My husband, my daughter who was 4 at the time lost our home from this hurricane. I was 30 weeks pregnant with my 2nd daughter and we lost everything. We had just moved into a new home three weeks prior and had to leave florida and start over with nothing. This video actually shows how traumatic it truly was. You have no idea how many people don’t even know what I’m talking about when I speak of Hurricane Michael. Thank you for creating this, so others can see just how horrible it was.
I went through this same hurricane everyone talks about hurricane Ian but Michael was far worst as a cat 5 NHC said it was unfavorable to become major but that didn’t matter it came in rolling with rage it took only 4 hours to flatten Mexico beach if it was moving slowly I truly believe the whole bay county would have been flattened it was also only the 4th cat 5 to hit the continental U.S. and fist since 1992 hurricane Andrew that level homestead Fl so sad how nobody remembers this cat 5 but remembers hurricane Ian a cat 4 😢
I remember it well. I was in gulf shores visiting my daughter. I took pictures of the ocean. It looked amazing and frightening at the same time. I don’t understand why that person didn’t have insurance you can’t get a home loan without insurance
I sheltered in place, we are inland and the eye came right over us. I am still terrified of bad weather nearly 5 years later. It was the most scared I've ever been in my life and I was sure we were going to die. I don't even know if I can watch this, but I appreciate you bringing attention to it. Our area is forever changed. We will NEVER forget.
Hit 5 days after my mom died. Michael made me realize the world was going to keep turning and it helped me keep moving forward. It is bittersweet because it hurt so many people
Hit me about a month after mine passed. I agree with what you said, I didn't have power for a week and I just sat alone in the dark. It was a good lesson and I've grown a lot since then.
I lived through Hurricane Michael in Panama City, my apartment was destroyed, but I lived. Your video shows way more than the news ever showed. Thank you!
And that is why we made this video. This story was pretty much kept low key and the second after trump flew in then went home , it was forgotten It was a flipping Cat 5 and it's not even a household name like Katrina.
I’m crying watching this. Living through it was my worst nightmare. Loosing my house and a year of no home was awful. However, being able to see our landscape as it once was “one last time” has me super emotional. I know things are getting better but I miss the way things had been my entire life. Thank you so much for this.
I haven't been in a hurricane before, im from the east coast, and haven't had any hurricanes accept for a tropical storm isaias 65+ mph wind gust, watching this was totally heart breaking im tearing up from watching this, you're not alone.
Being on the Texas Gulf Coast I understand exactly what you mean. Tropical Storm Alison wasnt bad wind wise but it dumped enough rain to fill our house w/6ft of water. Fema bought us out and now its a empty acre in the flood zone. Then Ike hit and we didn't have power for 2 weeks and you know about the heat and humidity. It was miserable. Then Harvey hit and that was crazy. Glad you survived!
I remember going outside when the eye was passing over and thinking “Okay, we can still recover from this.” Then the eye passed and snapped every single tree in the horizon and half the neighborhood was gone. Unforgettable.
my niece live in Mcallister not sure if that is correct name but stayed in a trailer, i was scared for them and didn't hear from her for a week i think but she said all the trees for miles were cut in half.
Watching this brings back so many memories. We lived in Cairo, Ga. 20 minutes from the Florida line and Tallahassee. We still lost our entire home. If we had not left that night we would have died. We watched trees fall like toothpicks and trees both fell on both my sons houses. We ended up riding the storm out in a medal barn that they just had built. I watched irrigation get flipped. I must tell you the most fascinating thing was watching the cows. None were killed. They turned there back end to the wind and got in a triangle shape close together. They never laid down. That just blew my mind. The horses survived too. I was without a home the next morning, but my family was alive. Praise Jesus!
I'm from Cairo too! We lost our roof, after inviting family members who lived in mobile homes to ride out the storm at our house. We were blessed in that we still had a couple of rooms with a roof and we had a generator. But it was a rough time both during the storm and in the days afterward. I remember when we heard there was gas in Thomasville, and the mad dash to get there before all the gas was gone, because we needed the gas for the generator and there was no gas in Cairo. I don't ever want to go through another storm like Michael.
@@fcv4616 VERY strong Pine tree smell- 90% of canopy was lost :( It was from the massive amount of pine trees just snapped like toothpicks…and a little salty but that’s normal after storms- it was the pine that was overwhelming
@@leftfinned Interesting. I never thought about how it would smell. That sounds like it must have been a very scary experience. I’m glad that you’re ok.
This was a nightmare. Lived in this area for 30 years. It will never be the same. The aftermath was like a warzone. Michael never gets mentioned and I always wonder why.
Think of who lives and vacations there compared with places like West Palm Beach, Miami, Key West…There’s your answer. If there’s no money in fixing it, the officials don’t care. There was a family of five who lived in their van for over a year after Michael. Their building was totally destroyed. They were offered one of those FEMA trailers full of formaldehyde from Katrina. They spent one night in it and one of the boys woke up gasping for breath. It was right back to their van. Mr. R. kept his job, which is why they stayed, but he got laid off after six months and couldn’t find anything else with reasonable pay. They came up to New York and moved in with her sister and kids, and ended up staying even though NY is so expensive. With two and a half incomes coming in, they were able to make it work. I taught two of the children in grades K & 1, really great kids.
We lost our home and everything in it in Lynn Haven, FL. We were lucky to evacuate but coming four days later was heartbreaking. We no longer live in FL, but go home multiple times a year and each time I cry. Bay County is not the same. It still suffers wildfires from the debris and so many beautiful landmarks gone. Mexico Beach was so devastated. So many places we lived and frequented no longer there.
I never knew how bad Hurricane Michael was until I started watching the video. Thank y'all for showing what exactly happened compared to the coverage by news stations.
lol news stations. Please for the love of God start calling them propaganda stations. Obama repealed the Smith-Mundt act in 2015 making propaganda legal again. This is why what is happening these days is happening. It is time to stop paying this government taxes.
@@Andronicus87 You missed it by decades. The repeal of the Fairness Doctrine under Reagan is what started what you call propaganda, making right wing BS like Fox News possible. And yes, some liberal media outlets too, although they aren't as numerous since liberals don't have the need to be reminded on a daily basis that they are correct. So far as not paying taxes is concerned...you know that means you need to keep your vehicle off of tax payer funded streets and highways, right? And, that's just for starters of the tax funded infrastructure you enjoy daily without even thinking about it. It's socialism, that's true. But, we've had social programs longer than either of us have been breathing air. If you really hate it, then you could just emigrate. Try Russia or North Korea, they might be more to your liking. Trump sure loves them.
the US news stations I watched showed a town in complete ruins as if a Japanese tsunami had run through it. Say what you will about the large news companies, but sugarcoating domestic cat 5 direct landfalls is not up there among their worst sins in my book.
I live 50 miles inland and the eye went right over my home. The fury of this storm was like nothing I have ever seen. I rode it out with my kids and elderly father. 4.5 years later and the damage to the landscape is still quite visible. So many lost so much that day.
I live 30 min from where Michael hit, I remember asking my husband "what's going to happen to the animals at the zoo"? They have to leave them there and hope they made them safe enugh inside.
As soon as the winds died down enough all the animals started coming back out. Not sure where they his during the storm because there wasn't a tree left standing in sight. But birds were flying around and squirrels were running around.
@@repnatl Well, VET'S are still safe for another 5x days or so?... Hopefully we do not get hit to badly during the sleep & creepy - hiding Biden administration!
I was in East Panama City during landfall and saw the eye go over my house…this storm was easily the most traumatic storm I endured. It’s relatively forgotten because of where it hit…
Incredible footage! I experienced my first hurricane in 2017, Irma Cat 5 in St Maarten. It was the most intense thing I have ever gone through. I’m lost for words explaining what it was like. So incredibly loud!!! Like you’re in a jet engine and you can’t turn it off. It feels like an eternity. Our bathroom roof was ripped off above us. Mother Nature isn’t joking around.
My friend Patrick lived there in St Marteen on a sailboat in the harbor.. he left the boat and told me he took shelter in a nearby hotel on the 2nd floor. He said the wind was so powerful it was picking up boats and throwing them.
I worked in Parker/ Callaway/ Mexico Beach with my backhoe cleaning up. I can tell you at 53 years old I have never experienced an emotion like I experienced when I first saw the devastation. I thought I was going to cry, but couldn’t. It was total destruction for miles and miles and miles.......the pictures that you see on this video do not do it justice ........
Also note how good (at least for driving into the wind of a category 5 hurricane) the view was out the windshield. That, my friend, is the power of RainX. This comment is not sponsored.
@@immortalgamingyt6182 It's actually pretty concentrated in the eye wall almost all the time (at least in hurricanes that have the structure to do so). However, actually being able to see lightning in the eye wall would require the lightning to actually strike the ground, which rarely ever happens in a hurricane.
I live in Missouri, and back in 2018, my mom took me and my two younger siblings to the humane society out in Macklind for a meet and greet. The meet and greet was with a Borgi (Corgi Basset Hound mix) named Huey. Huey was rescued after this hurricane and now he lives with me, my mom, my dad, my two younger siblings, and my grandmother. He has been with us for 5 years now and he's a total sweetheart who loves to lay down on the couch, bark whenever he hears the front or back door open, and he absolutely loves to snuggle.
Even three years later, those who tracked and experienced this will never forget the name ‘Michael’. I remember opening my laptop and checking the NHC to see what is now a cat 5 storm making landfall. I couldn’t imagine the terror, sadness and confusion of those impacted. Rest in piece to those who lost their lives to that monster.
This was just incredible. I can’t tell you how nervous I was, my jaw was clenched, my body stiffened and I became so full of anxiety while I watched this. I do know what the man said about just knowing you’re going to die. I saw an F3 tornado coming at me and couldn’t leave my mobile home. I remember every minute of it picking me up and being tossed and turned with things slamming into my body. I was thrown over 100 feet away and broke my arm and hurt my back and cut and bruised all over. Our home was completely gone but I lived. I was by myself thank goodness. We lost everything and I can relate to these people, but if you’re alive that’s all that matters. I feel for these people and this whole town. You just can’t compete with Mother Nature. So thankful these storm chasers made it. Great job.
Dang, that's crazy. We've gotten lucky here in Mobile Alabama. We've dodged big hurricanes and big tornadoes in recent years. I think we may get a Category 2 or 3 this year. We've been too lucky.
