Smartphones can be a blessing. They can also be a curse. We can record everything these days, but in matters of life and death, sometimes you have to wonder why the first thing people tend to do is whip out their phones so they can record their (or someone else’s) horrors.
I often wonder what it would have been like if smartphones were as prevalent during 9/11 as they are today.
But then, would you really have wanted to see all that horror up close and personal? What those of us alive saw that day just from live news footage was horrific enough.
Although not nearly as high up in the terror category as 9/11, Discovery Channel’s six-part limited series, In the Eye of the Storm, is nothing short of terrifying as it brings real-time footage of recent natural disasters right into your living room.
Twisters, derechos, hurricanes, hellfire, and more. It’s almost like you’re living through those few minutes that seem like lifetimes yourself.
This Isn’t the Movies
And we’re not talking movies here like Twister or the more recent Twisters.
In Twister, when Jonas’s car gets swept up in the tornado they’re chasing as they race against Joe and Bill Harding, we silently cheer because the guy was a bastard.
Or when Jo and Bill witness cows getting swept up in one tornado towards the beginning of the film, mooing as they swirl helplessly inside the twister, we laugh.
It’s a classic movie moment.
There’s nothing to laugh about in this series, though.
If anything, you’ll realize that no matter how much money and possessions you have, whatever your lot in life is, how bad your problems may seem, or how much control you think you have in your life, when Mother Nature flexes her talons, none of it matters.
You have no control, and if you survive her wrath and live, then you have to wonder if all the stuff you worried and obsessed about yesterday really matters today.
One of the underlying themes of this series is how these natural disasters changed survivors and others who witnessed Mother Nature’s power.
It also circles back to what I mentioned about smartphones being a blessing and a curse because the stories told wouldn’t have the same impact if we didn’t have the visuals to take us through the nightmare.
It’s one thing for a guy to describe how he survived a surprise tornado while walking home from work one night.
It’s another to actually somewhat experience what he went through as he was hanging on a glass door for dear life as the smartphone in his pocket was recording his terror.
Or the family trying to escape the Maui wildfires who got stuck in a traffic jam on the main road out of Lahaina as they were trying to evacuate.
With the the raging fire surrounding them, the only way to survive was fleeing their car, hightailing it to the ocean, and jumping in, hoping the water would protect them from being burned alive.
But even then, they were unsure of their fate because it was hours before the Coast Guard arrived to take them to safety.
We’re not just hearing their stories, we’re watching their terror, in real-time, via their smartphones, right along with them.
It’s absolutely terrifying.
I’d Find a New Job, Too
Even the storm chasers question why they do what they do after being caught in the eye of the storm.
One team literally thinks they’re out of the path of a tornado as they position themselves to record the most awesome footage of their career, only to find the tornado switched course and is barreling right toward them.
There’s nothing they can do because there’s no time to outrun that ominous black cloud from hell. So, they hunker down and hang on for dear life as their car gets tossed around like a ping-pong ball.
And we’re right there, watching it all happen in real time. No dramatization or re-enactments. Real-time.
As one storm chaser said, “I’m done storm chasing.” Yeah, I’d be done, too.
Real-Time, Real Terrifying
In each episode of In The Eye Of The Storm, Discovery Channel interviews news and weather reporters, survivors, storm chasers, and others who share their footage and experiences.
We get insight into how each of these storms developed and why it happened, kind of like a step-by-step guide but not in a boring college lecture type of way.
Each piece of information is important to the overall storm being featured, and you’re swept away by the drama, real-life stories, and footage in between.
This is not to say that some of these people whipping out their smartphones were smart.
Several times during each of the four episodes I watched, I had to ask myself what the hell are you thinking?
But I wasn’t there so I can’t really (or shouldn’t) cast judgment on something I didn’t experience myself. Still, some of the bravado is just plain stupid.
However, I’m sure the meteorological experts found all the footage useful for their studies, even if some came from stupid people who put their lives in danger to post on social media (another blessing and a curse, but that’s for another time.)
So, I guess you can say there is some positivity to stupidity.
Tales of Terror
There are many riveting stories told during In The Eye Of The Storm, and one I found totally ridiculous.
One notable thread in all the stories, even the ones not discussed below, and which I think is worth mentioning, is the call to a higher power, specifically God, Jesus, and Mary.
“I started praying because I thought I was at the end of my life.” – Kira Little Sky, Survivor
It’s interesting to me that almost every single person in this documentary, whether religious or not, called out to a higher power when they thought it was their last moments.
What does it mean, and does it matter?
I’m not going to get into a religious debate or discussion here because that’s not the point. But hearing those calls does make you think.
So, let’s delve a bit deeper into those stories that stuck with me.
The Thrill Is Gone
“There’s so much to love about watching these things. I have to go see. I have to experience the beauty, the power.” – Tanner Charles, Storm Chaser
Remember that storm chaser I mentioned earlier? He was featured in the first episode, “Trapped in a Twister.” Not sure if the episode was named after Tanner Charles’s experience, but it could’ve been.
He and his team didn’t set out to be trapped in a twister, but that’s what happened, and every single second of their terrifying screams was caught on tape.
What’s most interesting, though, is that before his personal experience of being caught in the eye of the storm, he was chasing a line of storms.
He helped people on the road get out of the path of the storm and checked on their family members after the tornado destroyed their houses.
He was afraid of what he might find.
