Question about Jim Cantore

[timNms]

On the day Katrina made landfall, I was watching Jim Cantore in Gulfport. Next to the last time I heard from him, he was outside the retired naval men's home or something like that showing a piece of plywood that almost hit them. A little bit later, he was on the cellphone (sounding frantic) talking about the water 2 to 3 feet deep in the parking lot. Then our power went off.

Does anyone know the rest of the story? Did he experience the surge first hand? Did it get into the building he was in? What happened? LOL.

Thanks!

[EFrancis]

Someone verify this but I believe the water got into the first floor a few inches but that was about it. Not sure, but everyone ended up being ok and it was less than a foot on the first floor and everyone was evacuated to the 2nd...

[CronkPSU]

i thought i remember him being in a pretty serious storm surge situation, I am sure someone will have more details on it

[timNms]

I don't ever recall the urgency in his voice like that of the day before Katrina made landfall. He kept repeating something along the lines of "Take a good look around folks. What you are seeing now will not be here tomorrow". It was as if he knew what was coming.

[wxmann_91]

Cantore was at the Biloxi Coliseum before this guy told him that he could stay at the retirement center at Gulfport. The Biloxi Coliseum was only 20 ft above sea level and the retirement center was 27 ft above sea level.

That decision could've saved Cantore's life. The Coliseum's entire first floor was completely devastated, with water reaching the second floor. Many people, including a storm chaser who shot some incredible video (I have it if you want to see it then PM me, it was removed from the chaser's site shortly after I saved it LOL). Many of the cars parked in front of the Coliseum were tossed around like toys. The storm chaser was fortunate enough to be on the second floor (and even up there there was 5 ft of surge), but Cantore could've waited too long. The water got up to his neck in Gulfport. Had he stayed in Biloxi, it would've completely swallowed him.

Well that's pretty much all I know. He escaped barely, and after the water got too far up he probably had to frantically get to higher ground, thus having to end communications with TWC for a time. All in all he and his crew are lucky to still be alive today.

[fasterdisaster]

They had to go to the second floor and their van ended up being carried away.

[timNms]

Cantore was at the Biloxi Coliseum before this guy told him that he could stay at the retirement center at Gulfport. The Biloxi Coliseum was only 20 ft above sea level and the retirement center was 27 ft above sea level.

That decision could've saved Cantore's life. The Coliseum's entire first floor was completely devastated, with water reaching the second floor. Many people, including a storm chaser who shot some incredible video (I have it if you want to see it then PM me, it was removed from the chaser's site shortly after I saved it LOL). Many of the cars parked in front of the Coliseum were tossed around like toys. The storm chaser was fortunate enough to be on the second floor (and even up there there was 5 ft of surge), but Cantore could've waited too long. The water got up to his neck in Gulfport. Had he stayed in Biloxi, it would've completely swallowed him.

Well that's pretty much all I know. He escaped barely, and after the water got too far up he probably had to frantically get to higher ground, thus having to end communications with TWC for a time. All in all he and his crew are lucky to still be alive today.

That is incredible! Did Cantore get any shots of the surge or did he post his story anywhere?

[wxmann_91]

An amazing phone call just aired on The Weather Channel a few minutes ago from Jim Cantore's producer, Simon Temperton. The two of them are at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport, Miss. (current conditions), where they have sought refuge from rapidly rising floodwaters on the second floor along with 300-400 residents of the home.

Here's some of what Simon reported in his phone call:

"We're going through some unbelievable conditions. Water is seeping into the building. I'd say we've had at least a 20-feet [of] storm surge. It has washed away all our rental cars, and everything else [in the parking lot]...

"Now water is seeping into the home and they are evacuating everyone to the second floor. I'm standing in 5 or 6 inches of water [on the second floor]. The power is out. There are a few emergency lights. It's a very daunting prospect right now....

"It's a very dangerous situation. I've been doing this for 15 years, and [I've] been Mr. Cantore's producer for many hurricanes, and I've never seen anything like this. This is probably the scariest situation we've ever been in -- just the sudden rise of water and how fast. They said we were good here for 27, 30 feet [of storm surge] -- they've never seen anything like it. They thought we were completely safe.

"We're not even shooting [video] anymore. We're basically in self-preservation [mode] right now. We're helping people put up boards and sandbags to keep the water from coming in. We've become part of the crew.

"In the time we've been talking, the water has risen, I'd say, another 3 inches. It's up to the top of my boots. The water keeps rising."