This is still the best Hurricane footage recorded in the US, and among the greatest ever on the internet. It's incredible how well this Category 5 storm was documented from all angles by chasers, unreal. I wonder what Doug's car must've looked like after driving through that.
The layout of the area helps a lot too for chasing- not terribly populated and the highway/interstate both go east/west... It still looks apocalyptic on 98 going into mexico beach - just snapped pines everywhere
I lived through Michael. I was in the house when it hit and I will never forget the sights, sounds, and aftermath. Our house was gone, but we got away with our lives, and that was enough when you see it Thank you so much for this documentary, I can't wait to watch it and recommend to people when they ask about Michael!
Michael ran us out of Panama City that year. We were in our condo, when they came over the intercom telling us to evacuate. Then they proceeded to say if you decide to stay, you must present dental records to the office, in case they had to identify your body. That prompted us to leave quickly.
Single handily the most dramatic comprehensive hurricane footage available to the public. Hurricane Charley 2004 - saw a monster first hand. You can feel the same force in this video. Thank you guys for going all out to make this happen!! Will
Yeah man! Agree with you. I remember that year, I live on the gulf coast, sat through ever single Hurricane 🌀 that year with the exception of Hurricane Jennie ( not certain if I spelt that correctly) and by September ended up leaving Florida for a couple months just to get my head back on straight.
I spent Hurricane Andrew in a Broward county Fl hospital, 8 1/2 months pregnant. They put us and other Very pregnant women and thier husbands in an extra lunch room. We sleep on the floor. For Hurricane Michael we spent it IN A BARN with our horses during the GA National Fair in Perry GA.We sleep in the stall next to our horses. We were blessed both times to escape devastation. Farmers here are still suffering, trying to recuperate from their losses. Farmers who Feed Americans have been forgotten in South Georgia. God bless them as they struggle to perservier.
I spent hurricane Laura in Deridder LA (turns out we went the wrong direction and caught the worst end of it) it was very very scary that night and I was fortunate enough to escape devastation as well
I live in Pensacola Florida but I drove a semi for a laundry company that delivers to hospitals and urgent cares in Panama City Mexico Beach and surrounding areas. In all my 30 years of hurricanes in the Pensacola and surrounding areas this was truly apocalyptic. All these years later it's still got me messed up. I can only imagine what the people out there but feel when thinking about it.
I visited August 2018 just a few months beforehand and visited again a couple weeks ago. My heart is still breaking for those who lost everything. The trees are just gone, entire blocks with no houses. I am going to watch this fully with my husband tomorrow.
Thank you so much for this video! My family rode out hurricane Michael in Panama City (my immediate and extended family) because my Uncle has died that Sunday I think, and everyone thought they were attending a funeral Thursday. Needless to say, that did not happen. I was a couple of hours away so I was fine, just without power for days. I feel like I was so in the dark From no power and no data signal that I missed most of the storm coverage. After that, I was so busy finding family members and dealing with the fallout from the later evacuation (some family members were in a terrible car accident evacuating after the storm and my aunt got air lifted into my city. Nearly died and is now permanently paralyzed. My family will be dealing with the aftermath of this storm for years to come. Please don’t let it be forgotten. And please, if you are in Florida, demand your local representatives address building codes! We need structures that can stand up to storms like Michael, and now Laura. What we have is not enough!
We were dispatched from central Georgia to come help with the clean up efforts that follow night. 7 plus truck, four man crew and endless amounts of equipment all convoying down to help our fellow brother and sister out.. it was a crazy night driving through 60-70mph winds but we made it. Stayed for 2 weeks down there. I have never seen people so grateful and giving than Mexico Beach folks. We turned down so many offerings but still came home to big bonuses from people that simple wouldn't take no for a answer. My heart goes out to those that were lost, Rip. What a crazy weather event Michael was.. Never Forget
I just want to know who built that little shack near the water. He's my next home builder lol. I'm a Panama City resident. I'll never ever ride out another hurricane again. I've been through Alicia opal Katrina and now Michael. Never again. This one got to me. Done. Thanks for a great documentary. You got it right.
I moved to Panama City a month before the hurricane. It changed so many lives, including mine. A town with so many trees turned unrecognizable. When I moved away six months ago, progress had been made, but there was still debris and destroyed buildings. It honestly kinda just became normal for all of us. It was a scary experience, people deal with it in their own ways.
"wow beautiful stadium effect" "look at how calm it is" "blue skies, I could get a sun tan" meanwhile at the same time, Simon and Tony: "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
I'm a local here where michael hit.... everything was destroyed. Imagine everything destroyed, no power, no radio stations, no cell phones, nothing. And it stayed that way for weeks even months for some things. And your title the forgotten cat 5 is absolutely right. The weather station wont even mention its name. It's a joke. Absolutely the worst thing I've ever experienced.
I agree with this comment 100%. I live in Fountain and it took us about a month to just get power back to some homes, but their are still some without power to this day. I know that because I work a the Piggly wiggly in fountain and I'm still selling gas to those without power in order for them to keep their generators running. It's not many, but still the fact that some are without power today is horrible. I was fortunate to not have lost my home during Micheal, and due to trees falling around my house, my home was relatively shielded from the worst winds, so my home only received minor damage, but so many in my town had their homes literally obliterated.
We lost power til November 5, internet til end of December. I work at gulf CI which is where I rode it out in a inmate housing unit , I was stuck at the prison for several days after the storm... no communication...no idea if I had a house, if my dog was alive , nothing I sent my children to family out of harms way and didn’t see nor speak to them for about a month when we got power again. I won’t do it again.... it’s been 2. Years and people are still living in tents by where I live
Agree.... Still waiting for more prominent people to come forward on the true number of death's because when us norms talk about it people just dismiss it as a lie and for what So visitors won't stop visiting? Would have been wiser to educate why it's so important to leave when told.
Yeah, for some reason Michael is practically forgotten among the news and there are barely any sort of mention about it despite being one of the only four known hurricanes to made landfall in USA as a Category 5. I still remember Harvey, Sandy, and Dorian making major headlines everywhere, even here in Indonesia, but not this one.
They really held back the accurate numbers of the death toll from this storm. I can tell you that afterwards, it seems like Everyone moved away. You would think, "I would too", but they moved away because it is August 2020 and there are full communities that have been sitting vacant with fencing around them that are JUST NOW, JUST NOW being demolished in the middle of Panama City! I will never forget, when a message came across a local facebook page made for lost items and people.... a family was looking for their father & his dog........ a few days later they found the dog....their father was a couple yards away...... they stayed together until the very end .......... god bless (tears) {didn't hear that in the news}
I'm sitting here crying for someone I didn't know, and in the tears is the additional sadness knowing this man's best friend (the dog) died as well. For the survivors and their families: Look around you, look in the mirror, and see what, who you do have. What you see is unique and totally irreplaceable. May God bless you, and continue to give you peace.
So sorry for all of your losses. My Aunt was in the hospital in Puerto Rico during Maria. She never got out & passed away while my son was there repairing houses.
One of the problem was that 3 days prior to Hurricane Michael coming ashore it was only forecasted to be a Tropical Storm. Even a day before it was forecasted to make landfall as a cat 1 maybe 2. It intensified so quickly that a lot of people didnt time to properly prepare for a hurricane of that magnitude.
Out of curiosity, at what level do you think someone should evac? We recently moved to the coast of lousiana and this will be our first hurricane season. So far the consensus seems to be, 1 2 3 you're home free, 4 or 5, start to drive, but im still nervous to stick out a 2 or 3 lmao
Hands down some of the best, sick to your stomach anxiety inducing footage ever taken. It puts you there, in some small part, and helps you imagine the complete terror and devastation Michael caused and indeed any major hurricane can cause. It's the second time of watching this and I followed all the live streams at the time but this really tells the story.
Hard to believe this was almost 2 years, I remember it like it was yesterday. I rode it out with a few friends in Panama City about 5 miles from the eye. One of the craziest experiences of my life. Our ears were hurting the whole time because the barometric pressure dropped so low. Kept having to pop them like we were driving up a mountain. We hudled in a corner of the house while the world around us went flat. Pretty amazing what nature can do.
I'm still traumatized by the sound of the wind. It was SO LOUD we couldn't even hear the trees snapping in the yard. A power pole snapped in half right by our house and we never even heard it because the wind was that loud. I don't think I'll ever be the same again.
Well.... I didn't expect to see a 2hr documentary on the hurricane I rode out when I opened youtube today.. certainly didn't expect to watch the whole thing and cry as I saw the last moments of the places I grew up near. I'm thankful for the people who made this. There was a lot of footage that I'd never seen before, and now I have a video to watch when my family and I want to remember how things used to look around here. That may not have been the goal behind this video, but I'm counting these memories that I've regained as a happy accident. Thank you for giving that to us
We had been coming to Mexico Beach since the late 1970’s. We lived in Mexico Beach for a year and a half at the Summerhouse Condominium’s. People who had never been to Mexico Beach, they will never know how beautiful and friendly the town was. It was the Gulf Coast’s paradise. Some things can be rebuilt, but certain things are gone forever. The people of Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe are tough. They will survive and breathe life back into what was lost.
I remember watching this on the news and it was absolutely devastating. And after 2 days it was not mentioned at all. I kept asking friends, have you heard anything about the people in Michael? How are they doing? When I saw it, it was like an atomic bomb went off And then no mention at all. I live in Massachusetts, and I looked it up often to see if I could find an update
When dude came over that bridge into Mexico Beach and goes, "OH. MY. GOD!!" it sent a chill down my spine. That whole scene with the hurricane still blowing and raining over the destroyed town was more horrifying than any movie.
This needs to go viral! This town is STILL trying to rebuild and most of the money went to PCB( that was to put it bluntly minimally effected) instead of PC and Mexico Beach.#850strong
That's this president for you....stuff that he looks up to, big business, especially if hotels, gets bailed out. The rest of us have faith, prayer and each other.
And Fountain. I feel like because our town is so rural, that it's often forgotten by the media and others as one of the towns devastated by Micheal. As I said in my comment on this video, I know of some who are still without power to this day and are having to powering their homes via a generator.
We stayed, lived in PCB and the next morning we went over the Hathaway bridge, surprisingly wasn't shut down and the city of Panama was absolutely obliterated, people walking everywhere just looking lost it was the weirdest thing I've experienced, complete chaos
@@matthewhays8265 yea definitely not surprising just sureal almost like a movie where an apocalypse happens and people are aimlessly walking around lost it was sad and sureal only way to describe it
That was the most craziest, insane, catastrophic 2 hours of storm chasing I’ve ever watched! You guys are either the bravest or the craziest storm chasers I have ever watched. I can not believe that one guy drove up the coast, into the eye of the hurricane with catastrophic winds decimating the Forrest of trees along the road side, of which he was driving right through. You’ve got a set of brass balls..Nuts! This is the most nerve racking storm chasing video I’ve ever watched!
