Dan Robinson
After Frances, I have a few new tips to offer about chasing hurricanes. Again, I'm not claming to be an expert now with only two hurricanes under my belt, but as a fellow chaser I can offer these lessons I learned in the hopes that they would help the chaser who decides to head out for their own hurricane expedition.
All told, hurricane chasing is a lot different than the tornado or lightning chase, but still an enjoyable experience. It is a long-duration marathon that requires planning, endurance, great inconvenience, great discomfort, and a heightened attention to safety. Hurricane chasing IS inherently more dangerous than a tornado chase, but not impossible to do safely. As can occur with all types of chasing, there is usually a trade off between safety and dramatic experience/video - better video can be had outside and along barrier islands, but at a great risk to safety. Sturdy shelters like parking garages might not have as many benefits of awesome, dramatic video shots, but are a much safer and preferred way (in my opinion) to experience a hurricane by protecting both you and your vehicle.
Here are a few lessons learned from Frances:
- Moisture/dampness problems. The long duration of this hurricane meant that everything was going to get soaked, or at the very least dampened, by the relentless rain and moisture hanging in the air. This creates unpleasant situations like mildewy car interiors, soaked clothes, fogged windows, etc. You can bring dry clothes but it usually doesn't take long for them to get damp also. I don't have much of a solution for this problem other than maybe bringing some type of air freshener to make your car interior bearable until it can dry out later.
- Watch the condition of your feet. This is related to moisture problem. Wearing soggy shoes and socks for long periods of time does not bode well for your feet. This isn't a pleasant topic but one you *will* run into chasing hurricanes. Your feet will turn into hideous raisin-like objects and could possibly be susceptible to all sorts of fungus and other irritations. I'm not a podiatrist but I would definately suggest taking your shoes and socks off every so often and letting your feet dry out. My shoes were soaked to the core by the time the chase was over and I actually drove back to WV barefoot (OK, no WV jokes here please
) rather than risk getting some rare tropical fungus on my feet by wearing wet shoes for 12 hours.
- Fuel problems. With Isabel, we had a fuel shortage, but nowhere near the scale of the crisis with Frances. Isabel's swath was smaller and we were able to easily make it outside the damage zone to find gas. Frances required great amounts of planning, strategy and conservation in the area of fuel consumption. The entire Florida east coast and well inland had no fuel, and many chasers and news crews got stuck. Turn off your engine when it isn't needed. Limit driving around as much as possible. When you see gas available, top off your tank regardless of how much you already have - it could be your last fill-up until after the storm. You can carry gas cans with you, but one or two containers isn't going to help you much with the scale of the gas-deprived area in Florida this week. You need a spare *tank* in a situation like Frances, not a spare gas can. I was VERY blessed to make it out of Florida, but it only happened because I limited my driving and topped off my tank repeatedly until there were no gas stations left open. My limited driving no doubt cost me some video opportunities, but it's a trade off for not spending an extra few days stranded.
- Car battery power. This is more related to fuel conservation, but can be compounded by using accessories like inverters and radios, and headlights and dome lights for illumination for long periods of time while you wait out a storm. Every time you turn the starter, you take a huge chunk of power from the battery - and if you don't drive long enough to allow recharging, your battery will eventually not have enough juice to start your engine. Opening your hood to jump start, either with a battery jumper pack or another vehicle, is risky in high winds and may not even be possible at all without damaging or losing your hood completely.
- Curfews. Unlike Isabel where curfews were in effect only at night *after* the storm, with Frances curfews were 24-hour in some towns *before* the storm hit. This means that you will not be free to be out even long before the storm hits, including during the day.
- Food. With the scale of evacuations and the loss of power happening very early on from the outer rain bands, food and drink were very hard to come by as stores closed up shop. It is imperative that you bring food (real food, not just snacks and junk food), enough to live on for several days. With Isabel, you might have been without food and water for hours, maybe one day tops. With Frances-type storm, it would be *days*. If you don't have enough food with you, you're going to have your own Survivor episode happening, and it's not going to be fun. I brought enough for 4 days, but in retrospect it might not have been enough if I had been stranded. I also ran into chasers who were running low on their food supply early on. It might be a good idea to bring some extra along so you have enough to share to those who are in dire straits. I'm not suggesting that you try to take care of every chaser out there, but if the worst-case senario need arose, it would be good to have some extra from a purely humanitarian standpoint. I admit that I didn't plan my food supply well, I just bought a dozen cans of Chef Boyardee and 48 bottles of water. While cheap, clean and not that unpleasant to eat cold, I got sick of the pasta and water after 2 days. Bringing a variety of food would have been better.
- Temperature. While temperatures through the duration of a hurricane are usually in the 70s, the blowing wind and soaking rains make it very cool at times. You will be uncomfortable in shorts and a t-shirt while you are outside - wear long pants and a jacket. On the flipside, sleeping in your vehicle or indoors is usually hot and sticky with no power and AC, and is easier with light clothing. So, having both is a good idea.
