The View up Wilma's Skirt (Pics) in FILM / THEATRE / VIDEO WORK & CORPSE NATION

People like photo’s and interesting stories, so I thought I’d share one with plenty of pics about my storm chasing of Hurricane Wilma originally posted on OD with about 80 comments, but let’s start fresh here on PB! This is a true account of many near death experiences, mostly written in present tense at the time. Enjoy.

‘Twas the night before Monday and all throughout the city, not a creature was stirring except “I Eat The Cheese”, “Jurassic” & Me… who were all playing poker at the Denny’s in Coral Springs.

The 3 of us had originally planned to all go storm chasing together. I’ve always just gone alone. My brother said he wanted to experience the intensity himself and “I Eat The Cheese” just wanted to break curfew. I wasn’t fond of the idea, but I couldn’t stop them and I was going regardless.

So we played Texas hold em’ which ended in a draw, then we caught the 2am advisory.

(The interesting thing is that back when all of the meteorologists were predicting Wilma to hit South Florida as a category 1 storm, I was predicting a solid Cat 2, possibly a 3. If you look up Hurricane Wilma today, it’s a Category 3 storm. It also has the lowest recorded barometric pressure ever in the Atlantic at an incredible 882 millibars and the 4th (as of this posting in 2017) costliest hurricane on record in the United States!

Most people don’t understand the forward motion, speed, and spin of these storms, allow me to explain. All hurricanes spin counter-clockwise. Wilma was approaching from the Southwest making the Southern part from the eye wall downward the strongest winds in the storm. Why? Because not only do you have the maximum sustained wind field, but you also add the velocity of the storm…(In this case 25mph) These winds aren’t affected in the Northern quadrant because it was being steered from the South. This means… you add the 25mph to the maximum sustained winds, (115 - 120 mph) and you can achieve 145 mph (give or take) in the gusts during the storm.

(The eye was headed for North Broward to Southern Palm Beach county on the SE coast) I live in North Broward. My heart was doing somersaults I was so excited! Finally, a storm I didn’t have to chase… she was coming right at me!

Jurassic decided that since the eye wall was large enough to hit both of our areas that he’d go home. I decided to stay in Springs where I know the territory and where I can seek refuge if need be.

“I Eat The Cheese” & I crashed at his place for a couple of hours and set the alarm for 5:30 am. I didn’t sleep of course (I was too excited) Unfortunately for “I Eat The Cheese” his family was awake and wouldn’t let himself risk being torn apart in a violent storm, so I was to be alone. same ol’ same ol’!!!

I hadn’t caught the latest advisory on the storm having left in such a rush. My plan was to walk a few miles to the giant hillside surrounded by woods, but my expectation of 35-40mph winds were closer to Hurricane force earlier than expected, so I’d never be able to make it.

In fact… it wasn’t 30 minutes or so before I needed some shelter. Hard to come across once you’re surrounded by Charlie.

(One of many very near misses… I had to literally dive out of the way of this one.)

I knew of a place close by and hung out there for a few. I had to catch my breath, trying to run in 70 - 80mph winds takes a lot out of you. Pelted with sticks and debris; it was going to be a long morning.

There was also a mandatory curfew, it was illegal to be outside. So I had to hide out from any roaming police vehicles, but they were scarce. Hell, if it weren’t for me dragging trees, and large branches out of the roadways, they’d never be able to traverse these streets (or ambulances for that matter) in the first place! And I witnessed a few of those drive on streets that I had cleared. I don’t expect a “Thank You” from them anytime soon though.

I was trying to take a quick breather when a gigantic tree literally fell a foot of me! It knocked the wind out of me and I nearly shit me britches..... (Obviously, I’m trying to be humorous, that’s just me, but people are killed every year from falling branches and trees, please be careful and stay indoors). A few seconds later, I turned around, snapped a quick pic while still on my ass, this is where I landed and where the tree fell… think about that! Then I made the decision to leave the area and seek other “adventure”? … and more importantly, somewhere safer.

I came across a football field, hoping that my vision would improve, not being surrounded by trees. Then I heard sirens go off all around me. (In Florida, they have lightning detectors). Sirens go off when there are nearby cloud to ground lightning strikes, and here I am… in the middle of a football field! So, I drop to the ground and slither the rest of the way. (At one point capturing a giant metal slab of rooftop approximately 15 feet long and 4 feet wide flying directly over my head across the entire width of the field. That’s the sort of thing that’ll decapitate a bitch!

Then, lightning struck just off to my side and I saw the vein split a tree almost perfectly in half!

Eventually, I came across a playground and took refuge in one of those tubular mazes. It looked solid enough since it was cemented into the ground and provided decent protection (except for the large holes!) I was shivering uncontrollably at this point… filthy… covered with debris… I laid my head down and recouped.