Today is Wednesday, August 30, 2023 and I just finished watching all two hours, 19 minutes, plus of your video. This was the proverbial “train wreck” that wouldn’t let us look away… Thank you to all that risked life and limb to bring us this footage, it’s truly amazing. I was watching the damage from hurricane Idalia that was happening today when your video from hurricane Michael showed up in my feed. I don’t remember hearing about that one. The only three I’ve seen lately are hurricane Ian, Hilary and Idalia. After watching the destruction from hurricane Michael, I’m so glad I live in Southern California ☺️ Thank you again! xoxo
I passed through Mexico Beach not even a week ago and they’re still rebuilding. Heartbreaking. See the ruined forests along “The Forgotten Coast” was heartbreaking as well.
You guys have literally balls of steel for filming this.. how come this downplayed as far as news coverage when it happened? I honestly didn't hear a single thing about it until now...
@@StormChasingVideo : We had 100k+ damage to our house and were out for five months. People I am in contact with in various parts of the country were amazed to hear of the damage this hurricane caused in the the central and eastern Panhandle, and SW Georgia. Damage was just as catastrophic in Blountstown, Marianna, Bristol, Grand Ridge, Port St Joe, even into Donalsonville, in SW Georgia, which is 80 miles from the coast and still experienced sustained winds of over 100 MPH. Great video BTW. By far, the best I've seen.
@@StormChasingVideo same thing with the torando in Tennessee the other night literally ripped downtown Nashville a apart they havnt really said anything bc overhyping the virus and putting fear in peoples minds for no reason
Yes! I was trying to remember when this was aired over the news, very low-profile coverage but this was a really bad hurricane. I hope the residents are doing better. I ran across this video scrolling for something to watch.
By far the best storm chase/bad weather documentary ive ever seen. Amazingly edited and i was genuinely feeling the tension. Congratulations, this should be on nat geo because i dont think they could do better
I lived in Panama City when it struck. My family and I were in a big shed. We watched 2 walls cave in and half of the roof fly off. Luckily we made it and we got to a safer place once we were in the eye. Our house was completely destroyed. After the hurricane passed, I walked around the block and saw tree trunks sticking out of people's houses. All the broken dry trees made it the perfect conditions for wildfires earlier this year. It was heartbreaking the amount of damage it caused. Thank you for making this video! 850 strong!
Humbling. Great footage. Nicely explained. My husband and I honeymooned on SGI in 2000 and try to return twice a year. We will be there in October. This is the week, Hurricane Michael, that Resort Properties said we had to cancel. We were worried sick about the Forgotten Coast. When we got back 6 months later, the devastation was horrific an hour from the coast. I held my breath when you drove under The Governor for shelter. Thank you.
As every minute of this video goes by, it's like it says "oh you don't think it can get any worse, here, hold my beer for a second." Literally...every..single...minute, and just when you say this is the worst, it gets WORSE. Absolutely unreal.
Seeing the stadium effect in person is on my bucket list. I've only ever been in the eye of a hurricane once in my life. It was during Wilma when I was 9 years old.
I grew up in the wewa, Panama city, Callaway area as a kid/teen. It killed me seeing where my childhood memories were made. I cried. So hard. Not only for the memories lost, but for the people who was effected. Katrina was supposed to hit us, but turned. Micheal didn't
Great video! Living in Bay county, I can tell you that Panama City Beach (just over the Hathaway Bridge) officials did NOT help the case for Panama City, Callaway, Mexico Beach recovery help. PCB officials claimed everything was fine and dandy here after Michael, just because they dodged the bullet by literally 1 or 2 miles! I remember PCB residents (some) were crying about no internet when people a few miles to the East, had no power, water, food, gas, let alone a home to return to! We had more help from surrounding states AL, GA, LA, TX, TN) than we did from our own local officials in surrounding cities. I'm thankful PCB was spared though, otherwise our local economy would have been doomed. Also, the constant political campaigns, and California wildfires added to "forgetting Michael". Locals will never forget as we are still reminded daily just driving around town. The corrupt local politicians that mismanaged/stole money from Bay county need to be locked up and key thrown away. PC, Callaway, Mexico Beach, etc. still need tons of help.
@Psychosis Prophet I was in PCB and didn’t know about all that. So sorry!!!! Coverage was nil too! Was working 12 hours a day at a shuttle service taking people all over Bay County and even out of state afterwards and to bus station in Ft Walton steadily every day! Even taking workers that had been scammed by companies that came to help rebuild. Lot of that was going on too, many went to jail for no license. It was a mess frankly. Convoys in groups of 20 or more of first responders from many states! Hospitals damaged and ambulances constantly taking them out of town. It was like a war zone!!!Tyndall AFB ruined also.
Panama City did not get hit as hard as Callaway but harder than Panama City beach. I wish I would have been in Callaway. Hopefully there will be a similar hurricane not too far from me.
The stadium effect that Doug showed is absolutely amazing! What an absolute phenomenon hurricanes are. People say tornadoes are worse. I would say the unknown of tornadoes spawning makes it more sinister if you consider how hurricanes are seen days in advance, but if you get a Cat 5 like Andrew or Camille I'm not sure it matters as far as the destruction is concerned.
Thank you for capturing this weather event. I rode it out in Panama City and it was the worst shit I’ve ever seen in my life. Year and six months later and we are still recovering. You guys got balls. Kept your cool and filmed it all!! Again, thank you. It’s crazy, the title says it all. “The forgotten category 5” and that’s exactly what it is. Basically just a legend now amongst locals lol I guess that’s the best way to put it.
I never forgot you guys I live in Massachusetts and it was shown on the news 2 days and never again. I never forgot and keep searching for updates. Glad you're safe. God bless
I went through Katrina coastal Mississippi. I was inland a bit but still suffered major damage at my home. Put headphones on, turn up your volume to max then try to listen to someone talking. That is how loud it was for 12 hours. I put my mouth on my sons ear and screamed and he still could not hear me. Luckily he understand hand signals. That pressure drop HURTS!. It flushed our toilets and even though our window where boarded up tight with very large nails, the wind ripped them off like they where made of foam.
so many things going thru my head as I watch this.....terrifying....incredible.......the golf cart just sitting there...the cars floating by Tony Brite....holy cow.....then a boat...then a house! MIND BLOWN
I was actually in this hurricane when it downgraded to a cat 3, our power was out for 9 days and I actually watched a tree fall through my neighbors house. It left a lot of us helpless and broken, I’m just glad I wasn’t in Panama City :( rip to anyone killed in this hurricane, and condolences to their families. I’m also glad I was fortunate enough to survive, it could’ve been way worse for me and my family than it was, this was a horrific experience, can’t imagine it for the one’s in Panama City and Mexico Beach.
Panama City got it hard but nothing like Mexico Beach. To that couple in Mexico Beach they should have gone to Callaway or Panama City. No reason to stay in a surge area.
1. The MOST amazing, EPIC Stadium effect ever captured!! 2. Tears at seeing all the trees that once were & knowing we baked/fried this past summer with 90% of our glorious vegetative canopy gone. 3. Prayers for those that rode Michael out, who now live with permanent scars-PTSD and special prayers to those who lost family members. 4. For those that remain; WE know it is continuous prayers & determination that fuel our ability to clean, repair, rebuild and yes, even thrive. 5. GOD BLESS the FORGOTTEN COAST.❤ #850STRONG #PANHANDLESTRONG
Barbara I really wish I was in Callaway or Tyndall Airforce Base riding Michael out in my car like the pros did it so I could have seen the eye. Hopefully somewhere in the continental US in the 2020s there will be another category 5 so I can get a second chance. Were you in Callaway?
@@markpalavosvrahotes5575 the ocean water temperatures are a few degrees above average so far this year. Might see 2 or 3 this year as a cat 3 or higher.
@@markpalavosvrahotes5575 oh of course. I just went ahead and bought a larger generator and a few 25000mah battery packs for this upcoming hurricane season. Also bought 100 MRE's had too many close calls the past few years. I'm not worried about evacuating I'm worried about being caught off guard. Just got this feeling it's going to be rough this year
Completely humbling experience just watching the video, so I can't imagine what it was like for the people who lives in the path of Michael. God bless you all and thank you to the storm chasers for documenting their story.
I just watched this coverage of Michael and my anxiety was thru the roof....just watching this. Im still in awe. Why in FK didnt these poor people and this town get more coverage and help ASAP is beyond me. It took these guys with steel balls to bring the true horror of what this hurricane did. And with this past summer of record hurricanes, I'm sure you guys were again on pins and needles. God bless and continued rebuilding to some kind of normalcy! ❤
It's all about the money here unfortunately. The powers that be in this state need to make it seem as back to normal as possible so visitors will continue to line their pockets however none of it will go to those that need/needed it most. Fema was a joke especially if you where a renter. If it wasn't for the 1000s of people that donated goods and land for for people temporarily than they would have had nothing but the sky. I'm still waiting on someone with pull to come forward with the true death toll because when us norms talk about it it's just brushed off as a lie. One would think education on why it's so important to leave would be more of a priority than hiding number's apparently those in charge disagreed to not scare future visitors.
Some of our towns and houses even though it’s been 3 years it still looks like a bomb went off the hurricane wasn’t even as bad as when you seen the destruction it was heart breaking
I've seen a lot of hurricane footage but for some reason this footage was the most impactful..you could truly see how things just escalated quickly. All the damage documented as it happened was just unreal...
I've watched your live streams of hurricanes in south Louisiana when we evacuated to Shreveport and I have to say I really appreciate what you all do as storm chasers. Having said that, and I say this with love and admiration, but you are all crazy. Thank you for providing valuable historic documentation of these monsters. Edit: That shot of the "stadium effect" inside the eye was incredible. Thanks again.
This is an incredible documentary of an even more incredible Storm. I’ve been fascinated with hurricanes my entire life and watched countless hours of footage. This is the best I’ve seen. The position he was in allowed him to experience an environment that not many people in the world will ever experience. Bravo my friend. I wouldn’t have done it but I’m glad someone documented that NE quadrant and lived to tell about it. From a meteorological standpoint, Michael had all the characteristics and structure to put it at the top of everyone’s nerd list in the Atlantic basin......... and then Dorian came.