- Rain ponchos are usually not rated for hurricanes. They last about 10 seconds. Enough said.
That's it for now, I might think of more to add later.
All told, hurricane chasing is a lot different than the tornado or lightning chase, but still an enjoyable experience. It is a long-duration marathon that requires planning, endurance, great inconvenience, great discomfort, and a heightened attention to safety. Hurricane chasing IS inherently more dangerous than a tornado chase, but not impossible to do safely. As can occur with all types of chasing, there is usually a trade off between safety and dramatic experience/video - better video can be had outside and along barrier islands, but at a great risk to safety. Sturdy shelters like parking garages might not have as many benefits of awesome, dramatic video shots, but are a much safer and preferred way (in my opinion) to experience a hurricane by protecting both you and your vehicle.
Here are a few lessons learned from Frances:
- Moisture/dampness problems. The long duration of this hurricane meant that everything was going to get soaked, or at the very least dampened, by the relentless rain and moisture hanging in the air. This creates unpleasant situations like mildewy car interiors, soaked clothes, fogged windows, etc. You can bring dry clothes but it usually doesn't take long for them to get damp also. I don't have much of a solution for this problem other than maybe bringing some type of air freshener to make your car interior bearable until it can dry out later.
- Watch the condition of your feet. This is related to moisture problem. Wearing soggy shoes and socks for long periods of time does not bode well for your feet. This isn't a pleasant topic but one you *will* run into chasing hurricanes. Your feet will turn into hideous raisin-like objects and could possibly be susceptible to all sorts of fungus and other irritations. I'm not a podiatrist but I would definately suggest taking your shoes and socks off every so often and letting your feet dry out. My shoes were soaked to the core by the time the chase was over and I actually drove back to WV barefoot (OK, no WV jokes here please
) rather than risk getting some rare tropical fungus on my feet by wearing wet shoes for 12 hours.- Fuel problems. With Isabel, we had a fuel shortage, but nowhere near the scale of the crisis with Frances. Isabel's swath was smaller and we were able to easily make it outside the damage zone to find gas. Frances required great amounts of planning, strategy and conservation in the area of fuel consumption. The entire Florida east coast and well inland had no fuel, and many chasers and news crews got stuck. Turn off your engine when it isn't needed. Limit driving around as much as possible. When you see gas available, top off your tank regardless of how much you already have - it could be your last fill-up until after the storm. You can carry gas cans with you, but one or two containers isn't going to help you much with the scale of the gas-deprived area in Florida this week. You need a spare *tank* in a situation like Frances, not a spare gas can. I was VERY blessed to make it out of Florida, but it only happened because I limited my driving and topped off my tank repeatedly until there were no gas stations left open. My limited driving no doubt cost me some video opportunities, but it's a trade off for not spending an extra few days stranded.
- Car battery power. This is more related to fuel conservation, but can be compounded by using accessories like inverters and radios, and headlights and dome lights for illumination for long periods of time while you wait out a storm. Every time you turn the starter, you take a huge chunk of power from the battery - and if you don't drive long enough to allow recharging, your battery will eventually not have enough juice to start your engine. Opening your hood to jump start, either with a battery jumper pack or another vehicle, is risky in high winds and may not even be possible at all without damaging or losing your hood completely.
- Curfews. Unlike Isabel where curfews were in effect only at night *after* the storm, with Frances curfews were 24-hour in some towns *before* the storm hit. This means that you will not be free to be out even long before the storm hits, including during the day.
- Food. With the scale of evacuations and the loss of power happening very early on from the outer rain bands, food and drink were very hard to come by as stores closed up shop. It is imperative that you bring food (real food, not just snacks and junk food), enough to live on for several days. With Isabel, you might have been without food and water for hours, maybe one day tops. With Frances-type storm, it would be *days*. If you don't have enough food with you, you're going to have your own Survivor episode happening, and it's not going to be fun. I brought enough for 4 days, but in retrospect it might not have been enough if I had been stranded. I also ran into chasers who were running low on their food supply early on. It might be a good idea to bring some extra along so you have enough to share to those who are in dire straits. I'm not suggesting that you try to take care of every chaser out there, but if the worst-case senario need arose, it would be good to have some extra from a purely humanitarian standpoint. I admit that I didn't plan my food supply well, I just bought a dozen cans of Chef Boyardee and 48 bottles of water. While cheap, clean and not that unpleasant to eat cold, I got sick of the pasta and water after 2 days. Bringing a variety of food would have been better.
- Temperature. While temperatures through the duration of a hurricane are usually in the 70s, the blowing wind and soaking rains make it very cool at times. You will be uncomfortable in shorts and a t-shirt while you are outside - wear long pants and a jacket. On the flipside, sleeping in your vehicle or indoors is usually hot and sticky with no power and AC, and is easier with light clothing. So, having both is a good idea.
- Rain ponchos are usually not rated for hurricanes. They last about 10 seconds. Enough said.
That's it for now, I might think of more to add later.
