All language subtitles for S R S01E05 1080p DSNP WEB-DL DDP5 1 H 264-NTb (1)_track3_[eng]

(SIREN WAILING)

Over the last 30 hours,
Hurricane Delta has intensified

more rapidly than any other
hurricane in recorded history.

But the hurricane now has max
sustained winds of 145 miles an hour.

People across Cancun are preparing,
boarding up residences.

Your heart definitely goes out

to the people here
in the path of this storm.

The eyewall is approaching
from the south.

We are about to get impacted.

The subsonic sensor's measuring data.

MIKE: Things are starting to
really pick up out here.

REED:
Palm trees are laying on the road.

MIKE: Ram. Here we go.

-Oh, nice work, yes.
-REED: Yeah!

MIKE: Whoo!

REED: Here it is.

The eyewall's here.

Here comes the wind.

MIKE: Get in, man! We're gonna
get hit by something!

NEWS REPORTER: Packing fierce winds
and torrential rain,

Delta slammed into Mexico's
Yucatán Peninsula

early this morning
as a Category 2 hurricane.

As it makes its way up
the Gulf Coast,

Delta is on track to hit
Louisiana by Friday.

The state's governor has already
declared a state of emergency.

Here we are, we just
landed in Dallas, Texas.

We started this morning
in Cancun, Mexico.

We're here for the second landfall
of Hurricane Delta.

(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT)

And we made it.

CAPTAIN: The local time is 10:25.

REED: Absolute miracle
we made it up here.

I need to get some fluids.

We just got back from my first
hurricane intercept in the Yucatán,

just south of Cancun.

Last I saw, it's still intensifying,

Delta's 10 miles an hour
shy of a Cat 4.

MIKE:
Yeah. Yeah, it's right on the border.

REED: Still ramping up.

Hurricane Delta hit
the Yucatán Peninsula

as a high-end Category 2 hurricane
with 110-mile-per-hour winds.

As it turns northward towards the
United States,

it's being refueled by the warm
waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Now it's expanded in size.

It's a massive hurricane taking up
the whole entire Gulf of Mexico

coming right into Lake Arthur.

We are predicting that Delta will
make landfall

in the US sometime tomorrow,

so we have no time to
waste to make an intercept.

If we could pull this off,
it would be a first for us.

Two intercepts on the same hurricane.

The subsonic sensor measured

incredible gravity wave data inside
this hurricane,

so we're very interested to collect
data inside this again

to see how the storm's structure
has evolved.

Two countries
on the same hurricane.

That's quite a feat.

And compare the data
sets between early in its life cycle

and now when it's coming in.

-But nice intercept!
-Yeah, man.

-That was bad ass.
-Let's get number two.

It's crazy we were
in Mexico seven hours ago

-and I could barely remember it.
-I know.

It's like I'm blacking out.

I'm beat up.

I feel like I got in a ring
with somebody and fought 10 rounds.

Took a couple hits in the gut.

REED: This season has
been crazy.

I mean, just storm
after storm after storm.

Warmer than average sea surface
temperatures in the Tropical Atlantic

have contributed to this being a
record-breaking hurricane season.

There have been so many
named storms this year,

that we've already gone through A-Z
for naming

and now we're into
the Greek alphabet.

This year will go down
in weather history.

We just gotta keep barreling into
this hurricane

or we're gonna miss it.

Let's chase this thing.

What could go wrong?

Famous last words.

Shit. I hope I didn't just jinx us.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

NEWS REPORTER: As Hurricane Delta
barrels across the Gulf of Mexico,

nearly 60,000 people along the coast

are under mandatory
evacuation orders.

MIREYA VILLARREAL: There is a storm
surge watch in effect

right now from Texas all the way to
the eastern border of Alabama.

And Louisiana is expected to get
between seven and eleven feet.

MIKE: Oh, man, I'm exhausted.

REED: Yeah, I'm tired.

We drove all night, I could barely
keep my eyes open.

I'm beat up. We have no gas,
minimal supplies, no lodging.

We don't even have our hurricane
intercept vehicle.

We're really coming into this flying
by the seat of our pants.

We've got a lot to get done before
Delta makes landfall this afternoon.

All right, let's get some gas here.