Austin Lovitt To be fair, Michael’s and Dorian’s eyes were both borderline perfect. And Michael had a cloud free eye with much colder/higher cloud tops surrounding it. Of course Dorian was significantly stronger despite having lacking cloud tops, but that’s what happens when a cyclone achieves exceptional angular momentum in close proximity to a high pressure. And it kinda did had a even more perfect shaped eye.
This is an outstanding piece of work. Anything that can captivate my (and apparently many others) attention for over 2 hours is unusual- I was mesmerized!Thank you all for the filming and great editing! I live in Orlando and we paid close attention to Michael so every few months I try to get updates on the area. This doc offers really useful perspective.
My sister lives in Lynn Haven; lost everything. Still working on getting her life back together. Insurance dragging their feet. Home still be repaired. Has to live in a trailer on property brought in. Life turned upside down. Life is fragile....
My sister-in-law lives in Cape San Blas about 15 minutes from Mexico beach. She has a bit of dementia and we were asked to fly down to get her and have her house repaired by the first responders down there. I was shocked by the amount of damage even 2 hours from the coast.
We drove through Lynn Haven about a month after Michael to look at a car for sale. I cried...I've driven through F5 devastation that didn't even touch what we saw.
It's still all they can talk about except now its Covid this and Covid that. Another Russia scam AFAIC. They are counting people who die in car accidents while having covid anyone who dies while having covid no matter what killed them is getting counted as a covid death.
I live in the area near highway 20 and highway 231 in Bay County. I sat through the hurricane in a house built in the early 50's. No structural damage to the house itself but had ceiling damage due to water intrusion when some of the shingles on the roof let go. Seeing my pumphouse just suddenly explode then disappear into the air was shocking. Fourteen trees, some of them massive, did not survive. Seeing bits and pieces of what used to be my next door neighbor's house and garage flying by the windows was a bit unnerving. My woodshed was completely demolished with firewood scattered everywhere. My two outbuildings were fine until a neighbor's big oak tree fell on them. All in all I fared quite well compared to so many, especially in Lynn Haven, Callaway, Parker, Springfield, Tyndall AFB and on out to what was once Mexico Beach. The next morning was a scene out of a horror movie as the devastation became so obvious to everybody. Most of my neighbors started going up and down our road with chainsaws trying to cut a path to get us access to highway 231, As men would cut up fallen trees another neighbor with a big front end loader would push the trees out of the way until they reached a point that it just wasn't possible so they made a one-lane path through a couple of side roads that let us out. One thing I will NEVER forget was the hypocrisy of the Red Cross after the storm. They seemed to stay ONLY where the news cameras were. We NEVER saw one of them out where we were at but the Salvation Army and many church groups, some from out of state, were all over us offering food, water, ice and anything they had that we might use. Some even went down the side roads looking for people out trying to clear their property and offering them food and drinks. In an event like this you really see who the real people are and like the Red Cross, who the posers are. As for the main stream "news" media....what a stinking joke!
A trailer is the last place you want to be in a hurricane or a tornado. I was in an F3 tornado in Kansas in very sturdy house, and that was bad enough. We went in the half basement apartment bathtub with a mattress over us. The tornado passed between my friends’ house and their neighbor’s, tearing off parts of the roof and all the siding on the one side. Then it crossed the street and blew the house there to bits. We were fine, just shaken up. The people next door weren’t home, and across the street it was a miracle. An elderly couple lived there. The husband had gone to get the car serviced and his wife took refuge under the kitchen table along with a dog and a cat. They also had a parakeet. The woman survived with cuts and bruises and the dog and cat weren’t injured. Rescuers heard the dog barking which is how she was found beneath the broken table. The cat found its own way out. The bird and cage, unfortunately, were never found. The husband didn’t even know where to drive because of the rubble all over the road and numerous houses destroyed or heavily damaged. The EMTs took them to the hospital for shock.
This was absolutely amazing. I am broken hearted at the damage. The last time I vacationed at the Florida coast was in 2007 on Cape San Blas. It was also the first time my son saw the ocean. We saw dolphins swimming and ate in Mexico Beach. I recognized some of the locations before the hurricane came through. This had my mouth dropped open in astonishment the whole time. Thank you for your craziness and for sharing this! You guys are amazing and you got yourself a new subscriber! God Bless You ❤️
I loved how every camera had Michael captured, I even looked at my husband and said, um that's a red SUV that just went past. Very well captured, however I believe one rule of thumb, is you have more than one person in a car in storm chasing or you put yourself and life at risk, like you said, someone could die out here and never be found. Also, I want to state, in storm chasing tornado or hurricane, you should as rule of thumb have a safe way out, you did not have many options. Please stay safe, and take care of yourselves.
Michael isnt forgotten. Here in North Carolina we have places that still haven't recovered & may stay that way. I have a whole new appreciation for preparedness now because of Michael & I'm in an area that's supposed to be relatively "safe-ish".
A tornado magnet and you stayed in it? You got more brass than I do! I stayed but I live in a solid site built house. Even then there were moments when I questioned my sanity....or lack thereof!
You guys are people with a steel heart - you are putting your lives on the line to bring this to us. The photography is A+++++ Thank you and God bless and take care of yourselves for the future risk-taking.
It is the forgotten Category 5 because it hit the northern Gulf Coast and not south Florida. Irma received way too much attention the previous year, and didn't turn out to be quite as bad as the forecasters thought it would. Michael was way worse than Irma, in terms of strength.
This was a amazing video. We watched it from my phone one night . Then we found it on the tv the next evening. It was unreal at the footage you all got . Now when you are there you don’t have your land marks . This helped us remember where things were . It’s still very sad there . It is slowly coming back. Some businesses & homes are still just like it was the day after the storm. Thank you for posting this . I’m glad you all made it out safely.
I've lived here nearly all of my 77 years and I found it very hard to get around with no street signs. Getting lost became a normal situation many times after the storm.
My husband, my daughter who was 4 at the time lost our home from this hurricane. I was 30 weeks pregnant with my 2nd daughter and we lost everything. We had just moved into a new home three weeks prior and had to leave florida and start over with nothing. This video actually shows how traumatic it truly was. You have no idea how many people don’t even know what I’m talking about when I speak of Hurricane Michael. Thank you for creating this, so others can see just how horrible it was.
❤
I hope you are doing well now, I’m sorry to hear anout your experience. Stay safe
I wish I could have been there to see it. At least I sawIan.
I went through this same hurricane everyone talks about hurricane Ian but Michael was far worst as a cat 5 NHC said it was unfavorable to become major but that didn’t matter it came in rolling with rage it took only 4 hours to flatten Mexico beach if it was moving slowly I truly believe the whole bay county would have been flattened it was also only the 4th cat 5 to hit the continental U.S. and fist since 1992 hurricane Andrew that level homestead Fl so sad how nobody remembers this cat 5 but remembers hurricane Ian a cat 4 😢
I remember it well. I was in gulf shores visiting my daughter. I took pictures of the ocean. It looked amazing and frightening at the same time. I don’t understand why that person didn’t have insurance you can’t get a home loan without insurance
I sheltered in place, we are inland and the eye came right over us. I am still terrified of bad weather nearly 5 years later. It was the most scared I've ever been in my life and I was sure we were going to die. I don't even know if I can watch this, but I appreciate you bringing attention to it. Our area is forever changed. We will NEVER forget.
Hit 5 days after my mom died. Michael made me realize the world was going to keep turning and it helped me keep moving forward. It is bittersweet because it hurt so many people
"When you're standing still, the world keeps moving"
Your experience reminded me of this quote
Hit me about a month after mine passed. I agree with what you said, I didn't have power for a week and I just sat alone in the dark. It was a good lesson and I've grown a lot since then.
@@floridaman964 I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
That must have been an incredibly hard time for you, but it's awesome that you've come through it with such a good view.
I lived through Hurricane Michael in Panama City, my apartment was destroyed, but I lived. Your video shows way more than the news ever showed. Thank you!
Michael Nelson your name is Micheal.. wait.. so your HURRICANE MICHEALS BROTHER?!
Liza Tanzawa I’m stupid
The news doesn't do the work anymore, and what they usually show is taken without permission from online.
And that is why we made this video. This story was pretty much kept low key and the second after trump flew in then went home , it was forgotten It was a flipping Cat 5 and it's not even a household name like Katrina.
@@StormChasingVideo Thank you for your service and the research
I’m crying watching this. Living through it was my worst nightmare. Loosing my house and a year of no home was awful. However, being able to see our landscape as it once was “one last time” has me super emotional. I know things are getting better but I miss the way things had been my entire life. Thank you so much for this.
Sending love from Wisconsin. Maybe this was healing for you. I hope so!🌷🌷🌷♥️
I haven't been in a hurricane before, im from the east coast, and haven't had any hurricanes accept for a tropical storm isaias 65+ mph wind gust, watching this was totally heart breaking im tearing up from watching this, you're not alone.
🤍
Being on the Texas Gulf Coast I understand exactly what you mean. Tropical Storm Alison wasnt bad wind wise but it dumped enough rain to fill our house w/6ft of water. Fema bought us out and now its a empty acre in the flood zone. Then Ike hit and we didn't have power for 2 weeks and you know about the heat and humidity. It was miserable. Then Harvey hit and that was crazy. Glad you survived!
@Dick Fitswell it was super difficult. 6 weeks no power here.
I remember going outside when the eye was passing over and thinking “Okay, we can still recover from this.”
Then the eye passed and snapped every single tree in the horizon and half the neighborhood was gone. Unforgettable.
It's the change in wind direction... With a now saturated group.... Recipe for down trees left and right
Same here I remember the same
yep, experienced the same thing during Charley
my niece live in Mcallister not sure if that is correct name but stayed in a trailer, i was scared for them and didn't hear from her for a week i think but she said all the trees for miles were cut in half.
excuse me for the horrible english. lol
Watching this brings back so many memories. We lived in Cairo, Ga. 20 minutes from the Florida line and Tallahassee. We still lost our entire home. If we had not left that night we would have died. We watched trees fall like toothpicks and trees both fell on both my sons houses. We ended up riding the storm out in a medal barn that they just had built. I watched irrigation get flipped. I must tell you the most fascinating thing was watching the cows. None were killed. They turned there back end to the wind and got in a triangle shape close together. They never laid down. That just blew my mind. The horses survived too. I was without a home the next morning, but my family was alive. Praise Jesus!
