All language subtitles for In the Eye of the Storm S03E02 Category 5 Fight to Survive 1080p DISC WEB-DL AAC2 0 H 264-RAWR[EZTVx.to]

Mitch and I lived on
Fort Myers Beach.

At that point, we had been
together almost 30 years.

He's the kind of person
you can't help but love.

I just knew he was the one.

Everyone loved Mitch,
and with good reason.

Mitch is filming for
his Facebook feed so he could

keep everyone updated
what's going on.

Right now, in fact,
it's Tropical Storm Ian

bearing down on the Caribbean.

The storm, though, could reach
category four hurricane status

when it gets to the Gulf of
Mexico, which is on Florida's

west coast.

So, let's now get to Florida's
Gulf Coast, specifically Tampa.

That's where news meteorologist
Scott Withers is tonight
with more.

Lindsay, Rob, this storm got
some big issues,

and it's becoming more certain
as time goes.

Tampa's gonna get hit.

I'm Scott Withers.
I'm a meteorologist.

And for the last
decade and a half,

I've been covering every
major natural disaster from

coast to coast in
the United States.

At that point in time,
the National Hurricane Center

said Hurricane Ian was likely
gonna go into the Tampa area.

Here in the Tampa area,
you can see behind me here,

residents have been out here
all weekend long,

filling sandbags so they can
protect their homes.

This city floods during
a thunderstorm, so we have

a powerful hurricane
coming through.

They're worried that the storm
surge is gonna be backing up

into the neighborhood.

Hey, feel better?

When Ian came up,

and they said it was
going to Tampa,

they said there may
be flooding.

We figured a couple feet.

We figured we're not
going to evacuate.

But then around noon
on Tuesday,

24 hours before landfall,
all of a sudden Hurricane Ian

rapidly intensifies,
changes trajectory.

So now it wasn't Tampa,
it was south of Tampa

and heading towards Fort Myers.

That entire region didn't
prepare because they didn't

realize it was coming to them.

It's gonna be deadly.

The weather started changing,
so now I'm starting to panic.

And then they said,
"You have to go."

because it was coming to us.

And at that point, it was like,
"Where we gonna go?

Scott, we can see the conditions
getting worse.

What do we know there
on the ground?

Yeah, I got to tell you,
Rob, rapidly deteriorating

conditions here
in Fort Myers Beach.

Just in the last few minutes,
we're starting to see

significant wind gusts
coming through, the heavy rains.

We are right on the verge of
this being Category 5.

It's going to cause
catastrophic damage in this

part of Florida,
and we're also going to see

life-threatening flooding
and storm surge.

One of my really good friends,
Max, had been working on

a storm surge project,
trying to capture the effects

of storm surge.

I wanted to capture a storm
surge from start to finish,

so I built a series
of what we call surge probes.

These are essentially a camera
and a waterproof case attached

to a battery pack, and they can
film the storm surge as it

comes in safely.

Hurricane Ian has rapidly
intensified during the night.

And now the computer models
are taking Hurricane Ian

further south.

And so, that's where
we put the storm surge probe.

That's it.

We know it's about to be
in for a wild ride.

My name is Annette Roszkowski.

Todd and I lived on
Fort Myers Beach

in the orange house.

We were just with the dogs
at home that morning.

But we didn't know that
we were, like, on camera.

Todd's mom and my family just
started texting me a lot,

like, beginning to panic.
Like, "Get off the island.

Do you need to get
off the island?"

I was like,
"I'm just gonna stay.

"Why?
Like, it's a storm surge.

"We're on the second floor.

You know, what's the worst
that could happen?"

Everything that morning
changed literally in minutes.

The governor said
this was to prepare like

a tornado was coming
for your house.

I'd like to amend
that to say,

prepare as if
a wall of tornadoes

are coming for your house.

The eyewall is
the center of the storm.

That's where
it's spinning the fastest.

Those winds are the most
intense, especially on that

front end when it first
makes landfall.

My name's Logan Parham.
I'm a Florida native.

My buddy actually found
a parking garage

in downtown Punta Gorda.

That ended up being closest to
the landfall point.

It's just a great spot where
it's like we can film but also

keep ourselves safe
at the same time.

Jim Cantore's there,
works with the Weather Channel.

He is the go-to guy
when it comes to these

big-time hurricanes.

It's a joke down here
in Florida.

If you see Jim Cantore
in your neighborhood,

then you should leave.

In that first eyewall, we were
experiencing winds well above

100 miles per hour.

Jim Cantore, you know,
he's doing broadcast.

Right when you think you can't.
get any higher winds than that,

it continues to get worse.

It's unbelievable.

We're all braced up against
this concrete pillar, trying to

hide away from the gusts,
the best that we can.

That was insane.

Things start to calm down
a little bit.

The-- the sky gets
a little brighter.

Then, once you finally
get into that eye,

the sun sort of comes
out a little bit.

You know, you can see
patches of blue sky.

Jim Cantore had said that
the back eyewall was gonna

be a lot stronger, and he went
inside, so we did as well.

We were just huddled down
in the car.

You can actually hear
the concrete groaning.

