Hurricanes Fierce Earth

Today on Fierce Earth,

we travel to the heart of the awesome hurricane.

We're taking it all the way to 74mph!

Face to face with their deadly winds...

On the road, chasing the big storm...

And we're in Texas to hear the incredible story

of how a hurricane changed the lives of a group of 11-year-old friends.

I could just see all the waves coming in. It was horrible.

The Fierce Earth team investigate why these swirling storms erupt,

what makes them a uniquely destructive force

and how clever building designs

are helping us survive the terrifying hurricane.

Let's roll!

What happens when the ground shakes, the seas rise up

and the air tears itself apart?

The Fierce Earth team move in,

taking on the most powerful forces on the planet.

Get ready for Fierce Earth -

the Earth, and how to survive it.

Hurricanes are one of the fiercest forces in nature.

500 miles wide and winds travelling 150mph.

In 2012, the world watched

as Hurricane Sandy attacked the Caribbean

before making its way up the American coast,

striking the New York area with huge force.

So, how are these monster storms created and where do they come from?

Most hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean start near the equator

when lots of thunderstorms form and group together.

Warm moist air from the sea surface keeps rising

to feed the huge clouds.

As the air rises, the storm starts spinning,

a bit like the water draining from a bath.

As more and more warm air is sucked into the centre of the storm,

it moves faster and faster.

When a hurricane makes it to land,

destruction from the flooding and high winds can be catastrophic.

Few places on Earth feel the wrath of hurricanes like America.

That's why I'm on the road

in my home state of Florida

to find out why it's so often in the line of fire.

Every year from June 1st to November 30th,

North America and the Caribbean hold their breath,

hoping the next monster hurricane to form out in the Atlantic

does not make landfall.

Here in Florida we get extra scared

because 40% of the hurricanes that make landfall

make landfall right here.

At the incredible moment when hurricanes move from sea to land,

it's my aim to be right there waiting for them.

That's because I'm a storm chaser.

Hurricane Irene has made her presence felt!

For 14 years, I've spent every hurricane season on the road.

I search for America's biggest storms, where I collect data

and photograph all the extreme weather I can find.

Here we are in Hurricane Ivan!

While most people are heading one way...

This is all the outbound traffic.

'..I head right for the centre of the storm.'

I'm, like, right there.

Driving through 100mph winds

and navigating through debris in the roads and torrential rain.

Wow! Here comes the blast.

Taking me there is a souped-up truck full of special kit and gadgets.

It's worth a cool 50,000

and it's built with space age material.

Oh, man, that's hot!

These suckers are lined with Kevlar, which is basically bullet-proof.

I don't need a puncture when driving into 100mph hurricane winds.

This is getting really intense. You can't see anything.

Inside, I pack enough food and supplies for two weeks on the road.

And my satellite link means I can stay online

and never lose sight of the target.

Let's roll!

One of the fiercest storms I've ever witnessed was Hurricane Charley,

which hit the Florida coastline in 2004.

As a storm chaser, my job was to record the extreme weather.

'Just as I arrived at the petrol station,

'the storm was getting worse.'

This is wild!

'So I took shelter behind a concrete building.'

GLASS BREAKS

Window smashed right there.

Just got hit by some debris.

'It became clear

'the petrol pumps were losing their battle against nature.

'Then, just when I thought it couldn't get more extreme,

'there was an unbelievable 150mph gust.

'That's faster than any wind ever recorded in England.

'Just look what it does to the garage.'

'I don't mind admitting, I was terrified.'

'Minutes later,

'the eye, or the calm centre of the storm, passed directly overhead.

'The wind dropped and I left the safety of the car.

'It was a very eerie place to be.'

Well, we're in the eye, right now, of Hurricane Charley.

There's that gas station I rode it out at.

Wow.

That has to be the wildest thing I've ever went through in my life.

'Hurricane Charley killed ten people in the United States.

'Facts like this remind me every day how dangerous hurricanes can be,

'something I never forget when I'm on the road.'

This awareness for what hurricanes can do

makes me fascinated about the science of how they happen

and why they happen so much where I live, here in Florida.

Hey, Albert! How's it going, man?

'To find out where hurricanes form, you need to travel out to sea.'

Let's go.

'The number one ingredient a hurricane needs to get started

'is warm water.

'Thanks to the sunny weather we enjoy here in Florida,

'there's plenty of warm water in the Atlantic Ocean.'