I'm from Cairo too! We lost our roof, after inviting family members who lived in mobile homes to ride out the storm at our house. We were blessed in that we still had a couple of rooms with a roof and we had a generator. But it was a rough time both during the storm and in the days afterward. I remember when we heard there was gas in Thomasville, and the mad dash to get there before all the gas was gone, because we needed the gas for the generator and there was no gas in Cairo. I don't ever want to go through another storm like Michael.
@@themanifestorsmind I'm glad you were okay. Those poor animals. I don't even want to think about the smaller pets. 😕
Flood of 85 in Virginia my das cut fences for cows and horses. It was the only reason some survived! The owners obviously didn't care 😢
It didn’t look that bad
@@dwilson6769 i saw one in the video.. it was really not ok
When you are in the middle of a Cat 5+ hurricane, the roar is something unfathomable to someone who's never experienced it. Absolutely terrifying
Our cats still react at whistle of 40mph winds.
the sounds and smells are haunting. May we never go through another 🙏❤️
@@leftfinned What does it smell like?
@@fcv4616 VERY strong Pine tree smell- 90% of canopy was lost :( It was from the massive amount of pine trees just snapped like toothpicks…and a little salty but that’s normal after storms- it was the pine that was overwhelming
@@leftfinned Interesting. I never thought about how it would smell. That sounds like it must have been a very scary experience. I’m glad that you’re ok.
This was a nightmare. Lived in this area for 30 years. It will never be the same. The aftermath was like a warzone. Michael never gets mentioned and I always wonder why.
It’s like Mississippi with Katrina. New Orleans stole all their Media Coverage. My deepest apologies to Mexico Beach and Panama City Locals!
No reason to wonder.
Think of who lives and vacations there compared with places like West Palm Beach, Miami, Key West…There’s your answer. If there’s no money in fixing it, the officials don’t care. There was a family of five who lived in their van for over a year after Michael. Their building was totally destroyed. They were offered one of those FEMA trailers full of formaldehyde from Katrina. They spent one night in it and one of the boys woke up gasping for breath. It was right back to their van. Mr. R. kept his job, which is why they stayed, but he got laid off after six months and couldn’t find anything else with reasonable pay. They came up to New York and moved in with her sister and kids, and ended up staying even though NY is so expensive. With two and a half incomes coming in, they were able to make it work. I taught two of the children in grades K & 1, really great kids.
@@mariekatherine5238 actually think it's more of a reluctance to cover this area by the corporate media because it's an extremely red area.
one of the worst days of my life. 40 years washed away. painfully surreal.
We lost our home and everything in it in Lynn Haven, FL. We were lucky to evacuate but coming four days later was heartbreaking. We no longer live in FL, but go home multiple times a year and each time I cry. Bay County is not the same. It still suffers wildfires from the debris and so many beautiful landmarks gone. Mexico Beach was so devastated. So many places we lived and frequented no longer there.
I never knew how bad Hurricane Michael was until I started watching the video. Thank y'all for showing what exactly happened compared to the coverage by news stations.
lol news stations. Please for the love of God start calling them propaganda stations. Obama repealed the Smith-Mundt act in 2015 making propaganda legal again. This is why what is happening these days is happening. It is time to stop paying this government taxes.
@@Andronicus87 Ah yes, it's the news stations causing the hurricanes, and to stop them, we need to commit tax fraud. You can't be serious right?
News stations... psssht. You still watch those fabricators?
@@Andronicus87 You missed it by decades. The repeal of the Fairness Doctrine under Reagan is what started what you call propaganda, making right wing BS like Fox News possible. And yes, some liberal media outlets too, although they aren't as numerous since liberals don't have the need to be reminded on a daily basis that they are correct.
So far as not paying taxes is concerned...you know that means you need to keep your vehicle off of tax payer funded streets and highways, right? And, that's just for starters of the tax funded infrastructure you enjoy daily without even thinking about it. It's socialism, that's true. But, we've had social programs longer than either of us have been breathing air. If you really hate it, then you could just emigrate. Try Russia or North Korea, they might be more to your liking. Trump sure loves them.
the US news stations I watched showed a town in complete ruins as if a Japanese tsunami had run through it. Say what you will about the large news companies, but sugarcoating domestic cat 5 direct landfalls is not up there among their worst sins in my book.
I live 50 miles inland and the eye went right over my home. The fury of this storm was like nothing I have ever seen. I rode it out with my kids and elderly father. 4.5 years later and the damage to the landscape is still quite visible. So many lost so much that day.
I always, of course think of the people who were in a hurricane but I always think of stray animals too and how scared they are.
I live 30 min from where Michael hit, I remember asking my husband "what's going to happen to the animals at the zoo"? They have to leave them there and hope they made them safe enugh inside.
Especially the homeless and homeless veterans.
As soon as the winds died down enough all the animals started coming back out. Not sure where they his during the storm because there wasn't a tree left standing in sight. But birds were flying around and squirrels were running around.
Animals can sense bad things coming. It’s in their intuition. They know where to go 🙏🏽😢
@@repnatl Well, VET'S are still safe for another 5x days or so?... Hopefully we do not get hit to badly during the sleep & creepy - hiding Biden administration!
This storm changed my life. Thanks for remembering what most forgot.
I was in East Panama City during landfall and saw the eye go over my house…this storm was easily the most traumatic storm I endured. It’s relatively forgotten because of where it hit…
Incredible footage! I experienced my first hurricane in 2017, Irma Cat 5 in St Maarten. It was the most intense thing I have ever gone through. I’m lost for words explaining what it was like. So incredibly loud!!! Like you’re in a jet engine and you can’t turn it off. It feels like an eternity. Our bathroom roof was ripped off above us. Mother Nature isn’t joking around.
I'm so glad you made it Beautiful Nakita..
My friend Patrick lived there in St Marteen on a sailboat in the harbor.. he left the boat and told me he took shelter in a nearby hotel on the 2nd floor. He said the wind was so powerful it was picking up boats and throwing them.
I worked in Parker/ Callaway/ Mexico Beach with my backhoe cleaning up. I can tell you at 53 years old I have never experienced an emotion like I experienced when I first saw the devastation. I thought I was going to cry, but couldn’t. It was total destruction for miles and miles and miles.......the pictures that you see on this video do not do it justice ........
Those Wipers on Doug’s SUV are the untold hero how they never became airborne is beyond me.
Also note how good (at least for driving into the wind of a category 5 hurricane) the view was out the windshield. That, my friend, is the power of RainX. This comment is not sponsored.
I thought lightning didn't exist in a hurricane
@@immortalgamingyt6182 It's actually pretty concentrated in the eye wall almost all the time (at least in hurricanes that have the structure to do so). However, actually being able to see lightning in the eye wall would require the lightning to actually strike the ground, which rarely ever happens in a hurricane.
@@Benjaminberino I been in hurricane Sandy and it had lightning so google basically lies to us saying theres no lightning but some hurricanes have it
I was in that storm and it was horrific.
I live in Missouri, and back in 2018, my mom took me and my two younger siblings to the humane society out in Macklind for a meet and greet. The meet and greet was with a Borgi (Corgi Basset Hound mix) named Huey. Huey was rescued after this hurricane and now he lives with me, my mom, my dad, my two younger siblings, and my grandmother. He has been with us for 5 years now and he's a total sweetheart who loves to lay down on the couch, bark whenever he hears the front or back door open, and he absolutely loves to snuggle.
I had a corgi mix (chow +) , I'm trying so hard to imagine a "borgi" and i just kind of can't.😆
Even three years later, those who tracked and experienced this will never forget the name ‘Michael’. I remember opening my laptop and checking the NHC to see what is now a cat 5 storm making landfall. I couldn’t imagine the terror, sadness and confusion of those impacted. Rest in piece to those who lost their lives to that monster.
Oh they rested in pieces, alright
rude and unnecessary @@videosofthemusclegod1910
This was just incredible. I can’t tell you how nervous I was, my jaw was clenched, my body stiffened and I became so full of anxiety while I watched this. I do know what the man said about just knowing you’re going to die. I saw an F3 tornado coming at me and couldn’t leave my mobile home. I remember every minute of it picking me up and being tossed and turned with things slamming into my body. I was thrown over 100 feet away and broke my arm and hurt my back and cut and bruised all over. Our home was completely gone but I lived. I was by myself thank goodness. We lost everything and I can relate to these people, but if you’re alive that’s all that matters. I feel for these people and this whole town. You just can’t compete with Mother Nature. So thankful these storm chasers made it. Great job.
Dang, that's crazy.
We've gotten lucky here in Mobile Alabama. We've dodged big hurricanes and big tornadoes in recent years. I think we may get a Category 2 or 3 this year. We've been too lucky.
The eye, eye wall, and storm surge scenes depicted here are the best I’ve ever seen. Incredible.
This is still the best Hurricane footage recorded in the US, and among the greatest ever on the internet. It's incredible how well this Category 5 storm was documented from all angles by chasers, unreal. I wonder what Doug's car must've looked like after driving through that.
100% agree, as bad as it gets really, I would have required fresh underwear!
Watching Doug drive thru 132 mph wind rain and large debris while talking on the phone is so horrifying I have to turn it off. Reckless indeed!
Best footage I've ever seen besides what I've seen in person for Katrina
Doug is lucky to be alive tbh. At any moment, somethinng could have flown through his window and impaled him.
The layout of the area helps a lot too for chasing- not terribly populated and the highway/interstate both go east/west... It still looks apocalyptic on 98 going into mexico beach - just snapped pines everywhere
I lived through Michael. I was in the house when it hit and I will never forget the sights, sounds, and aftermath. Our house was gone, but we got away with our lives, and that was enough when you see it Thank you so much for this documentary, I can't wait to watch it and recommend to people when they ask about Michael!
Michael ran us out of Panama City that year. We were in our condo, when they came over the intercom telling us to evacuate. Then they proceeded to say if you decide to stay, you must present dental records to the office, in case they had to identify your body. That prompted us to leave quickly.
Who has dental records?? That was a scare tactic and it probably worked.
"I don't feel like dying today," he said whilst driving straight into a category five hurricane.
...I read this comment at the exact moment he was saying it 😂😂. Just a neat coincidence LoL
& C U S S I N G! THAT'S IT FOR ME.
Running on a 1 watt bulb.
Obviously not too bright to be where he is.. What could possibly go wrong. Lucky he’s alive. If he died it would have been from stupidity!