It felt like the entire
structure was going to collapse.

Is it ever gonna end?

2

When those back eyewall winds
came through,

everything changes.

It looked like hell.

We feel the garage shaking
back and forth.

What did I get myself into?
Did I push my limits too far?

How are we ever gonna
leave here?

Like, there's no way there's
gonna be anything left.

But you're also thinking,
"All those people that

stayed behind,
how are they doing?"

If you are near a flood zone
and you did not evacuate,

you need to prepare to
move up to a second story

pretty quickly.

It is no longer safe here
at Fort Myers Beach.

We are pulling inland because
the tide is going to quickly

be up into the roads
in just a matter of minutes.

You could see
the depth of the water

and how quickly it was rising,
and how quickly it was flowing.

Think about a clock.

The most dangerous part
of a hurricane

is between 12 and 3.

That's where
the strongest winds are.

That's where the most storm
surge are, because it's bringing

everything up in the land.

That 12 to 3
is a wall of water,

and it's coming directly
at Fort Myers Beach.

There was nothing,

nowhere to go.

So...

We just figured
we'd ride it out.

But the hurricane
was coming our way.

The water started
coming in so fast.

It was just like
a dam was let loose.

It was not stopping.

It was too late
to evacuate at that point.

For lack of better terms,
we're screwed.

I mean, this is it.

Oh, he's terrified.

I know he was,
because he can't swim.

We knew we were in trouble.

And there's nothing
either one of us can do.

I go, "Mitch, we got to go."

So, I-- I, like,
slid out the door.

And the next thing I know is

that the roof was collapsed.

And I was calling for Mitch.

Nothing.

Mitch was gone.

At this point in time,
we see Hurricane Ian

clocking 120, 130,
140-mile-per-hour
sustained wind

as it moves inland.

But those outer bands are
starting to create friction

with the land, slowing it down
as it comes ashore.

And that means that the storm
might actually last longer

and cause more damage.

As we're driving through
Englewood, the storm starts

ramping up quickly.
It's ramping up very fast.

This is, by far, one of
the most intense hurricanes

that I've ever been a part of.

We're easily getting winds
over 120 miles an hour.

There's mobile homes that are
starting to get shredded apart.

Roofs are coming off.
Debris is flying everywhere.

It's just a total whiteout.

It's terrifying not knowing if
a piece of building is going to

come through your car.

All I could do is hold
the steering wheel

as tight as I possibly can.

2
The storm is
absolutely insane.

At this point, we're exhausted,
and it's starting to get toward

the evening hours.

It's too dangerous
to be out here.

So we make our way back
to our hotel.

Our hotel has fared
pretty well.

The structure is still intact...

...but it's leaking.

There's water pouring through
every single room.

Yeah, that's not good.

We're kind of thinking that
we've gone through the brunt of

what Hurricane Ian
had to offer.

We couldn't have been
more wrong.

I look over at Aaron and say,
"We need to go film this."

I-- I've never seen
anything like this.

It was just total chaos,
and we couldn't help but think

to ourselves, "If it's this bad
here, what's going on to

our south, with our storm surge
probe and the folks of

Fort Myers Beach?"

The water started rushing into
the kitchen

and the living room.

And we just saw
the house next door to us

just disappear into the water,

gone.

Just floating past our house.

The house was, like,
lifting and going to the side,

just moving back and forth.

My dogs are going frantic.

I'm going frantic, and I don't
know if we're gonna make it.

That was when the wall fell.

Somehow, I came out
through the window,

and I'm just yelling at Todd
to get out.

He just gets
pulled away from me,

and I lose focus of him.

Take a look right now
at our current wave heights.

You can see near Fort Myers
where we saw landfall just

after three o'clock this
afternoon Eastern Time.

We are still dealing with
six- to nine-foot waves.

That is, just, incredibly,
life-threatening.

This storm surge surprised
so many people.

It's moving so quickly,

and in all different directions.

And it's so powerful.

Once you're in it,
you are in it.

There's nothing to stop it.

I'm Kaye DeHays.

We live on Fort Myers Beach.

Right on the water.

Yeah, right on the bay.

Our house was built in 1951.

And it has withstood
every hurricane.

The water just

really started to rise fast.

I was upstairs.

I looked at the barstool,
and they were moving.

And what that was,
was the water pushing on

the floor, maybe nine feet up
from the ground.

As the water came up,
there was nothing we could do.

And then there was
a 40,000-pound floating dock,

and it was
floating toward our house.

It was gonna come
and knock the house down.

Oh, it missed that boat.

2

It would have
taken the house down.

There's no doubt about that.

I just thank God
it didn't hit us.

But the worst part was the water
on the side of my house.

And it was a bang, bang!

And then the waves
just came crashing in.

I was scared then.

I was very scared then.

The house, it was destroyed.

I could feel things crashing on
the floor, and you just didn't

know what it was.

And it was terrible.

When you have a storm like
this so close to shore,

it's gonna push a lot of
water on shore.

And that storm surge is one of
the most deadly aspects

of a hurricane.

And it is extremely important
that you don't underestimate it.