It’s now about 9:30am. The 1st part of the eye wall was approaching. The winds were fierce; so much that I felt it best to stay put. My ears were popping as the pressure dropped, and I heard what sounded like a tornado, but I was unable to see anything but horizontal rains as I squinted between the thousands of things smacking me in the face. The winds steadily increased and I tried to keep my arms up to protect myself, but when you’re being pummeled by G-D knows what at 120…130mph… it stings like holy hell!!!

Sorry about the blurry pics, lying in that tube was awkward and it’s hard keeping the camera steady in that kind of wind.

I’m used to the eye wall only lasting 10 - 20 minutes, but the eye of hurricane Wilma was so large, that those winds lasted 30 - 45 minutes…(A lifetime it had seemed).

When the winds calmed down, I emerged from my weakened shelter. I was in the eye. I slowly got up, and walked around. My count - 18 trees had fallen within 50 feet of me. I took some pics and meandered about, knowing that I shouldn’t, but there was just so much to see…

(An electric scoreboard that was blown over and evidently…destroyed.)

I was trying to get to a safer area before the 2nd part of the eye wall hit, but I didn’t make it. The winds picked up rapidly, (which I expected) but it had caught me in a very precarious situation. I knew I was a long way from any sort of safety, and if I tried to run I wouldn’t make it (especially with the route in front of me… all trees with large hanging limbs, and rooftops about to tear apart and with structurally damaged power lines nearby. I hesitated for a moment when a furious gust of wind threw me into a 4 foot chain link fence about 10 feet away! I hit it so hard that my body (my back) literally broke it. (When I say “broke it” my body hit with such force that it was partially uprooted from the ground! I was close to tears at that point, and believe me, I felt that in the morning.... and still do!)

Truth be told, this was one of a few times (2 to be honest) in my storm chasing career, that I just wanted it to be over. I know that I’m smiling in the pic (adrenaline) on one level I was like a kid in a candy store, but that ‘selfie’ was about 10 minutes into the eye-wall. I was pinned against that fence at an awkward angle since it was no longer upright, maybe a 70 degree angle? I was in excruciating pain, with 130 - 140mph winds constant against my chest. Add the record breaking low barometric pressure of this storm and I literally couldn’t breathe! Especially for someone with asthma. I couldn’t get air in my lungs as they were in a constant state of compression; I couldn’t move AND… I had to keep an eye out for any debris that might kill me, parts of a roof, broken glass, street sign… that was difficult (if not impossible) with all the flying dirt, sticks, small rocks etc… relentlessly pelting me nonstop. Worse than that was my head constantly being thrown back and banging into a steel pole that i was up against! I was completely vulnerable and it lasted nearly 45 minutes!!! Ask someone whose had asthma attacks, and then imagine it lasting 45 minutes!

Fortunately I survived the 2nd eye-wall with just a few dozen small cuts / puncture wounds and bruises. Little pink streams of blood were everywhere, luckily, I was ok! Exhausted sore, with a migraine and in a weakened state, but ok.

I ventured up to the closest road and began pulling tree limbs to the side so vehicles wouldn’t have to do this.

I had my cell phone in a ziplock bag so as to protect it from the rain. I tried calling my mom to see how she had weathered the storm and if she & my sister were alright. I couldn’t get through so I kept trying. The storm hadn’t ended yet and a strong gust of wind knocked me into some of the branches I had just moved. I twisted around, but instead of putting my hands out (I didn’t want to smash my phone) I had landed in the street on my right elbow.

I just rubbed some dirt on it and played it off like a bad bruise, but it hurt (like way worse).

The storm ended by 12:30 and clean up began almost right away.

I went back and met up with “I Eat The Cheese” and we headed off to take some more pictures and help out the neighbors.

Some people lost entire homes.

Everyone in every direction was without power! Once dusk had come the only lights were that of battery power or candle light. The moon was new and the sky that night was absolutely amazing! In every essence…” beautiful”.

After helping out in the community, I spent the next several days volunteering with the National Guard, helping give out ice, water and food (MRE’s) to those in need, and they were plentiful!

Communication was non-existent; the landlines were down, the cell towers were inoperable, and there was a 7pm curfew for all residents. 98% of South Florida was without power.

My city of Coral Springs was among the hardest hit, as was Deerfield Beach (Where my mom was) but I couldn’t reach her, and most roads were impassible. :-(

Nothing was open the first 2 days unless they ran on propane or wood. Stores were slow (but to be expected) in opening again to the public, and in many cases only allowed a certain amount of people to get in at one time to prevent havoc in the store (which reeked of rotted meat).

A few more days go by and I briefly make contact with my mom & sister, they’re fine, though my moms car sustained about $4,000 damage because the roof of her place collapsed on it.