Single handily the most dramatic comprehensive hurricane footage available to the public. Hurricane Charley 2004 - saw a monster first hand. You can feel the same force in this video. Thank you guys for going all out to make this happen!!
Will
I was up all night watching Charley. Came in just south of me. My granny lived in Boca for years.
Yeah man! Agree with you. I remember that year, I live on the gulf coast, sat through ever single Hurricane 🌀 that year with the exception of Hurricane Jennie ( not certain if I spelt that correctly) and by September ended up leaving Florida for a couple months just to get my head back on straight.
I spent Hurricane Andrew in a Broward county Fl hospital, 8 1/2 months pregnant. They put us and other Very pregnant women and thier husbands in an extra lunch room. We sleep on the floor. For Hurricane Michael we spent it IN A BARN with our horses during the GA National Fair in Perry GA.We sleep in the stall next to our horses. We were blessed both times to escape devastation. Farmers here are still suffering, trying to recuperate from their losses. Farmers who Feed Americans have been forgotten in South Georgia. God bless them as they struggle to perservier.
I spent hurricane Laura in Deridder LA (turns out we went the wrong direction and caught the worst end of it) it was very very scary that night and I was fortunate enough to escape devastation as well
I live in Pensacola Florida but I drove a semi for a laundry company that delivers to hospitals and urgent cares in Panama City Mexico Beach and surrounding areas. In all my 30 years of hurricanes in the Pensacola and surrounding areas this was truly apocalyptic. All these years later it's still got me messed up. I can only imagine what the people out there but feel when thinking about it.
I visited August 2018 just a few months beforehand and visited again a couple weeks ago. My heart is still breaking for those who lost everything. The trees are just gone, entire blocks with no houses. I am going to watch this fully with my husband tomorrow.
Many of us have not forgotten!! Thank you for going the extra mile! 🏆
Thank you so much for this video! My family rode out hurricane Michael in Panama City (my immediate and extended family) because my Uncle has died that Sunday I think, and everyone thought they were attending a funeral Thursday. Needless to say, that did not happen. I was a couple of hours away so I was fine, just without power for days. I feel like I was so in the dark From no power and no data signal that I missed most of the storm coverage. After that, I was so busy finding family members and dealing with the fallout from the later evacuation (some family members were in a terrible car accident evacuating after the storm and my aunt got air lifted into my city. Nearly died and is now permanently paralyzed. My family will be dealing with the aftermath of this storm for years to come.
Please don’t let it be forgotten. And please, if you are in Florida, demand your local representatives address building codes! We need structures that can stand up to storms like Michael, and now Laura. What we have is not enough!
Well it’s good you were in Panama City and not Mexico Beach. Even though I am not a chaser my dream is to see the eye of a Cat 5 one day.
My family survived this. Without this video, no one outside #850 could possibly understand. Thank you.
I understand.
We were dispatched from central Georgia to come help with the clean up efforts that follow night. 7 plus truck, four man crew and endless amounts of equipment all convoying down to help our fellow brother and sister out.. it was a crazy night driving through 60-70mph winds but we made it. Stayed for 2 weeks down there. I have never seen people so grateful and giving than Mexico Beach folks. We turned down so many offerings but still came home to big bonuses from people that simple wouldn't take no for a answer. My heart goes out to those that were lost, Rip. What a crazy weather event Michael was.. Never Forget
I just want to know who built that little shack near the water. He's my next home builder lol. I'm a Panama City resident. I'll never ever ride out another hurricane again. I've been through Alicia opal Katrina and now Michael. Never again. This one got to me. Done. Thanks for a great documentary. You got it right.
This was the only storm I have ever evacuated for. It took us days to get home between downed trees and checkpoints.
I moved to Panama City a month before the hurricane. It changed so many lives, including mine. A town with so many trees turned unrecognizable. When I moved away six months ago, progress had been made, but there was still debris and destroyed buildings. It honestly kinda just became normal for all of us. It was a scary experience, people deal with it in their own ways.
"wow beautiful stadium effect"
"look at how calm it is"
"blue skies, I could get a sun tan"
meanwhile at the same time, Simon and Tony: "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
I'm a local here where michael hit.... everything was destroyed. Imagine everything destroyed, no power, no radio stations, no cell phones, nothing. And it stayed that way for weeks even months for some things. And your title the forgotten cat 5 is absolutely right. The weather station wont even mention its name. It's a joke. Absolutely the worst thing I've ever experienced.
I agree with this comment 100%. I live in Fountain and it took us about a month to just get power back to some homes, but their are still some without power to this day. I know that because I work a the Piggly wiggly in fountain and I'm still selling gas to those without power in order for them to keep their generators running. It's not many, but still the fact that some are without power today is horrible. I was fortunate to not have lost my home during Micheal, and due to trees falling around my house, my home was relatively shielded from the worst winds, so my home only received minor damage, but so many in my town had their homes literally obliterated.
We lost power til November 5, internet til end of December. I work at gulf CI which is where I rode it out in a inmate housing unit , I was stuck at the prison for several days after the storm... no communication...no idea if I had a house, if my dog was alive , nothing I sent my children to family out of harms way and didn’t see nor speak to them for about a month when we got power again. I won’t do it again.... it’s been 2. Years and people are still living in tents by where I live
@@good_mourning bayou George here
Agree.... Still waiting for more prominent people to come forward on the true number of death's because when us norms talk about it people just dismiss it as a lie and for what So visitors won't stop visiting? Would have been wiser to educate why it's so important to leave when told.
Yeah, for some reason Michael is practically forgotten among the news and there are barely any sort of mention about it despite being one of the only four known hurricanes to made landfall in USA as a Category 5. I still remember Harvey, Sandy, and Dorian making major headlines everywhere, even here in Indonesia, but not this one.
They really held back the accurate numbers of the death toll from this storm. I can tell you that afterwards, it seems like Everyone moved away. You would think, "I would too", but they moved away because it is August 2020 and there are full communities that have been sitting vacant with fencing around them that are JUST NOW, JUST NOW being demolished in the middle of Panama City! I will never forget, when a message came across a local facebook page made for lost items and people.... a family was looking for their father & his dog........ a few days later they found the dog....their father was a couple yards away...... they stayed together until the very end .......... god bless (tears) {didn't hear that in the news}
I'm sitting here crying for someone I didn't know, and in the tears is the additional sadness knowing this man's best friend (the dog) died as well.
For the survivors and their families: Look around you, look in the mirror, and see what, who you do have. What you see is unique and totally irreplaceable.
May God bless you, and continue to give you peace.
So sorry for all of your losses. My Aunt was in the hospital in Puerto Rico during Maria. She never got out & passed away while my son was there repairing houses.
One of the problem was that 3 days prior to Hurricane Michael coming ashore it was only forecasted to be a Tropical Storm. Even a day before it was forecasted to make landfall as a cat 1 maybe 2. It intensified so quickly that a lot of people didnt time to properly prepare for a hurricane of that magnitude.
This is the best hurricane documentary EVER!!
I survived this. My advice is evacuate evacuate evacuate.
dude same
We have 9 days till the anniversary
Damn! It was so bad for y’all! I live in southeast Alabama
I’ll never stay again
Out of curiosity, at what level do you think someone should evac? We recently moved to the coast of lousiana and this will be our first hurricane season. So far the consensus seems to be, 1 2 3 you're home free, 4 or 5, start to drive, but im still nervous to stick out a 2 or 3 lmao
Hands down some of the best, sick to your stomach anxiety inducing footage ever taken. It puts you there, in some small part, and helps you imagine the complete terror and devastation Michael caused and indeed any major hurricane can cause. It's the second time of watching this and I followed all the live streams at the time but this really tells the story.
Hard to believe this was almost 2 years, I remember it like it was yesterday. I rode it out with a few friends in Panama City about 5 miles from the eye. One of the craziest experiences of my life. Our ears were hurting the whole time because the barometric pressure dropped so low. Kept having to pop them like we were driving up a mountain. We hudled in a corner of the house while the world around us went flat. Pretty amazing what nature can do.
I'm still traumatized by the sound of the wind. It was SO LOUD we couldn't even hear the trees snapping in the yard. A power pole snapped in half right by our house and we never even heard it because the wind was that loud. I don't think I'll ever be the same again.
Well.... I didn't expect to see a 2hr documentary on the hurricane I rode out when I opened youtube today.. certainly didn't expect to watch the whole thing and cry as I saw the last moments of the places I grew up near. I'm thankful for the people who made this. There was a lot of footage that I'd never seen before, and now I have a video to watch when my family and I want to remember how things used to look around here. That may not have been the goal behind this video, but I'm counting these memories that I've regained as a happy accident. Thank you for giving that to us
We had been coming to Mexico Beach since the late 1970’s. We lived in Mexico Beach for a year and a half at the Summerhouse Condominium’s. People who had never been to Mexico Beach, they will never know how beautiful and friendly the town was. It was the Gulf Coast’s paradise. Some things can be rebuilt, but certain things are gone forever. The people of Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe are tough. They will survive and breathe life back into what was lost.
@@melissahyberger destin better
I remember watching this on the news and it was absolutely devastating. And after 2 days it was not mentioned at all. I kept asking friends, have you heard anything about the people in Michael? How are they doing? When I saw it, it was like an atomic bomb went off
And then no mention at all. I live in Massachusetts, and I looked it up often to see if I could find an update
This was incredible! So saddening to see the damage and seeing the lack of coverage it got.
When dude came over that bridge into Mexico Beach and goes, "OH. MY. GOD!!" it sent a chill down my spine. That whole scene with the hurricane still blowing and raining over the destroyed town was more horrifying than any movie.
This needs to go viral! This town is STILL trying to rebuild and most of the money went to PCB( that was to put it bluntly minimally effected) instead of PC and Mexico Beach.#850strong
That's this president for you....stuff that he looks up to, big business, especially if hotels, gets bailed out. The rest of us have faith, prayer and each other.
Let's not forget about Lynn Haven either I still drive by signs saying you loot we shoot from about 2 years ago
dblissmn the present didn’t control where the funds go. He control sending money which he did. Our local officials chose the beach over in town
And Fountain. I feel like because our town is so rural, that it's often forgotten by the media and others as one of the towns devastated by Micheal. As I said in my comment on this video, I know of some who are still without power to this day and are having to powering their homes via a generator.
@@good_mourning raised up out there myself family still lives there too
The next time I know someone that is foolish enough to stay during one of this killers; I will suggest this film to them.
It was foolish.