Luckily, the people they were looking for were okay.
And then he decided to chase some more (even after he was visibly shaken by that previous experience,) and Mother Nature decided to show him just how beautiful and powerful she really was.
Lesson of the day: Don’t f*** with Mother Nature. By the way, he also called out to Jesus — many, many times.
What Were You Thinking, Lady?
“I grabbed my phone, stood by the window, and started recording. My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking, I was sweating. But I was doing everything I could to try to film the storm and be a brave mom for my daughter.” Alex Bisson, Survivor
I don’t know about you, but if I wanted to be “brave” for my kid, I wouldn’t be standing by a window with my kid behind me, filming the sky as it went black in five seconds because a derecho was on the move.
I’d be in the basement, keeping myself and my kid from harm’s way.
Living in the Midwest, did they not have tornado drills when you were in school?
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people? Do they lack common sense? Are they just plain stupid? Or do they think they’re immune and perhaps a greater force than Mother Nature?
There are other Alex Bisson’s in this series, people filming as their apartment roof is ripped away (why aren’t you on a lower level or in the hallway), and other instances where idiot seems to be the word of the day.
I liked that Discovery Channel balanced the unavoidable terrifying experiences with ones that were totally avoidable. It proves my point: Smartphones (and social media) are both a blessing and a curse.
I hope the weather experts had a serious talk with these people. Or if not, that they realized how close they came to death and perhaps changed their perspective.
Dogs and Fire
“I loved that dog.” – Mike Cicchino
I saw a meme recently describing how people can watch serial killers massacre people without flinching, but when an animal gets hurt, they just can’t deal.
It’s inevitable that animals will perish during catastrophic storms. It’s also not surprising that pet owners will do whatever they can to save their fur babies. After all, they’re part of the family.
While the Tomkinson family was running to the ocean to escape the fire raging around them in Lahaina, Mike Cicchino was making his way through dangerous conditions near his home, looking for his dogs, including Asher.
As he was going through one area, barely able to see because of the suffocating smoke, he came across many people who were injured after being burnt trying to escape the fire.
He helped as many as he could to get to safety.
Unfortunately, some of the people he came across were beyond help.
All the while, he continued searching for his dogs and was successful in finding one, but he couldn’t find Asher.
By that time, the heat from the fire and smoke had become too much, and he had to return to the rest of his family and get them out of harm’s way.
Like the Tomkinsons, Cicchino and his family headed to the ocean because there was nowhere else to go. They were surrounded by fire.
For Cicchino, his family, the Tomkinsons, and many others who had escaped to the water hoping it would save them from being burned alive, their prayers were answered.
Mike Cicchino had used his smartphone to call the Coast Guard. They were quickly picked up and taken to safety.
We All Work Together
“When a hurricane comes, we all work together.” – Vincent Ochello, Lafitte Resident
When Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana in 2021, it was another in a long list of storms that had devasted the area.
But if history has shown us anything, it’s that Louisianans are unbreakable, and they stick together. They’re all family, and they look out for each other, even each other’s pets.
Vincent Ochello, a lifelong resident of Lafitte, part of the metro area of New Orleans, took to social media to help out community members who needed help themselves or needed help for family members they couldn’t reach.
He had an airboat and was able to navigate his flooded town to reach homes that were inaccessible otherwise.
Although his story was a double-edged sword when it came to Miss Emily, as he referred to Emily Baffone, it’s another example of how smartphones, when used the right way in disasters such as Hurricane Ida, can be a positive thing.
And despite the devastation and loss endured by the people affected by that horrible storm, it’s heartwarming to see good people doing good things, even for the fur babies.
The Most Horrific Black Screen You’ll Ever See
“I put my cellphone in my pocket, and it was still recording.” – Joe Armenta, Survivor
Of all the terrifying stories told in the four episodes I watched of In The Eye of the Storm, the story of Joe Armenta is the one that I found most horrifying. It’s the one I can’t shake.
Maybe it was because his cellphone was still recording as he experienced his living nightmare.
It was a late night. He had just gotten off work and was walking home when a tornado visited the road he was walking on. He was recording when the power went out on the road he was walking on.
And then it got real, real fast.
Nothing was open and the only safe place was under an awning in a little strip mall nearby.
But as the tornado’s fury came full force, the only thing he had to hold onto, aside from his will to live, was the glass door of an insurance company’s office.
And hang on, he did.
We don’t get to see what he did (if he even had his eyes open,) and we don’t need to. We get to hear him experience his horror, with captions, as his phone records in his pocket.
And it’s the most terrifying three minutes of anything I’ve ever watched in my life.
Forget horror movies and books. His story will scare you to death.
It is truly a miracle that this guy survived a tornado the way he did. God bless Joe Armenta. He must still have things to do on this earth.
Should You Watch?
Some people might think that the stories told are exaggerated or that the survivors and victims are being exploited.
Or maybe that the only people who watch these kinds of shows are the same people who slow down when there’s an accident on the highway.
But it’s none of that.
These are people who want to tell their stories for whatever reason, and the stories are told in real-time with real, first-hand footage, so there is no exaggeration.
And for me, it’s not a show to watch for entertainment because there’s certainly nothing entertaining about any of these people’s horror.
The value I see in watching In The Eye Of The Storm is that it puts life in perspective. As cliche as it sounds, it helps you appreciate the life you’ve been given, for better or for worse.