It's a beautiful day outside, 30 degrees Celsius.

What's happening is the energy from the sun

is not only heating me up, it's heating up the ocean.

It's basically hurricane fuel.

When the heat from the sun warms the sea water up

to 27 degrees Celsius,

there's enough energy to fuel the growth of huge storm clouds.

When enough storm clouds gather together,

we eventually get a hurricane.

Let's see just how warm the ocean is today.

I've brought some state-of-the-art weather equipment here -

a rubber ducky.

All right, let's see what we have here.

29 degrees Celsius.

That's very warm.

That means we still have enough heat in the ocean to create a hurricane.

Usually, wind direction near the equator moves east to west.

As a result, the first countries where hurricanes often land

are America and the Caribbean.

Watch the direction that Hurricane Katrina moves

on this satellite image.

If we look at where Florida is on the map, you can see why

it's so often in the firing line.

And why I'm kept so busy chasing storms.

We now know where hurricanes come from and where they go,

but how do they get spinning?

To find out, Clare and Dougal

are off to the fair.

When you see a picture of a hurricane, it looks like a spiral.

The reason why they look like this

is because the rotating Earth puts a special force on winds and clouds.

You may be thinking,

"What does a day at the fair have to do with hurricanes?"

Let's imagine this ride spins like the Earth.

Clare and I are going to try and shoot straight at each other

with these toy guns, but because the ride is spinning,

it won't be quite easy as you might think.

My goodness, it's going fast now!

This must be what it feels like to be 30 miles an hour!

Now, I can see Clare over there...

You imagine, when I fire this gun,

the water is travelling in a straight line,

just like winds travelling across the Atlantic Ocean. Right, here goes.

Whoa! Look at that!

'When I fire at Clare, it looks like the jet of water

'is curving away because of the spinning force of the ride,

'so it's almost impossible to hit her.'

Oh, you missed! Just!

-Come on, then. Give me your best shot.

-OK, here we go.

Ha! Missed me!

It bends, and that's what happens with the rotation of the Earth.

'Just like this ride is doing to the water in my toy gun,

'the spinning Earth puts a force'

into the big group of clouds over the Atlantic where hurricanes form.

That force is called the Coriolis Effect

and it causes the whole system to curve and swirl faster and faster

until we eventually end up with a massive hurricane.

We now know where hurricanes get their awesome power

and what they are capable of doing to buildings,

but what about people?

It's time for Leo's challenge,

where he sets out to discover

the impact these giant storms can have on bystanders.

I know all about life on the edge.

I've climbed to the top of the world's highest mountain,

frozen in the Antarctic,

and parachuted off the planet's biggest cliffs.

But one thing I've never encountered is the brutal force of a hurricane.

Here at this wind tunnel in Watford,

it's possible to create one at the flick of a switch.

It's my Fierce Earth challenge

to try and stay on my feet whilst facing hurricane force winds.

Storm chaser Mike knows all about fierce winds

and he's got some strong advice for me.

You need to be extremely prepared

and know what you're about to encounter.

The winds are going to be ferocious.

I've been in Hurricane Charley.

Charley had winds up to 150mph

and it shredded palm trees, it shredded buildings.

Don't mess around with this. Hurricanes are scary.

But this is just a lab.

Even though Mike's got me worried, just how windy can it get?

Surely, it'll be like a trip to the British seaside.

Ah, beautiful day for a picnic here on the beach.

Pour myself a glass of orange juice.

Of course, no picnic is complete without...

cocktail umbrella. Very nice.

I don't think I picked the best place to set up my picnic -

right in front of the wind tunnel.

Paul from the lab has his hands on the controls

'and first, he's going to subject me to windy seaside conditions.'

Typical English day at the seaside.

'About 30mph winds.'

Uh-oh!

'So, my cosy picnic is history'

but that was just a 30mph wind,

nothing more than a windy day at the beach.

'Now, it gets even more interesting.'

We're going to steadily increase the wind speed

whilst I tackle a variety of tasks

until eventually we get all the way up to hurricane strength.

Now we're moving up to gale force winds, 40mph,

but I'm starving, so...

'First challenge is to eat a sandwich. Surely no problem?'

It's not easy.

'The shades stay put

'but the 40mph winds snatch my sandwich like a seagull.'

We're going up to 50mph now.

'Maybe I'll have more joy as a waiter.'