Man, we're really
pulling in late.

I hate coming in like this not being
as prepared.

Reed, I'm gonna see
if they have another tank in here.

Good idea.

It's starting to get rain already.

We gotta get there.

MIKE: Got their last one.

REED: Great news.

MIKE: Yeah.

REED: Oh.

Came back at me.
We gotta take the insert out.

MIKE: I need a screwdriver.

That sucks.
It's definitely gonna smell now.

Oh.

I'm just not very good at things
like this

'cause I don't have
a lot of common sense.

So just putting gas in a gas can is
a big deal for me.

I've always kind of struggled with
those things.

Putting my pants on in the morning.

(BLEEP)

We got no roof rack.

-Do we have tape?
-REED: I do.

MIKE: One more.

Buta-bata, buta-bata,
buta-bata, buta-bata, buta-bata.

You're getting delirious.

REED: That's gonna work.
MIKE: Yeah.

This duct tape, you can do
anything with.

REED: Is that on radar yet?

Oh, look at that. Jeez.

That's a big time hurricane.

MIKE: We gotta get right in
that area, right where it comes in.

REED: Our goal is to get boots
on the ground data from directly

in the path of these violent storms

and this one's not going to be easy

because Delta isn't your
average hurricane.

It's a big one.

It's been spinning out there
for days, piling up that water.

When this comes ashore

it's gonna be absolute
life-threatening storm surge

in Southern Louisiana.

People don't realize
that the flooding caused by

hurricane winds is often the
greatest threat.

Storm surge is the
cause of destructive flooding,

it cuts off evacuation routes,

and it's responsible for the majority
of storm deaths.

Currently, the early warning systems
providing live storm surge data

are extremely hard to come by.

So we are hoping to test out some
new warning systems on Delta.

Delta's Cancun landfall was
all about the winds,

but we think as it approaches the US,

surge is gonna
be one of the big stories.

What'd Mark say?

He just sent me a text.

He says that we could design
a primitive surginator.

When the storm surge comes up,

the pressure in the water is gonna
force up

the dye inside this PVC pipe.

And when the dye falls,
it will leave a stain on the tubing

to give us the storm surge height.

Like a thermometer almost.

Yeah, like a
thermometer. Yeah. Very similar.

Wow, that's amazing
that Mark came up

-with that so quick.
-He came up with it like that.

So is he going to send
us a parts list and everything?

Yeah, he's sending it now.

-We need to stop by a hardware store.
-Yeah.

And then I can try to
build it in the car.

And then we've gotta get
to the location to deploy it

before the storm surge arrives.

A lot of things need to come together
for us to pull off this mission.

MIKE: Here we go.
REED: Okay, these valves.

MIKE: Want me to
start holding it?

REED:
And three of these valves.

The tube that we're using.
We need at least 20 feet.

That'll work.

Bingo, bingo.

Getting it done.

-We got everything, it looks like.
-REED: Yeah.

MIKE: You got to assemble this
when I'm driving.

REED: Yup. Hopefully, we can
get there in time.

I think we're gonna just make it.

So this right here is to block
any little debris, rocks,

pieces of grass, wood from floating
up into this and then clogging it.

And then this end here
connects to the tube,

which is gonna be 40 feet up.

(PHONE RINGS)

-Hey, how's it going, Mark?
-MARK: It's going all right.

REED: So here's what I got
so far.

I've attached the screen
on the bottom end.

MARK: Okay, you need to cut that tube.

REED: Now we need to cut this.

Then we have a little connector here

and then a threaded end,
then the tube?

MARK: Yeah, the end you've got,
it's the check valve.

REED: Yup.
MARK: It needs gluing.

REED: Yeah. This needs glue?

MARK: Yeah, that needs glue 'cause
there's no screw tip on it, right?

MIKE: Kind of reminds me
of the Apollo mission

when they were up there in space
and had those problems,

and on Earth the scientists
put together a replica

with parts they knew were in the
capsule and they put it together.

Ooh, that's strong. Ooh.

-Okay, we're sealed.
-MARK: Awesome.

Thanks, Mark.
You're the man.

MARK: Thanks.

Never stop chasing.

MIKE:
We're going old school, Reed.

REED:
We're right here right now.