This was 5 days since the storm. “I Eat The Cheese” got his power back that night (he was on the hospital grid) but my mom was out, and so was my place, so I couldn’t in good conscience stay there when my mom had nothing. I decided to go to her place so I could volunteer in Deerfield beach and help them out. “You have to take care of your own… that’s how the Indians did it”.

I volunteered for the next 8 days, (No one was working unless you were a Walmart-type employee and had a generator to operate your business). Gas stations were slow to open, the lines were miles long in some cases.

A line for gas in Coral Springs 4 days after the storm.

My elbow however was just as tender 2 weeks after the storm as the day I hurt it. The whole time I was lifting 10 - 20lb bags of ice and cases of water. The real serious pain happened whenever I banged it or even if I gently laid it upon a pillow the pain was agonizing! I fought through it as much as I could, but it was really hurting! So, my initial self-diagnosis was wrong and I went to the hospital; I didn’t want to, but I had no health insurance. The x-rays were negative, but MRI showed more. I was told that there was some nerve damage and that I had torn the tendon.

I was glad it wasn’t broken, I’d hate to wear a cast, but I hated this injury because it’ll take forever to heal (it took over a year!) and physical therapy was none too pleasant, but I’m not complaining, it’s the name of the game.

The TV Show I was working on was on indefinite hiatus, but thanks to my volunteer effort, I was offered a position working for the city of Deerfield Beach supervising the disposal of the fallen vegetation (trees basically) It paid well, and it’s Sub-contracted so that I can go back to work when I need to.

This was while monitoring out in the field.

This was while I was on a tower inspecting and measuring the capacity of the trucks load. Measured in cubic yards. I believe this one received 75% because he was measured including the wooden planks, but was obviously missing one side thus unable to maximize his loads.

In some cases… I was sent to supervise over areas that had toxic chemicals / fumes in the air… that mask didn’t help much! It sucked!

And for those of you who don’t believe… it does get cold down here in South Florida. The first major cold front came through and I was out in the everglades. It was in the mid 40’s with wind chills in the 30’s. Needless to say, with no place to stay warm & stuck outdoors for 10 hours, I was not a happy camper!

Despite the efforts of tens of thousands of electrical workers coming in from all over the country, even Canada, I was still 17 days without power!

As of my original post about this storm, three weeks later there were still people without power. The traffic signals are all out of wack, or missing, street signs hang upside down; it’ll take some time for things to get back to normal. There’s not much in the way of tropical beauty here anymore. Most of the trees are gone, and many of the roads are still barricaded with piles of debris; however, a lot of the streets do look like a Tim Burton film.

I feel terrible for all those who lost so much. I volunteer to help them out; I always have. Storm chasing, sure, it’s an adrenaline rush, a passion, a love, but I spend a lot more time helping others in need because this isn’t about me, it’s about witnessing and appreciating the awesome power of mother nature and just being a decent human being. If I needed the help, I would hope that others would offer. Do unto others…

I can’t stress enough to prepare at the START of Hurricane Season. In the Atlantic that is JUNE 1ST!!! If you get your water, batteries, canned goods, candles propane etc… early, you’ll never have to wait in long lines and you’ll have everything you need. Get it! Put it aside! If there’s no storm, nothing goes to waste, it’s all stuff you use, but if there is one… guess who’s prepared and not adding to all the panic and chaos by those with no common sense. Don’t be one of those idiots too lazy, procrastinate and make life hell for everyone else including themselves. Be smart, be prepared.

I understand that sounds bitter (and I am). There’s absolutely no need for all the violence and anger I witness every year when a storm approaches. If everyone that lived in these hurricane prone areas prepared early; when the storm hits, everything would be much more calm, stores would be stocked and so on. Gas will be an issue of course because people need to drive, but most everything else can and should be handled long before a storm is imminent!

All this work, no power, no food, no water or ice, pain and injuries aside…

When asked if all this was worth it… would I ever go through it all again?

Hells yeah I would… Hell Yes!

HERE’S THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THIS POST.

I had written an article for the paper about storms and mainly about Hurricane Preparedness and Safety. It garnered a lot of attention and I was asked to do lectures in schools and colleges to share this information. So I restructured it a bit and did that every year (several times a year since). Now I post it online and share it on my social medias and ask that you do the same. This information will save lives. I’m very passionate about severe weather and helping people. Certain things infuriate me that I see every year. The same mistakes, and they’re costly. My hope is that people take what I’ve written to heart. I don’t get paid for this. I do it because I want to and because it’s the right thing to do.

Please feel free to read it and share it anywhere and as often as you like.

Also, if you have an idea that you think I missed, let me know, and maybe I’ll add it. There’s never a shortage of clever or smart ideas.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hurricane-preparedness-safety-jay-bird/?trackingId=wfjT2p7zSDWjzbviKUU1bA%3D%3D

Last updated May 31, 2024