Got to look one's best for this kind of job.

'Working in the world's windiest restaurant.'

'There's one unhappy customer.'

Sorry about that, sir.

'Four more orange juices for table six!'

50mph winds might knock over some trees

or blow a umbrella inside out...

'..but it's certainly nothing to worry a hurricane chaser.'

Now it's the big moment.

It's hurricane time.

It's getting dangerous, so I need to be clipped in

in case I get blown away.

OK, ready.

We're going up to hurricane force F1 - 74mph.

Steadily we build to hurricane speed.

That's strong! You wouldn't really want to be outside in this!

'Walking into strong winds,

'the best chance you have to stay upright is to lean into the wind

'and keep your centre of gravity as low as possible.'

It feels like a skydive when you jump out of the plane!

We're taking it all the way to 74mph,

Category 1 hurricane!

Oh, that's windy!

'Incredible. I'm now facing hurricane strength winds.

'If I was a house, my roof tiles would be blowing off.

'The only way I'm staying on my feet

'is to use my experience from hundreds of skydives.

'Then, as the speed touches 75mph, I lose my footing.

'I've hit my limit, and Paul shuts down the machine.'

What's really scary

is that the world's most devastating Category 5 hurricanes, like Katrina,

can have gusts twice as fast as I've just felt,

winds of over 150mph that devastate everything in its path.

'My challenge was to stay on my feet

'in Category 1 strength hurricane winds.

'That's 74mph - fast enough'

to damage trees and property.

'Thanks to my skydiving training, I managed it...just.'

I've experienced some pretty strong winds up in the mountains

but this is something else completely.

Imagine that in torrential rain and debris blowing all around.

A hurricane is one place I never hope to find myself.

-CLARE:

-Unfortunately, millions of people throughout the world

face the terrible threat of hurricanes.

The most severe have names that will go down in history.

You may have wondered where these names come from. Well,

they are created by the National Hurricane Centre in America.

Every year, an A to Z list

of alternating boys' and girls' names is issued.

So, in 2013, the first storm will be called Andrea,

followed by Barry, then Chantel, and so on.

The hurricanes that have led to the greatest financial losses

have all hit the American coast.

The top three are...

Third - Hurricane Ike, which struck the Caribbean

and southern USA coastline in 2008.

Second - Sandy,

which you may remember hit the New York area in 2012.

And the most destructive hurricane of all time

was Hurricane Katrina in 2005,

which destroyed large areas of Louisiana in America's Deep South.

When a hurricane hits,

it's not just the financial cost that's high.

The impact they have on people's lives can be even longer lasting,

as experienced by three schoolgirls from Texas.

Hi, my name's Caitlyn.

-I'm Lacie.

-I'm Allison.

ALL: And this is Crenshaw School in Texas!

Allison, Lacie and Caitlyn have been friends since they were little.

They share classes, have lunch together and play out,

just like school kids all around the world.

Is that the best y'all can do?

But it wasn't always like this.

In September 2008,

when they were eight years old,

their lives changed forever when

Hurricane Ike devastated their town.

The girls all used to live near each other

in the coastal town of Crystal Beach.

Right before Ike,

we were all together and we were really close.

We were always spending time with each other.

On the weekends we would always go to each other's...

we would always go to Caitlyn's house

and just fool around like little kids would do.

The friends were just coming to the end of a great summer together

when they heard the news they dreaded -

a hurricane was coming.

Like many Americans living on the coast,

they have to keep an eye on the weather.

If a hurricane is forecast, everyone is told to evacuate.

The three families packed quickly and got out of harm's way.

Aged just eight, it was difficult to understand what was going on.

I never really figured it out,

I was just like, "Ooh, yay! Road trip!"

I didn't get it. I was still innocent.

Like hundreds of other families,

the three headed to temporary homes inland

and waited for the storm to pass.

When Ike finally arrived on September 13th,

the impact to the coast was terrible.

It badly damaged everything in its path -

homes and schools destroyed.

The girls were safely away from the coast,

but it was still a terrifying experience.

I, like, stared out the window most of the time

and I could just see all the waves coming in

and it was dark and windy and...

It was horrible.

Those who chose not to evacuate when they had the chance

were cut off by the rising water.

At least 20 people were killed in this part of Texas alone.

The girls' homes were ruined,

so they were forced to live with the other families

who'd also been made homeless by the hurricane.