We have just enough time to get down
there before this eyewall comes in.

We're definitely coming into the
hurricane right now.

Right here it looks like we're
gonna get

a square impact from the eye

and the strongest portion
of that eyewall.

That's where the strongest
storm urge is gonna happen

and that's where we're trying to get.

Four minutes from a potential
deployment zone.

A lot of places boarded up here.
It's almost a ghost town.

-We're already flooding.
-Yeah.

REED:
Look at that volleyball thing.

-Let's mount it on that.
-Yeah. Okay.

REED: Perfect.

All right, let's go.

MIKE: Let's get this thing up.

REED: Stick this down,
tape it.

If we are successful this trip,
we owe it all to duct tape.

The storm surge could easily be
chest-deep here

depending on where the eye comes in.

The key is to keep this tube above
where the storm surge is gonna rise.

Yeah, the surge is
coming in now, Reed.

That's not going anywhere.

Okay.

This is it, this is the surginator.
Whoo!

MIKE: God, I love science.

Now we gotta activate
the subsonic sensor

because the eyewall's about
to get here.

The subsonic sensor records pressure
changes inside the hurricane.

But it actually works best
when placed somewhere partially

sheltered from the storm.

The technology is expensive

and it can't survive being
submerged in saltwater

or getting lifted into the
air by high winds.

We're about to get northern eyewall
of this hurricane.

And this building should shelter
the subsonic sensor.

I think right here is a good spot.

Right there.

Now we've got a chance
to get a double intercept.

MIKE: Yeah.

REED: If we were able to
record a second set of data

on the same hurricane,

but at a later stage
of the storm's development,

this would show a clear picture

of the different stages of
evolution of this hurricane.

MIKE:
How about we got out on that pier?

We're about the get
pure, hardcore eyewall.

-Look at that.
-MIKE: Damn!

REED: Whoo!

You can really feel the conditions.

The surge is coming in rapidly.

Those houses are taking on water.

This is a hydrological impacts
of a hurricane

that are more devastating
even than the wind.

MIKE: Holy crap.

Man, it's coming in fast now.

This is ripping right now. Whoa.

Whoo!

That last gust just took
my breath away.

MIKE: Yeah.

REED: Whoa!

We got the surginator deployed,
we got the subsonic recording data.

Now we just need to measure
wind speeds.

MIKE:
The eye's gonna be here any minute!

Whoa!

MIKE: I gotta know
what kind of wind is in here.

This is the second landfall of
Hurricane Delta.

We were just in Cancun
covering the same hurricane.

(BLEEP)

MIKE: 70 miles an hour, 80!

Mother Nature right here!

This is the most
powerful part of

Hurricane Delta right now. Ahh!

90! Whoa!

Winds shifting all over the place.

Whoa, Mike.

REED: Mike!

What's he doing? Mike!

MIKE: Ahh! Ah.

Damn!

Gonna have to retreat!

Look at these waves splashing in
here now.

REED:
What kind of data are you getting?

MIKE: 90 miles an hour!

REED: Badass.
MIKE: Yes.

It's starting to get dark.

The worst part is hitting right now.

We got the eyewall twice,

in two countries with the same
hurricane.

Oh!

I can't see anything.

Let's get back to the car.

We recorded a max gust of 96,

that should make this
a Category 2 hurricane.

I think we've seen the highest gust,

but it's dying out
as it makes landfall.

I don't think we'll see
as much from the back eyewall.

NEWS REPORTER:
Hurricane Delta unleashed

a life-threatening storm surge

and winds of around
100 miles per hour.

REPORTER 2: This, by the way, is the
10th storm to make landfall in 2020.

And that sets a new record.

REED: We're gonna go take down
the surginator probe

and then we're
gonna see if this thing worked.

MIKE:
Do you think there's alligators?

REED: Probably, yeah.

There it is. There's the water line.

See it right there?

Looks like about five feet above
sea level.

It worked.

MIKE: This is kind of proof of
concept for Mark's idea

of the surginator.

This very simple version worked
great.

Still here.

Disconnect.

Damn. Data says, "Saved."

Now we just analyze it.

We pulled off the double intercept.

Having recorded pressure data from
inside the hurricane

at the beginning and
end of its life cycle

will give us a data set that's
rarely,

if ever, been recorded by
the same team before.

