01x01 - Hurricane Dorian

[bunniefuu]

(man yelling)

NARRATOR: The storm

of the century is closing in.

(dramatic music playing)

MAN 1: It's happening.

(wind wailing)

MAN 2: We are proceeding

inbound to Dorian.

NARRATOR: More intense than

any Atlantic storm ever recorded.

MAN 3: Holy (beep).

That part of the wall is gone.

WOMAN: Woo.

NARRATOR: This is Hurricane Dorian.

(man yelling)

NARRATOR: As storms hit

new extremes and defy prediction

(man screams)

National Geographic gave cameras

to more than 1,000 marine workers

to film wherever storms might strike,

right around the globe

on a scale never seen before.

This is what came back from our cameras.

Caught in the path of Hurricane Dorian,

the fiercest Atlantic hurricane

in history.

(thunder cracking)

(tense music playing)

RON YOW: Just your standard VHF radio.

(radio beeps)

And--

- (man speaking on radio)

- YOW: This is the marine forecast.

This is the main thing we listen to

when we're out.

NARRATOR: It's deep into hurricane season.

Ron Yow is starting out

on a regular 10-day trip

on his shrimp boat Sea King,

taking with him one of our cameras.

YOW (off screen): We are shrimping

offshore of St. Augustine Beach.

And this is what it's looking like

outside right now,

which isn't so bad.

NARRATOR: Out in the Atlantic,

a buildup of storm clouds,

watched by weather satellites,

has begun to grow.

As its winds 40 miles per hour,

it's classed as a tropical storm

and is given a name.

(tense music playing)

Dorian.

YOW (off screen): We're just gonna keep

an eye on it, and hope for the best.

That's what we're doing.

We're not waiting, we gotta go fishing.

Boat's ready, we're fueled up,

everything's green light for go.

NARRATOR: Sea King

is one of hundreds of vessels,

now off Florida's Atlantic coast,

that have taken our cameras to sea,

as they keep watch on the new storm.

MAN: You see,

that's Tropical Storm Dorian.

You can see that the wind has changed.

NARRATOR: One of them

is container ship Somers Isles.

MAN: It's predicted to becoming

quite bad in the coming days.

(wind whooshing)

(tense music playing)

NARRATOR: Tropical Storm Dorian

is now bearing down on Barbados

where another camera is rolling onboard

the tug Pelican II.

SVITZER IV: All right, the weather

is deteriorating already.

The sea's a bit more choppy than usual.

Instead of coming

from an easterly directly,

which is from that direction,

the wind is now coming

from southeasterly direction.

Welcome to sunny Barbados.

NARRATOR: For a tropical storm

to develop into a hurricane,

a warm ocean is vital.

When temperatures top 79 degrees,

conditions are ripe.

By late summer, the sun's effect

is at its peak,

and this year from Florida

to the Caribbean,

the sea temperature

is hitting a record high.

YOW: The water's 83,

and I'm sure by the Bahamas,

it's in the mid to upper 80s.

There's plenty of, you know, warm water.

That's what sets it off,

and that's the gasoline for the storm.

NARRATOR: As Dorian draws energy

from the superheated ocean

(tense music playing)

it's threat level is rising.

(water gurgles)

GEORGE NILES: I just wish

that it don't come here.

Two years ago, when we got Hurricane Irma,

we lost about half of our lobster gear.

And now with Dorian

coming as big as it is,

you know we'd probably lose 100%

if we had a direct hit.

REPORTER: All right, South Florida, we

are tracking what is now Hurricane Dorian.

NARRATOR: Hitting full hurricane strength

with 75-mile-per hour winds,

Dorian crashes into the US Virgin Islands.

Within hours, wind speeds hit a new high

of 85 miles per hour.

Dorian is growing stronger,

and bearing down on Florida

at 300 miles a day.

MAN (off screen): All right,

we're the only game in town today.

So we're the reco mission

heading out to Hurricane Dorian.

NARRATOR: In Florida, Flight NOAA42

is moments from takeoff.

MAN: Wingside, I'm ready.

NARRATOR: This is America's primary asset

in forecasting how a storm will behave,

the P-3 Hurricane Hunter,

an airborne weather station

that flies right into the storm

(people murmuring)

taking with it one of our cameras.

MIKE HOLMES: We march into the storm

and we directly measure things

that can't be measured any other way.

MAN (on radio): NOAA42,

on departure, turn left, heading 180,

runway 27, clear for takeoff.

(tense music playing)

NARRATOR: Their mission

is to fly through the eye

to pinpoint Dorian's exact center

and gather data

essential for forecast accuracy.