@@chrishester9850 god bless u. Just moved into Callaway. Hoping to help this community thrive. No better place to plant roots.
We stayed, lived in PCB and the next morning we went over the Hathaway bridge, surprisingly wasn't shut down and the city of Panama was absolutely obliterated, people walking everywhere just looking lost it was the weirdest thing I've experienced, complete chaos
@@bighashgang1990 They just survived the most powerful hurricane to strike the coast. Not surprised at all.
@@matthewhays8265 yea definitely not surprising just sureal almost like a movie where an apocalypse happens and people are aimlessly walking around lost it was sad and sureal only way to describe it
That was the most craziest, insane, catastrophic 2 hours of storm chasing I’ve ever watched! You guys are either the bravest or the craziest storm chasers I have ever watched. I can not believe that one guy drove up the coast, into the eye of the hurricane with catastrophic winds decimating the Forrest of trees along the road side, of which he was driving right through. You’ve got a set of brass balls..Nuts! This is the most nerve racking storm chasing video I’ve ever watched!
That guy driving while others are hiding in the hotel 😯
Big Balls‼️
Fine line between courage and stupidity...
Today is Wednesday, August 30, 2023 and I just finished watching all two hours, 19 minutes, plus of your video.
This was the proverbial “train wreck” that wouldn’t let us look away…
Thank you to all that risked life and limb to bring us this footage, it’s truly amazing.
I was watching the damage from hurricane Idalia that was happening today when your video from hurricane Michael showed up in my feed.
I don’t remember hearing about that one. The only three I’ve seen lately are hurricane Ian, Hilary and Idalia.
After watching the destruction from hurricane Michael, I’m so glad I live in Southern California ☺️
Thank you again! xoxo
It's incredible driving on Interstate 10 and seeing the the amount of forest that was destroyed along the Interstate.
It’s funny while driving down Eytan I was wondering if they were logging or something
I passed through Mexico Beach not even a week ago and they’re still rebuilding. Heartbreaking. See the ruined forests along “The Forgotten Coast” was heartbreaking as well.
You guys have literally balls of steel for filming this.. how come this downplayed as far as news coverage when it happened? I honestly didn't hear a single thing about it until now...
@@StormChasingVideo : We had 100k+ damage to our house and were out for five months. People I am in contact with in various parts of the country were amazed to hear of the damage this hurricane caused in the the central and eastern Panhandle, and SW Georgia. Damage was just as catastrophic in Blountstown, Marianna, Bristol, Grand Ridge, Port St Joe, even into Donalsonville, in SW Georgia, which is 80 miles from the coast and still experienced sustained winds of over 100 MPH. Great video BTW. By far, the best I've seen.
@@StormChasingVideo same thing with the torando in Tennessee the other night literally ripped downtown Nashville a apart they havnt really said anything bc overhyping the virus and putting fear in peoples minds for no reason
Those places are not part of México o Panamá. The flag of Florida is still that of the Virreinato de Nueva España.
Yes! I was trying to remember when this was aired over the news, very low-profile coverage but this was a really bad hurricane. I hope the residents are doing better. I ran across this video scrolling for something to watch.
@@NickyD did 60 thousand people die in the tornado? Overhype...
By far the best storm chase/bad weather documentary ive ever seen. Amazingly edited and i was genuinely feeling the tension. Congratulations, this should be on nat geo because i dont think they could do better
I lived in Panama City when it struck. My family and I were in a big shed. We watched 2 walls cave in and half of the roof fly off. Luckily we made it and we got to a safer place once we were in the eye. Our house was completely destroyed. After the hurricane passed, I walked around the block and saw tree trunks sticking out of people's houses. All the broken dry trees made it the perfect conditions for wildfires earlier this year. It was heartbreaking the amount of damage it caused.
Thank you for making this video! 850 strong!
Humbling. Great footage. Nicely explained. My husband and I honeymooned on SGI in 2000 and try to return twice a year. We will be there in October. This is the week, Hurricane Michael, that Resort Properties said we had to cancel. We were worried sick about the Forgotten Coast. When we got back 6 months later, the devastation was horrific an hour from the coast. I held my breath when you drove under The Governor for shelter. Thank you.
the most amazing U.S. hurricane footage ever, very brave people...
As every minute of this video goes by, it's like it says "oh you don't think it can get any worse, here, hold my beer for a second." Literally...every..single...minute, and just when you say this is the worst, it gets WORSE. Absolutely unreal.
Seeing the stadium effect in person is on my bucket list. I've only ever been in the eye of a hurricane once in my life. It was during Wilma when I was 9 years old.
I grew up in the wewa, Panama city, Callaway area as a kid/teen. It killed me seeing where my childhood memories were made. I cried. So hard. Not only for the memories lost, but for the people who was effected. Katrina was supposed to hit us, but turned. Micheal didn't
Great video! Living in Bay county, I can tell you that Panama City Beach (just over the Hathaway Bridge) officials did NOT help the case for Panama City, Callaway, Mexico Beach recovery help. PCB officials claimed everything was fine and dandy here after Michael, just because they dodged the bullet by literally 1 or 2 miles! I remember PCB residents (some) were crying about no internet when people a few miles to the East, had no power, water, food, gas, let alone a home to return to! We had more help from surrounding states AL, GA, LA, TX, TN) than we did from our own local officials in surrounding cities. I'm thankful PCB was spared though, otherwise our local economy would have been doomed. Also, the constant political campaigns, and California wildfires added to "forgetting Michael". Locals will never forget as we are still reminded daily just driving around town. The corrupt local politicians that mismanaged/stole money from Bay county need to be locked up and key thrown away. PC, Callaway, Mexico Beach, etc. still need tons of help.
I spent my money EAST of Panama City Beach! Yes! I’m doing my part whenever I visit because I feel great about myself reboosting their economy!
I like how you just completely skipped Mississippi lmfao... or the "Land Mass between Louisiana and Alabama" as the news calls it
Agree
@Psychosis Prophet I was in PCB and didn’t know about all that. So sorry!!!! Coverage was nil too! Was working 12 hours a day at a shuttle service taking people all over Bay County and even out of state afterwards and to bus station in Ft Walton steadily every day! Even taking workers that had been scammed by companies that came to help rebuild. Lot of that was going on too, many went to jail for no license. It was a mess frankly. Convoys in groups of 20 or more of first responders from many states! Hospitals damaged and ambulances constantly taking them out of town. It was like a war zone!!!Tyndall AFB ruined also.
Panama City did not get hit as hard as Callaway but harder than Panama City beach. I wish I would have been in Callaway. Hopefully there will be a similar hurricane not too far from me.
The stadium effect that Doug showed is absolutely amazing! What an absolute phenomenon hurricanes are. People say tornadoes are worse. I would say the unknown of tornadoes spawning makes it more sinister if you consider how hurricanes are seen days in advance, but if you get a Cat 5 like Andrew or Camille I'm not sure it matters as far as the destruction is concerned.
Thank you for capturing this weather event. I rode it out in Panama City and it was the worst shit I’ve ever seen in my life. Year and six months later and we are still recovering. You guys got balls. Kept your cool and filmed it all!! Again, thank you. It’s crazy, the title says it all. “The forgotten category 5” and that’s exactly what it is. Basically just a legend now amongst locals lol I guess that’s the best way to put it.
I never forgot you guys
I live in Massachusetts and it was shown on the news 2 days and never again. I never forgot and keep searching for updates. Glad you're safe. God bless
@@shanks4391 Sorry I never replied to this. Really appreciate you for saying that like more than you know buddy, thank you.
I went through Katrina coastal Mississippi. I was inland a bit but still suffered major damage at my home. Put headphones on, turn up your volume to max then try to listen to someone talking. That is how loud it was for 12 hours. I put my mouth on my sons ear and screamed and he still could not hear me. Luckily he understand hand signals. That pressure drop HURTS!. It flushed our toilets and even though our window where boarded up tight with very large nails, the wind ripped them off like they where made of foam.
so many things going thru my head as I watch this.....terrifying....incredible.......the golf cart just sitting there...the cars floating by Tony Brite....holy cow.....then a boat...then a house! MIND BLOWN
This was most awesome footage of a hurricane I ever seen, you guys were soo brave, glad your all safe
I was actually in this hurricane when it downgraded to a cat 3, our power was out for 9 days and I actually watched a tree fall through my neighbors house. It left a lot of us helpless and broken, I’m just glad I wasn’t in Panama City :( rip to anyone killed in this hurricane, and condolences to their families. I’m also glad I was fortunate enough to survive, it could’ve been way worse for me and my family than it was, this was a horrific experience, can’t imagine it for the one’s in Panama City and Mexico Beach.
Panama City got it hard but nothing like Mexico Beach. To that couple in Mexico Beach they should have gone to Callaway or Panama City. No reason to stay in a surge area.
1. The MOST amazing, EPIC Stadium effect ever captured!!
2. Tears at seeing all the trees that once were & knowing we baked/fried this past summer with 90% of our glorious vegetative canopy gone.
3. Prayers for those that rode Michael out, who now live with permanent scars-PTSD and special prayers to those who lost family members.
4. For those that remain; WE know it is continuous prayers & determination that fuel our ability to clean, repair, rebuild and yes, even thrive.
5. GOD BLESS the FORGOTTEN COAST.❤
#850STRONG
#PANHANDLESTRONG
Barbara I really wish I was in Callaway or Tyndall Airforce Base riding Michael out in my car like the pros did it so I could have seen the eye. Hopefully somewhere in the continental US in the 2020s there will be another category 5 so I can get a second chance. Were you in Callaway?
@@markpalavosvrahotes5575 the ocean water temperatures are a few degrees above average so far this year. Might see 2 or 3 this year as a cat 3 or higher.
@@austineasterling8132 Oh you will definitely see them somewhere in the Atlantic Basin. But whether they make landfall in the US we will see.
@@austineasterling8132 Oh you will definitely see them somewhere in the Atlantic Basin. But whether they make landfall in the US we will see.
@@markpalavosvrahotes5575 oh of course. I just went ahead and bought a larger generator and a few 25000mah battery packs for this upcoming hurricane season. Also bought 100 MRE's had too many close calls the past few years. I'm not worried about evacuating I'm worried about being caught off guard. Just got this feeling it's going to be rough this year
Completely humbling experience just watching the video, so I can't imagine what it was like for the people who lives in the path of Michael. God bless you all and thank you to the storm chasers for documenting their story.
This has to be some of THE BEST hurricane footage if not THE BEST. Very well done. Love all the perspectives.