This along with wind speeds and
surge data from the US landfall

gives us a detailed
picture of Hurricane Delta.

-What a week. Good work.
-MIKE: Good success this week.

REED: We did it. Nice work.

I'm ready to pass out
and hibernate for a couple days.

Yup.

MIKE: Well, the power's out
in most of town,

there's a few generators running,

but there's no hotels anywhere,

there's definitely nowhere
we're gonna stay.

Looks like we're
sleeping in here tonight.

REED: I really feel for
the people in Southern Louisiana

'cause they got another long road to
recovery ahead

and they were just in the middle
of their recovery from Laura.

Yeah.

Takes months, if not years,

to recover from these storms
and they just keep getting

overlapping damage paths.

Poor people here.

MIKE: That raw power of water.

Unrelentless.

And it's just complete destruction.

It's this new era.

These hurricanes are
getting stronger and stronger.

We're dealing with
a whole new beast here.

This is like a whole new category
of weather.

The planet's changing.

As humans we're trying to figure out
exactly what's happening.

That whole house was wiped away
off its foundation.

Complete destruction
and this was somebody's home.

This is why we chase.

We wanna learn more.

REED: This is terrible.

If there is a bright side
to any of this,

it's that the surginator sensor
prototype was a success

and we can build on that success

to improve surge predictions
in the future.

Never thought I would be this far
into the Greek alphabet,

but it's a record breaker
of a season.

And we've still got three,
four weeks left to go.

And we'll be here to collect
data inside those storms too.

NEWS REPORTER: Take a look at this,
the Arctic Express,

it's covering the entire
country on the northern half.

Look at all the rain and snow
from Wyoming into Nebraska.

Parts of Louisiana are bracing for
the 27th named storm this season.

It could make landfall sometime on
Wednesday.

REED: Once again I'm tracking
a new storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

This is Zeta, Zeta is intensifying.

It's almost the identical path

that Hurricane Delta traveled
just weeks ago.

In a year of record-breaking heat,

it's this unusually early cold front
plowing across the US

that's increasing thunderstorm
activity inside the storm,

causing it to grow.

Winds are always a concern,
but the real threat here

is the potential for
10-foot plus storm surge

which gives us the perfect
opportunity

to test out our brand new upgraded
science equipment.

MARK: I heard you got the package.

Yeah. Both of them arrived.

MARK: Awesome. Should be just
in them then, eh?

Yeah.

Dang, it looks beautiful, Mark.

Look at that.

Got you that pretty fast, don't ya?

It's incredible that
you've developed this this fast.

And this will actually measure
the weight of the water

based on the pressure
that it's exerting on the sensor.

It also factors in salinity as well

to really dial in that
storm surge level.

And we'll be lining
these up and down the coast.

MARK:
When you deploy these surginators,

you really want them in a triangle,
so you get triangulation, right.

REED: Okay.

This is gonna live stream
lifesaving storm surge information

to the Internet as this hurricane is
coming ashore.

It looks good, Mark.

We gotta get out of here to
intercept this hurricane.

-Never stop chasing.
-MARK: You too.

So the roads are really bad.

Very, very icy and slippery.

The temperature's only nine degrees.

I've never gone from such a winter
storm

with single-digit cold to
intercept a hurricane.

-MIKE: Hello?
-Mike, how's it going?

You're still in Florida, right?

I'm still in Florida,
11 hours from Venice.

We just gotta be down in the Venice,

Louisiana area by sunrise
to deploy the first surginator.

Right on the tip of Louisiana,
that'll get the first storm surge,

'cause I'm worried the surge
will come up too fast

and then we might get trapped
down there.

MIKE:
We've gotta be really careful,

once that surge starts coming
in, it could be life and death.

NEWS REPORTER: It feels like deja vu
'cause this system is hitting

an area that's been hit so
many times this year,

once again storm surge
is a concern for us.

DANYA BACCHUS: Bourbon Street
is a virtual ghost town.

That's because this storm was
supposed to be a Category 1,

it's now just one mile an hour away
from becoming a Category 3.

Drove all night
through that ice storm,

through the snowstorm.
It was definitely intense.

We're going out
to the Mississippi river.