We had to live in a house with nine people. It was not fun.

They couldn't return to Crystal Beach for months

because of the devastation.

When they did, what they saw was terrible.

I was in shock. Couldn't believe it.

Both of my grandparents' house and my house was washed away.

Can you imagine what it would be like to come back home

to see your house destroyed

and all your belongings and memories scattered everywhere?

The only thing I found of mine

was an old trophy from first grade.

My mom, she started crying cos she saw that our house was gone

I was like, "Wow."

I was speechless.

Because Hurricane Ike forced them to move, Caitlyn, Allison and Lacie

now live almost an hour apart from each other.

-That was crazy.

-Right there.

-Yeah.

One place is bringing hope for the future.

Their school was one of the few buildings to survive the storm

because of its hurricane-proof design, built on concrete stilts.

Having fun there together is helping the girls come to terms

with what they've been through.

If anything at all, it just makes you stronger.

Yes!

LAUGHTER

It brings me a little bit closer to them with feelings

because we all kind of know what we've been through.

In all, Hurricane Ike claimed 195 lives

across the Caribbean and southern USA.

Ike's destruction highlights the need for hurricane-proof buildings

just like the girls' school.

As Zoe now finds out on the British coast,

modern buildings are taking inspiration

from a storm-proof design that's been keeping us safe for centuries.

Sometimes, the tail end of hurricanes

make it all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom.

The last time was in September 2011,

when the remains of Hurricane Katia

crashed into Scotland and northern England with winds of over 80mph.

TRAIN HORN BLARES

When a storm like Katia strikes,

it's those who live by the coast who are the first in line.

Start Point lighthouse in Devon has remained standing

in the face of storms since 1836.

It's managed this thanks to its clever, curved design.

SHE KNOCKS

Good morning. Come on in.

'Gordon Partridge used to work here'

and at lighthouses all over Britain.

Even getting to work was dangerous sometimes.

Here, the only way to reach the lighthouse door

was for Gordon to cross a wire from a boat, avoiding lethal rocks.

I don't think even Leo would attempt that!

-You must have done this many times.

-Many times.

This is amazing, Gordon. I can see why you like this job.

-Wonderful, isn't it?

-Beautiful.

Top of the shop.

Just put my jacket on, and out we go.

'He's keen to show me what a storm feels like,

'so we head straight outside.'

So what are the conditions we can see out there now?

At the moment, a wind speed of probably about 35,

gusting, 40mph.

-Wow, I can feel it, it's pretty intense.

-It is.

So what's your experience when you catch the tail end of a hurricane

-in all the lighthouses you've worked with?

-The tower shakes.

-Really?

-They are designed to shake.

Crockery rattles and bangs

and you are in it. There's nothing you can do anymore

-except wait for it to pass.

-It must be terrifying, and this is your job!

A lighthouse was built to withstand it. My house at...

My home address wasn't.

'Lighthouses like Start Point'

can stand firm in storms because their narrow, curved shape

means that waves and gusts of wind that hit them

are deflected around their edges,

like this amazing picture shows.

A normal building with straight walls is under far greater stress

during weather like this

and they often pay the price.

Remember how tough Leo found it facing wind head-on earlier?

Eventually, the force of the wind blew him backwards.

In the hurricane-hit areas of America, more and more buildings

are now built to cope with extreme forces of wind and water,

like these houses sitting above flood water on their stilts.

This strange-looking dome house in Florida may be a view of the future.

It has a similar curved design to a lighthouse,

which deflects the wind and water around and underneath it.

In 2004, when Hurricane Ivan smashed into this area with winds of 125mph,

most houses were left as piles of rubble

but the dome house came through almost unscathed.

Like Start Point lighthouse, its clever, curved design will mean

it'll hopefully stand firm against any future hurricanes.

-MIKE:

-Our journey through the scary world of a hurricane is over

and we've learned they can be unpredictable and terrifying.

If the worst happens and you're caught in a hurricane,

there are ways to maximise your chances of survival.

here's our Fierce Earth guide.

Watch the forecasts

and if a hurricane is coming, leave town immediately.

If you do have to walk in the winds, keep low to the ground

and get to shelter as soon as possible.

The flood waters kill more people than the winds,

so stay inland until it's safe to return.

This is how you maximise your chances

of surviving the Fierce Earth.

ZOE: Coming up next time on Fierce Earth,

we explore dangerous and deadly wildfires.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd