small "pocket size" First Aid Kit to carry on your travel(s).. gauze/Bandages, Med-tape, a bit a saline solution, Ladocaine & sutures to pack in it,(or the tape-type sutures) antiseptic spray etc.. 

 

For sure!  That wouldn't have helped us any with Mark's situation-- a First Aid pro was there and he dressed it better than we could have, and the injury still got badly infected-- but, yes, we should carry that.