Hurricane Zeta is intensifying

and the storm surge flooding
is going to be

absolutely life-threatening
with this storm.

I can't believe Louisiana's had,
what, four hurricanes this year.

There's still piles of debris.

People haven't gotten back
into their homes.

Blue tarps as far as the eye can see.

Everything's already been weakened,

and then we got to
watch out for projectiles too.

There's gonna be debris piles
that are gonna get lofted,

shot through the air.

Meeting up with Mike
in the HERV right now.

(HONKING)

MIKE: Yo!
REED: There you are!

You made it through
all that ice.

-Yeah, how's it going?
-Good work, man.

Good to see ya.

Looks like the Gulf of Mexico side's

gonna have the biggest surge,
doesn't it?

Yeah.

So we should probably try to deploy

in the Gulf of Mexico side.

MIKE: Yeah. Yeah. Let's jump
in the HERV and deploy these.

REED: Venice, Louisiana sits
in the middle of an exposed

peninsula where the Mississippi
empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

Our plan is to deploy three
triangulated surginators

to measure peak surge height
as waters move inland

from two different directions.

Here it is.

MIKE:
Look how quick it's coming in.

Yeah. This is coming in fast.

(BLEEP)

REED: This stuff's all gonna
be underwater here.

MIKE: A pole like that.
Look at those heavy-duty poles.

REED: That would be perfect.
Exactly what we want.

We're just gonna scout out and see

which is the best pole for us to
deploy this sensor.

And we've already got surge
flooding coming up.

All these have survived
previous hurricanes.

So you want one that's
tall enough too.

MIKE: True.

Reed...

what do you think about this one?

That's it, that's the one.

If we can get away
from the land just a little bit.

REED: This is perfect.

This is the station right here.

This measures temperature,
relative humidity.

This is gonna stream live the storm
surge depth up to the Internet.

So that's lifesaving information.

Now we just gotta mount it up
on this pole.

I can feel the whole thing shaking.

Everything's working right now.

It's sending live storm surge
information.

The last data packet
was sent at 11:50 am.

It's 11:51 right now.

So it is working.

First one deployed,
a couple more to go.

MIKE: Wanna do it out there?
REED: Yup. That'll work.

Get it ready and slide it up.

MIKE: Got it.
REED: Got it.

We gotta deploy this third sensor.

MIKE: We did it. Whoo!
REED: Nice.

Final surginator deployed.

So now we have the triangle
of data points we need.

These three data points
should give us a detailed

sample size of storm surge
depths in the area.

Ultimately, we hope these surginators
can be deployed up

and down the coast
as an early warning system.

But for now, we're gonna
need to monitor them

throughout the
storm to make sure they work.

MARINA OWNER: Who y'all with?

So we're meteorologists
and we have a sensor

that measures the storm surge depth.

Y'all staying the night?

REED: Yeah. We're trying to
find a location still.

-Are you going to ride it out here?
-Yeah.

Y'all stick around
and have a beer later.

I know a guy that's got a key.

REED: Okay.

He said we could have a beer later.

A lot of people choose
to stay behind instead of evacuating.

They don't want to leave their
livelihoods unprotected.

And these are exactly the people
who these surginators

might protect in the future.

Oh, wow.

MIKE:
Oh, my gosh. Beautiful dog.

REED: He's got a lot of skin.

MIKE: Yeah. He's got a lot of
skin in the game.

Nice place you got here.

MARINA OWNER: Where are y'all
planning on

riding out the hurricane at?

REED: Well, we were checking
out a hotel to the north of here,

maybe sitting up top of a levy,

but it's starting to turn off
to the right, so we're thinking

that maybe even right here would be
the perfect spot.

Y'all can stay
in the restaurant tonight

to get you out of the
weather and stuff.

MIKE: Oh, wow.

You know,
a little southern hospitality.

All right.

That would be awesome.
Thank you so much.

That sounds great, man.
Thank you very much.

-Thank you.
-Welcome to the South.

MIKE: We're gonna
get the eyewall here, for sure.

REED: Yeah. It's gonna
happen fast, isn't it?

(ALARM BEEPING)

NEWS REPORTER:
The National Weather Service

has issued a hurricane warning.