Now, imagine, you get 180 mph winds for 36 hours.
Non-stop. In one spot. Hurricane Dorian., The Bahamas 2019
I hated that for them! Our blessing was that that storm was moving fast.
That broke my heart. I can't even begin to imagine what the locals went through. I was scared for them.
Micheal had over 200 mile an hour winds.. and it was moving fast. Sad Dorian moves so slow
That's insane🤯
David Ward
The gust were over 200mph in Tyndall and Mexico beach.
Dorian had 225mph gust.
I just watched this coverage of Michael and my anxiety was thru the roof....just watching this. Im still in awe. Why in FK didnt these poor people and this town get more coverage and help ASAP is beyond me. It took these guys with steel balls to bring the true horror of what this hurricane did. And with this past summer of record hurricanes, I'm sure you guys were again on pins and needles. God bless and continued rebuilding to some kind of normalcy! ❤
It's all about the money here unfortunately. The powers that be in this state need to make it seem as back to normal as possible so visitors will continue to line their pockets however none of it will go to those that need/needed it most. Fema was a joke especially if you where a renter. If it wasn't for the 1000s of people that donated goods and land for for people temporarily than they would have had nothing but the sky. I'm still waiting on someone with pull to come forward with the true death toll because when us norms talk about it it's just brushed off as a lie. One would think education on why it's so important to leave would be more of a priority than hiding number's apparently those in charge disagreed to not scare future visitors.
Some of our towns and houses even though it’s been 3 years it still looks like a bomb went off the hurricane wasn’t even as bad as when you seen the destruction it was heart breaking
. No mystery!
I've seen a lot of hurricane footage but for some reason this footage was the most impactful..you could truly see how things just escalated quickly. All the damage documented as it happened was just unreal...
MANY still have NEVER heard about Michael.
Category 5's are so crazy, my first introduction to Hurricanes was Andrew when I moved to FL as a kid. I'll never forget it.
I've watched your live streams of hurricanes in south Louisiana when we evacuated to Shreveport and I have to say I really appreciate what you all do as storm chasers. Having said that, and I say this with love and admiration, but you are all crazy. Thank you for providing valuable historic documentation of these monsters. Edit: That shot of the "stadium effect" inside the eye was incredible. Thanks again.
This is an incredible documentary of an even more incredible Storm. I’ve been fascinated with hurricanes my entire life and watched countless hours of footage. This is the best I’ve seen. The position he was in allowed him to experience an environment that not many people in the world will ever experience. Bravo my friend. I wouldn’t have done it but I’m glad someone documented that NE quadrant and lived to tell about it.
From a meteorological standpoint, Michael had all the characteristics and structure to put it at the top of everyone’s nerd list in the Atlantic basin......... and then Dorian came.
Austin Lovitt
To be fair, Michael’s and Dorian’s eyes were both borderline perfect. And Michael had a cloud free eye with much colder/higher cloud tops surrounding it.
Of course Dorian was significantly stronger despite having lacking cloud tops, but that’s what happens when a cyclone achieves exceptional angular momentum in close proximity to a high pressure. And it kinda did had a even more perfect shaped eye.
This is an outstanding piece of work. Anything that can captivate my (and apparently many others) attention for over 2 hours is unusual- I was mesmerized!Thank you all for the filming and great editing!
I live in Orlando and we paid close attention to Michael so every few months I try to get updates on the area. This doc offers really useful perspective.
My sister lives in Lynn Haven; lost everything. Still working on getting her life back together. Insurance dragging their feet. Home still be repaired. Has to live in a trailer on property brought in. Life turned upside down. Life is fragile....
Dont let up on them insurance companies send the law onto them
My sister-in-law lives in Cape San Blas about 15 minutes from Mexico beach. She has a bit of dementia and we were asked to fly down to get her and have her house repaired by the first responders down there. I was shocked by the amount of damage even 2 hours from the coast.
We drove through Lynn Haven about a month after Michael to look at a car for sale. I cried...I've driven through F5 devastation that didn't even touch what we saw.
I’ve never seen a better portrayal of the power of a hurricane. You have made a docu for the ages. 👏🏽
i lived through this in Panama City. It changed our lives forever. We lost everything we had but thank God we did not loose our lives.
if i lost everything id be mad i survived 💀
I remember when this hit, and all the media could talk about was "Russia!!!"
I do not know what channel you watched... but we could escape it..... it was on every news channel. As well as most of our local channels....
@ALF Raydough fox is the only one you can get news on . CNN MSNBC NBC ABC CBS their Democrat Communist .S O B s period
It's still all they can talk about except now its Covid this and Covid that. Another Russia scam AFAIC. They are counting people who die in car accidents while having covid anyone who dies while having covid no matter what killed them is getting counted as a covid death.
@@susanstorey6160 the irony that fox and every other conservative pundit is the propaganda machine.
@@susanstorey6160...... Democrat Communist lol....OK there Susan...riiiiiight.
Y’all did a great job documenting this. I teared up. I was apart of search and rescue, and the scenery and smell are still engraved in me.
Thank you
I live in the area near highway 20 and highway 231 in Bay County. I sat through the hurricane in a house built in the early 50's. No structural damage to the house itself but had ceiling damage due to water intrusion when some of the shingles on the roof let go. Seeing my pumphouse just suddenly explode then disappear into the air was shocking. Fourteen trees, some of them massive, did not survive. Seeing bits and pieces of what used to be my next door neighbor's house and garage flying by the windows was a bit unnerving. My woodshed was completely demolished with firewood scattered everywhere. My two outbuildings were fine until a neighbor's big oak tree fell on them. All in all I fared quite well compared to so many, especially in Lynn Haven, Callaway, Parker, Springfield, Tyndall AFB and on out to what was once Mexico Beach. The next morning was a scene out of a horror movie as the devastation became so obvious to everybody. Most of my neighbors started going up and down our road with chainsaws trying to cut a path to get us access to highway 231, As men would cut up fallen trees another neighbor with a big front end loader would push the trees out of the way until they reached a point that it just wasn't possible so they made a one-lane path through a couple of side roads that let us out. One thing I will NEVER forget was the hypocrisy of the Red Cross after the storm. They seemed to stay ONLY where the news cameras were. We NEVER saw one of them out where we were at but the Salvation Army and many church groups, some from out of state, were all over us offering food, water, ice and anything they had that we might use. Some even went down the side roads looking for people out trying to clear their property and offering them food and drinks. In an event like this you really see who the real people are and like the Red Cross, who the posers are. As for the main stream "news" media....what a stinking joke!
It often takes a catastrophe for the fakery to be exposed.
Thank you for sharing your story, it's important 💛 all the best to you
Thanks for being there and putting this together to give a voice to all these people that were overlooked by the mainstream media!
My niece made it through this in a trailer, was so upset she didn't call and ask for help to get out of there. Prays Jesus they survived.
praise
A trailer is the last place you want to be in a hurricane or a tornado. I was in an F3 tornado in Kansas in very sturdy house, and that was bad enough. We went in the half basement apartment bathtub with a mattress over us. The tornado passed between my friends’ house and their neighbor’s, tearing off parts of the roof and all the siding on the one side. Then it crossed the street and blew the house there to bits. We were fine, just shaken up. The people next door weren’t home, and across the street it was a miracle. An elderly couple lived there. The husband had gone to get the car serviced and his wife took refuge under the kitchen table along with a dog and a cat. They also had a parakeet. The woman survived with cuts and bruises and the dog and cat weren’t injured. Rescuers heard the dog barking which is how she was found beneath the broken table. The cat found its own way out. The bird and cage, unfortunately, were never found. The husband didn’t even know where to drive because of the rubble all over the road and numerous houses destroyed or heavily damaged. The EMTs took them to the hospital for shock.
This was absolutely amazing. I am broken hearted at the damage. The last time I vacationed at the Florida coast was in 2007 on Cape San Blas. It was also the first time my son saw the ocean. We saw dolphins swimming and ate in Mexico Beach. I recognized some of the locations before the hurricane came through. This had my mouth dropped open in astonishment the whole time. Thank you for your craziness and for sharing this! You guys are amazing and you got yourself a new subscriber! God Bless You ❤️
Thankfully The Cape didn’t have extensive damage.
Absolute balls of steel on these men. They have their own gravitational field, in fact.
I loved how every camera had Michael captured, I even looked at my husband and said, um that's a red SUV that just went past. Very well captured, however I believe one rule of thumb, is you have more than one person in a car in storm chasing or you put yourself and life at risk, like you said, someone could die out here and never be found. Also, I want to state, in storm chasing tornado or hurricane, you should as rule of thumb have a safe way out, you did not have many options. Please stay safe, and take care of yourselves.
Michael isnt forgotten. Here in North Carolina we have places that still haven't recovered & may stay that way. I have a whole new appreciation for preparedness now because of Michael & I'm in an area that's supposed to be relatively "safe-ish".
I rode this out in a double wide in Fountain Florida and it was insane... The gulf coast will never be the same
A tornado magnet and you stayed in it? You got more brass than I do! I stayed but I live in a solid site built house. Even then there were moments when I questioned my sanity....or lack thereof!
This is seriously Unbelievable. Especially for someone who's never seen a Hurricane.
You guys are people with a steel heart - you are putting your lives on the line to bring this to us. The photography is A+++++ Thank you and God bless and take care of yourselves for the future risk-taking.
It is the forgotten Category 5 because it hit the northern Gulf Coast and not south Florida. Irma received way too much attention the previous year, and didn't turn out to be quite as bad as the forecasters thought it would. Michael was way worse than Irma, in terms of strength.
Michael was much stronger on landfall, but Irma cost $77.6 billion while Michael cost $25 billion as it was fast-moving.
Yup. But I bet you if it hit a place like Orlando they’d get celebrities donating like crazy just like Harvey
@@1.4142, had Michael slowed down just a little bit there would be NO Bay County left to remember. It was it's speed that saved us.
This was a amazing video. We watched it from my phone one night . Then we found it on the tv the next evening. It was unreal at the footage you all got .
Now when you are there you don’t have your land marks . This helped us remember where things were .
It’s still very sad there . It is slowly coming back. Some businesses & homes are still just like it was the day after the storm.
Thank you for posting this . I’m glad you all made it out safely.
I've lived here nearly all of my 77 years and I found it very hard to get around with no street signs. Getting lost became a normal situation many times after the storm.
Wow. Amazing video documenting what it was like to be in this powerful hurricane. The video of driving through it was so scary!