Storm chaser’s DVD gives feel of riding out Ike

GALVESTON — While many residents fled Hurricane Ike’s landfall, a few storm chasers descended on Galveston to document the wind and waves that assaulted the island.

Jim Edds of Pensacola, Fla., drove to Key West to video Ike as it entered the Gulf and then drove nonstop more than 800 miles home to rest a bit before beating the storm to Galveston.

Ike’s Sept. 13 landfall on Galveston caused severe flooding and damaged much of the upper Texas coast.

Edds said he’s spoken with Galveston residents who evacuated, and they all wanted to know what it was like to experience the storm.

Edds’ DVD “Hurricane Ike” is the next best thing to being there. The 61-minute video tells the story of Ike from the waves that skirted Key West to the walls of water that crashed into Galveston’s seawall.

Edds, a former chemist and employee with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said he started his business of filming storms in 2005, shooting waterspouts and hurricanes.

“I like to film storms up close and personal,” Edds said.

“Something different than what you see on TV. I wanted to document what it was like on Galveston during the storm.”

As the water began to rise, Edds and fellow storm chaser Jeff Piotrowski of Tulsa, Okla., took refuge in a downtown parking garage, where they filmed the fiery destruction of the boats at The Galveston Yacht Club and Marina and Ike’s eerie eye as it passed over the island.

The storm’s punch came at night, making it difficult to document, Edds said.

“We didn’t really know about Galveston, or how it would flood, so I had to do my homework,” Edds said. “It pays to know the coastline.”

Edds sold almost 200 DVDs on the island, handing them out on the seawall and leaving them at convenience stores, which quickly sold out and had the owners calling for more.

After a few close encounters with flying metal during Hurricane Charlie in Florida, Edds became conservative when filming storms.

“When you first start out, you drive right in to catch a hurricane to see what can really happen,” Edds said. “There aren’t any books on how to do it either.”

Edds said he found a parking garage because he didn’t want to be like some of his peers, who saw their vehicles swamped by Hurricane Katrina and had to “thumb a ride” home from New Orleans.

Edds has many inquiries about his work from roofers, insurance companies and officials with the National Hurricane Center.

“I let NOAA use it for free,” Edds said.

“Max Mayfield, former director of the Hurricane Center, called up, saying he would like some storm surge footage to use in a presentation. Schools, governments often use what I have.”

Edds sold his videos last weekend from the trunk of his car on Galveston’s seawall until a “woman from the city” told him it was against the city’s ordinance and couldn’t be permitted.

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