A dangerous life-threatening storm
surge is expected

from Hurricane Zeta.

Evacuation orders are
currently in effect.

It's coming in.

NEWS REPORTER: All residents are
advised to take immediate action

to protect their life and property.

This is nothing yet.

The strongest part of this hurricane
is gonna come in about an hour.

Gonna be the craziest surge
experience I've ever had,

that's for sure.

REED: Hey, look,
surginator is underwater.

There you can see the basket is
underneath the water.

MIKE: Yeah.

REED: I expect it to maybe
come up to about here.

Three or four more feet.

Fifty-foot waves
reported over the Gulf of Mexico.

There's a lot of water out there.

And it's only a matter of time.

This is all gonna be underwater here
and it's gonna come up fast.

(BLEEP)

One of the storm surge
sensors is down.

One seems to be not working.

If we could get to that one, I could
press the reset button one time.

It's a couple of miles away, and we
ditched the car on the levee,

so we'll have to go on foot.

It's not ideal with
this flooding and flying debris,

but there's no other choice.

MIKE:
Let's go check out the surginator.

REED:
We're starting to get winds

at tropical storm force already.

We're gonna be at the stronger side
of that storm,

so it's gonna be intense.

MIKE: Yeah. The surge is
starting to come up, Reed.

Look, it's coming down the canal.

REED: Yeah, it's coming in.

It's gonna be like a tsunami
coming up.

So we're right here.

Six to nine feet, the highest one.

And this concave shoreline
holds a lot of water.

So once the hurricane passes
just to our north,

it's gonna take all that
water up and over Mississippi River

and flood Venice completely.

MIKE: Ah.

I'll put these on, I got them.

Man.

Here it comes, yeah!

Oh, there's some sheet metal.
Be ready to run!

That shrapnel's
coming down right there.

It will only take one
little gust of wind

and that will decapitate somebody.

MIKE:
Bro, there's gators in here.

I don't mess with alligators, man.

Damn.

That building totally destroyed
out there.

You can see the structure on the
other side of that boat.

There it is!

The surge is coming in,
guys, as advertised.

You can see it taking over this
whole entire road.

Coming in from both sides.

The Gulf of Mexico side
and the Mississippi.

MIKE: Yeah, it's piling in.

Look, there's waves
in between houses.

Should we try to get down there?

REED: Yeah, let's work on it.

MIKE: Let's go check it out.

Watch out for the debris, Reed.

There's a piece of a dock.

More boards!

The surge is completely
over the road.

And the bridge is probably
underwater.

If we don't hurry, I'm not sure
we're gonna get back.

Never seen anything like it.

Whoa, look out! Look out! (BLEEP)

REED: (BLEEP)

-You okay?
-PRODUCER: I'm fine.

Oh, see how heavy
that is? Wow.

REED:
This is what makes a surge dangerous.

You got debris, sometimes boats,
vehicles that can float in there.

In this case, we've got two by fours
with nails going by.

Take out your leg,

get swept away by a current.

There's nothing more
powerful than water.

The sooner we can get our
surginator back online

and we can get out of
this flooding, the better.

That car's gonna be
floating real soon.

It really only takes about two feet
of rushing water to move a car.

Should we go check on the surginator?

Yeah.

Coming in fast there,
look at this surge.

MIKE: The surginator is
right down the road, isn't it?

Yeah.

Here's the surginator.

It's getting under like five feet
of water now.

Hopefully, the cable didn't short out
or something.

Rebooting it quick.

Reload.

MIKE: What do you think?

REED:
I think this is gonna work.

Oh, it worked. Woo!

MIKE: Hell, yeah. We did it.

REED: All three surginators
are up and running.

Hey, the surge is
continuing to rise too, Reed.

Yeah, it is, it's coming up.

REED: Look at that.

Probably the edge of the eye.

Oh, wow.

The dry air wrapping in
to the south side of it.

We've got blue sky up here.

Coming in just as the peak surge is
coming in from the Gulf of Mexico.

MIKE: Damn, that's nuts.

Man, the color looks insane on this.

Holy (BLEEP)

Look at the flow over there.

Gotta be one of the most beautiful
but terrible scenes I've ever seen.

Destruction by absolute beauty with
the blue sky above.