Me and my friends,
when we heard it was a cat 5,

we were like, "OK, well,
we should see if anyone

needs help.

The surge was coming in
so fast,

and the current was
very strong.

We see an older gentleman
in the car,

and the car's starting
to sink.

We were able to
pry open the door.

The water's pooling up
in there.

But we were able to
get him out of the vehicle.

Come on, let's go.

He's, like, disoriented.
He's confused.

That can be someone's grandpa.
That can be someone's dad.

We kept telling him,
like, you know,

"Everything's gonna be OK."

The water is getting deeper.

But we got him into our truck
to dry him off a little bit.

And after that, we handed him
off to a buddy who was able to

take care of him
a little better.

When you see someone in need
of help, you know, you have to

help them-- you have to.

I think the surge
would have taken him.

But I was happy he was safe.

My name is Robert Donze.

Sea Trek's my boat.

I was videoing in
the parking lot,

videoing the water
coming around,

and it was swirling, it was
creating a huge eddy, you know,

and it was just
amazing me, like,

"Oh, my gosh,
this water's coming in fast."

This is Hurricane Bay.

We came about a half mile
inland from the coast

because it was
too dangerous out there.

But now look, this is already
up over the seawall here.

It's come up at least
a foot and a half

in the last half hour.

We set up in a kind of a marina
area to do a couple more hours

of live hits,
and everything was fine.

This is the storm surge
that we've been talking about,

and it is going to get
significantly worse.

Once this comes into
the parking lot,

we're gonna have to make
a beeline out.

All of a sudden...

the water just started going
across the road.

And I said,
"We have to leave-- now."

I had the motors fired up,
you know.

I was running both diesel
engines at 1,000 RPMs.

I was-- we were gonna make
a run for it, maybe.

All of a sudden,
somebody yelled out,

"Oh, my gosh,
there's people in that car."

It was terrifying.

We were trapped in this car.

It just came in so quickly.

In minutes,
we were surrounded by water.

And we're not gonna be able
to open the doors.

Where do we go?
Where do we go?

And I used the last few bars
on my phone

to call my husband
and say goodbye.

Matt was a bait guy
down there,

and he provided all
the bait for the fishermen.

It was extremely dangerous for
Matt to be out in that water.

I was so worried.

We would have drowned
if Matt and the entire crew

of the Sea Trek had not seen us.

- Whoo-hoo!
- Yeah!

Within minutes, our large SUV
was fully underwater.

That's how quickly
a surge can come in.

And it can go in seconds,
from nothing to death.

But we still aren't safe.

2
It's not just Fort Myers Beach
getting hammered.

Hurricane Ian caused problems
along the East Coast.

This was moving faster than
the National Hurricane Center

has really predicted.

To northeastern Florida,
and it has just been

a walloping situation near
Daytona Beach, where we also

saw about 12 to 18 inches.

And so this is,
just incredible, especially in

such a short period of time.

The wind and the rain
was so intense.

2
For hours,
we were thrashing around.

We didn't know
if we were out at sea.

We didn't know
if we were in a different town.

The terror and the horror
that we were living through,

minute by minute, but finally
we wound up in the trees.

When we stopped, I could
feel us, like, nestle in there.

And for me to be secured again
on the boat, that was like,

I think I even said, "Thank
you, Jesus," or something

like that, because that was such
a good feeling when it stopped.

It was sun up,
like 7, 8 in the morning.

There was nothing left.

All the little buildings
were gone.

And I remember,
we walked down the road,

and that's when that's when
we saw our SUV.

And that's when the reality of
how lucky we really were,

because we would have been
inside that thing,

underneath that boat.

We were just extremely,
extremely lucky to survive.

We should not have survived.

Another co-worker showed up
looking for us, and he ran over

and just hugged us.
He's like, "You're alive."

And he had a satellite phone.

I quickly called my husband,
and said, "We're alive.

I'm OK."

And that was the first time
that he knew I was alive.

I had a phone call.

They found him.

Right down the block.
Right by the car.

I would give anything in
my life to have Mitch back.

Anything.

And now I'm just trying
to get my life together.

It's a-- it's struggle

because I'm alone,
but I have no choice.

You either die or you go on.

I'm going on...

me and Lulu.

Somehow, I grabbed onto
this tree.

I passed out in the tree
for roughly four hours.

We almost lost
our lives, you know?

Yeah.

I think that was
the hardest part,

was that we almost
lost our lives.

And what we did
to our families...

...because they were
really worried.

Yeah.

As we are approaching
Fort Myers Beach,

the car goes silent
and we just have no words.

I go back into the raw footage
and I start scrubbing through

the entirety of it.

My stomach drops at this point.
My heart sinks.

Max and Aaron posted the video
of the house,

and people started to see like
around town that knew me.

We wake up to a comment.
"They are alive.

They're at the hospital
and going to be released
later that day."

This is Jackson,
and that's Roxy.

They bring out two full-sized
pit bulls that Annette

held in a tree
for several hours.

It's a huge moment of relief
that, in all this tragedy,

all this death and destruction,
that there was a miraculous

survival story
and we somehow captured it.

I feel, like, very, very happy
to be alive.