Storm chaser Tony Laubach details what it was like being on the ground for both of Ian's landfalls in 2022.
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00:00 For over two decades, AccuWeather meteorologist Tony Laubach has been chasing storms all over
00:04 the country, but it wasn't until the last couple years when those storms began to include
00:09 hurricanes.
00:10 He joins us live from his home near Johnstown, Colorado, to show us his chase of Hurricane
00:15 Ian, one year ago today.
00:17 Tony?
00:18 Yeah, Kevin, that was certainly one of the different points of my career, having spent
00:25 a majority of my time chasing storms across the Central Plains in landlocked states, Ian
00:30 was one of the first and certainly one of the most devastating storms I've chased coming
00:34 off of the waters.
00:37 Punta Gorda, ground zero for Ian as it roared into the state just shy of a Category 5 intensity,
00:46 with winds gusting over 120 miles per hour, wreaking havoc on the north side of the storm's
00:51 eye.
00:56 This was my first major hurricane eye-wall intercept after over 25 years of chasing supercells
01:01 across the Central landlocked states.
01:04 Hurricane Ian continued on its rampage across Florida, and the following day we watched
01:08 the outer bands of then-tropical Storm Ian crashing rough surf across the shores of Jacksonville
01:13 Beach on the East Coast.
01:14 Heavier rains led to scenes like this in St. Augustine, south of Jacksonville, where storm
01:18 surge sent water all through town, flooding out streets and neighborhoods alike.
01:23 But Ian wasn't finished.
01:27 Gathering strength to again reclaim hurricane status, we followed it up the East Coast into
01:30 South Carolina, where it made its second U.S. landfall here near Georgetown as a Category
01:35 1 storm nearly 48 hours after I met it in Florida.
01:39 Hurricane-force winds ripped through the trees, some blocking major routes like here outside
01:43 Charleston, where crews with chainsaws raced to clear this large tree from Highway 17.
01:52 In towns along the coast, power lines were brought down by trees which were pushed over
01:55 in the winds, but worse was the storm surge.
02:02 Water flooded out areas in several coastal towns.
02:04 Here in Pawleys Island, south of Myrtle Beach, many streets look like this, some impassable
02:09 early but quickly receding as the storm moved north.
02:12 Eventually bringing the first glimpses of sun and blue skies that I had seen in over
02:16 two days.
02:17 One hurricane, two intercepts.
02:23 And looking back a year later, one of the things that stands out for me on Ian and several
02:27 of the hurricanes I've chased in the time since then, Kevin, is the duration of these
02:32 storms being primarily a tornado chase, or a lot of times we're in and out of these scenes
02:36 within just a couple hours, this lasting over the course of a couple of days.
02:41 Yeah, such a big difference, Tony.
02:44 And hey, we appreciate the fact that you're expanding your chasing to hurricanes.
02:49 We remember it well from last year, and hopefully it's a little bit quieter for the rest of
02:53 this year.
02:54 Thanks a lot, Tony.
02:55 We'll be looking back at Hurricane Ian throughout the night.