Never seen anything like it.

Thirty minutes ago there's nothing
out here,

you can hear a little rumbling.

And then bam, you've got the Gulf of
Mexico going down main street.

Crazy thing is the worst of the surge
is still to come here in Venice.

We're in the calm of
the storm right now,

but the back eyewall is on the way.

So we are going to continue to see
those winds stack up that water,

and push it further
and deeper inland.

I just hope everybody got out of
here and there's nobody trapped.

MIKE: Yeah.

REED: Here comes the back
eyewall, look at it.

-Yeah. Yeah.
-It's coming in fast.

It is coming in fast.

What are you thinking, about three
more feet maybe at the peak?

Yeah.

MIKE:
We won't be able to stand out here.

REED: We need to get back
before this water gets any higher.

It's a lot deeper over here.

MIKE:
Yeah, it is. Look how deep it is.

REED: Big time.

-Man, this poor car is done.
-Yeah.

Man versus nature.

Taking it head on.

MIKE:
You hear the power lines?

REED: Damn.

MIKE:
Let's get away from that.

REED:
We gotta get out of here.

MIKE: Yeah.

REED: The power lines
are falling into the surge,

we gotta get out of here.

High step it.

High step it.

REED: Hey, look left!

Fire!

That right there
is a natural gas plant.

There is a massive fire up there,
right where that wind changed.

It's getting dark.

This is getting too dangerous to be
out here with all of this debris.

Let's crash and go to sleep.

Good work.

All three surginators are
still streaming.

If they stay up and running,

we'll have a good data set
by daybreak.

MIKE: Boy this is not
comfortable, is it?

But it'll do the trick.

-REED: Never stop chasing.
-Nope.

NEWS REPORTER:
At least six people are dead

and millions are without power.

Zeta made landfall
as a Category 2 hurricane

with dangerous winds
of 110 miles an hour.

REPORTER 2:
The storm surged so strong,

it pushed this boat here from a
marina at least a quarter-mile away.

MIKE:
There it is, the surginator.

One of the three deployments.

REED: That's one.

If these surginators transmitted
data correctly,

it will give us a strong sample size
of surge levels from the area.

-One more to collect.
-Yup.

Even showing the water levels
fluctuating between stations

as the storm moved on shore.

There it is.

It would be a game changer in
helping to develop

a full-time early warning system.

Surginator survived.

Dock did not survive.

And luckily, we mounted it
on the right pole.

There it is.

Success!

MARK: Hello.

-Mark.
-MIKE: There he is.

REED: How does the data look?

MARK:
I gotta show you, it's pretty cool.

REED: Wow, look at that.

That looks like a really
high storm surge.

MARK: We're measuring around
two meters of surge.

Two meters, so that's
six feet. That's about right.

So that real-time information
streaming in

from further south west,

we could have had an idea

of what the surge was gonna be
here hours in advance.

MARK: That's right, yeah.

REED: That's lifesaving
information definitely.

MIKE: Oh, yeah.

REED: Our first surginator
test was successful.

And the idea of deploying these
along the coast

as an active warning system,
with real-time surge information,

definitely shows promise to be
more valuable

than any surge detection
system currently available.

And in reality, we're gonna need that

as we continue to see these more
frequent, more powerful storms.

MIKE: This barricade here,
that was originally here.

That's the edge.

-Yes. It slid over.
-See the mark?

That's insane, yeah. Yeah.

So it pushed all that
all the way over there.

REED: If anything shows you
the power of storm surges, it's that.

Can you imagine,
the Gulf of Mexico

came all the way up here and in.

REED: If there's ever
a season that defines

how climate change is making
storms worse, this season is it.

Tied for the hottest season
on record,

we've seen extreme weather
like never before.

Tornadoes,

wild fires,

flooding,

and this will go down in history
as the most

active hurricane season
in recorded history.

30 names storms, 13 hurricanes.

We've recorded some ground-breaking
data sensor inside these storms

and we're just getting started.

Now here we are
at the end of the tropical season

and we're looking at possible
tornado chasing.

So it's like the seasons
are blending together.

-I mean, now they don't end.
-MARK: Yeah.

MIKE: We gotta prepare
for tornado season.

No breaks in between anymore.