Source

Since our earlier blog entry from producer Simon Temperton, who is with Jim Cantore in Gulfport, Miss., we have received several phone calls from both of them. They are safe, and floodwaters around the Armed Forces Retirement Home, where they are staying, have started to recede. Residents are staying on the 2nd through 5th floors in the building, out of harm's way. Jim estimates that storm surge may have reached an astounding 27 to 37 feet.

Here's what Jim reported at 1 p.m. ET:

"The water is down about 5 feet from where it was earlier. The parking lot is covered in water. Trees are stripped of their leaves. There is debris everywhere. There's roof damage we can see.... I can see our satellite truck and the vehicles that were with us, and they are now above water, at least part of them....

"For those of you who may have loved ones at the Armed Services Retirement Home, everyone is fine. Obviously everyone is shaken up, and there are some people who need medical attention. They have medicine, wheel chairs here... Right now, there's no air conditioning, which could be a problem for some of these people.

"Things are quieting down, but it's not a pretty sight out there."

Source

[wxmann_91]

In retrospect, any news reporter who went to the MGC, no matter where they were, would probably say they narrowly escaped with their lives.

[timNms]

Thanks for the info, wxmann_91

[EFrancis]

Wow. What in the hell was I thinking of?

Thanks guys

[Weatherfreak14]

Dang, I wonder if he have ever been in that kind of situation before?

[arkess7]

wow ill tell you what those guys have got some major balls!!!!! thank god noone got seriously hurt!!! cantore is the man!!!

[Weatherfreak14]

Yeah right now I think I'll be my pants in that situation.

[Storm Chaser]

During any hurricane, there is a possibility of injury; or worse. Even throughout the course of covering a Cat 1, people are at risk of flying debris that is not nailed down or removed from the wind's path. Those reporters know the peril before they take the position, but it can be even scarier for the families left at home. The wives, husbands, and children of these reporters witness their loved ones through the same media as everyone sitting at home does during a hurricane; through the television screen. To watch your husband or father standing in the middle of a Cat 4 hurricane, no matter how protected; the emotion can be very overwhelming for some. Mr. Cantore's family is no exception. The Weather Channel is no exception. Both sets were on high alert for those few hours of lost contact. There is nothing like losing contact with a reporter or his crew in the field. When the "all clear" is given, it's like Christmas Day.

I have personally covered a few hurricanes in my day, as an on-site camera man. When you have that camera in your face, and you are solely dedicated to "grabbing the shot," you lose track of what might be flying through the air around you. As a camera man, you are more concerned with keeping the reporter in the line of the camera and keeping the device firmly in place. I have been hit in the thigh with a garbage can lid. I have been nearly blown off of my feet by high winds. It's part of the job. However, at the end of the day, there is no other job like it in the world.

[Derek Ortt]

Cantore was trapped on a causeway during Charley

had charley have been larger, he'd have died from the tidal surge

[Brent]

I keep saying one day a reporter is going to be killed covering a hurricane. I really started believing it during Katrina and it was reaffirmed when I saw Geraldo on a LEVEE!!! in Port Arthur before Rita hit... he better be thanking God he was on the weak side.

[inotherwords]

I keep saying one day a reporter is going to be killed covering a hurricane. I really started believing it during Katrina and it was reaffirmed when I saw Geraldo on a LEVEE!!! in Port Arthur before Rita hit... he better be thanking God he was on the weak side.

Geraldo is on the weak side in more ways than one.

Seriously, if we're going to allow someone to put Darwinism in action and commit suicide in a hurricane, please let it be Geraldo and not someone like Cantore or Cooper.

[dhweather]

Cantore was at the Biloxi Coliseum before this guy told him that he could stay at the retirement center at Gulfport. The Biloxi Coliseum was only 20 ft above sea level and the retirement center was 27 ft above sea level.

That decision could've saved Cantore's life. The Coliseum's entire first floor was completely devastated, with water reaching the second floor. Many people, including a storm chaser who shot some incredible video (I have it if you want to see it then PM me, it was removed from the chaser's site shortly after I saved it LOL). Many of the cars parked in front of the Coliseum were tossed around like toys. The storm chaser was fortunate enough to be on the second floor (and even up there there was 5 ft of surge), but Cantore could've waited too long. The water got up to his neck in Gulfport. Had he stayed in Biloxi, it would've completely swallowed him.

Well that's pretty much all I know. He escaped barely, and after the water got too far up he probably had to frantically get to higher ground, thus having to end communications with TWC for a time. All in all he and his crew are lucky to still be alive today.

I'd love a copy of this video!

[flhurricaneguy]

it looked cantori was upset that he wasnt in the action during Rita. Did any one see him? "as you can see here i dont even need a rain coat". He never misses a storm.