Radio sensors dropped

from the plane, called sondes,

are the only way to get vital readings

from inside a storm.

MAN 1 (on radio): All right,

good course, good speed.

NARRATOR: After three hours airborne,

the target is in sight.

MAN 2 (over radio):

So it that Dorian at 10 o'clock?

MAN 1 (over radio): That it would be.

10 more miles.

MAN (over radio):

We'll get set up on a line.

And we're gonna try

to find the eye of the storm.

(tense music playing)

MAN 1 (over radio): Inside, 30 seconds.

MAN 2 (over radio): Roger, 30.

MAN 1 (over radio):

Seatbelt light's coming on.

(seat belt sign dings)

MAN 1 (over radio): 10 seconds.

HOLMES: The wind speeds

start to come up.

We get bumped around a fair bit

and then you start to hit the eyewall.

MAN 1 (over radio):

Here we go, here we go.

HOLMES: Which is essentially

this wall of precipitation.

NARRATOR: The eyewall

is where a hurricane's winds

are at their most powerful.

HOLMES: One of the motors

is right out with window,

and the rain is so intense

that I can't see the motor,

and it's not a meter out my window.

It's phenomenal.

NARRATOR: The rain impacts the propeller

with so much force it hits the metal.

(tense music playing)

HOLMES:

Once we're inside of the eyewall,

we actually follow the winds,

and when they get to zero knots,

that is the center.

MAN 1 (over radio):

We're going into it now

(tense music playing)

HOLMES: The most critical thing

of every mission is fixing the center.

MAN 1 (over radio):

Mark center, no turbulence.

HOLMES: When we do, we drop a sonde.

MAN 2 (over radio): Release sonde.

(sonde whooshes)

TECHNICIAN (over radio): Sonde is away.

(tense music playing)

MAN 1 (over radio): Steady on 045.

HOLMES: And every successive drop

recorded lower pressure.

MAN 2 (over radio): Three

Two

One.

Which clearly highlighted to us

that Dorian was intensifying.

MAN 2 (over radio): Release sonde.

TECHNICIAN (over radio): Sonde is away.

(sonde whooshes)

NARRATOR: The flight's data

is beamed straight

to the National Hurricane Center,

where the new information confirms

that the threat from Dorian is escalating.

MIKE BRENNAN: And we're forecasting

Dorian to go on

and become a major hurricane now

within the next 24 hours.

That's Category 3, 4, 5 on

the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

NARRATOR: At Category 4,

a hurricane's potential for destruction

is 200 times greater than at Category 1.

And as it advances across the ocean,

the prospect of Dorian making landfall

looks ever more certain.

BRENNAN: Talking about

the life-threatening storm surge and winds

in the northwestern Bahamas

and potential for devastating

winds and storm surge

along the Florida east coast,

a potentially catastrophic hurricane event

in portions of the Bahamas and Florida.

MAN (off screen): Woo.

All right, let me put this on video.

(thunder cracking)

NARRATOR: Off Florida's east coast,

fisherman are on guard

for any change in the weather.

They're among hundreds

of marine workers using our cameras

to capture tropical storms

whenever and wherever they appear.

MAN: We got Hurricane Dorian

coming this way.

Be here Saturday night.

NARRATOR: In the Atlantic,

the biggest storm for decades

is building fast.

Rapid intensification sees Dorian leap

in less than 24 hours

from a Category 2 hurricane to Category 4.

(tense music playing)

Directly in its path,

the island of Great Abaco

in the northwest Bahamas.

And beyond that,

Florida and the Port of Miami,

the busiest cruise ship terminal

in the world

and a vital hub for freight.

CAPT. JO-ANN BURDIAN:

Okay, good morning, everyone.

This is Captain Burdian.

Thanks for joining us here on the phone.

NARRATOR: Responsibility

for the Port's safety

rests with the U.S. Coast Guard,

under Sector Miami's commander,

Captain Jo-Ann Burdian.

CAPT. BURDIAN: Just took a look

at the 1100 update for Hurricane Dorian,

and it looks like

anticipating the first arrival

of storm-force winds

sometime overnight Saturday,

late Saturday, early Sunday morning.

NARRATOR: A hurricane strike on a port

can be catastrophic,

doing damage valued

at billions of dollars.

The ultimate precaution is

to evacuate the port and shut it down.

CAPT. BURDIAN:

We talk a lot about port closure

but it's a balancing act

to preserve the safety of

the men and women who live and work here

with efficient maritime commerce.

NARRATOR: One day's closure has an impact

on Florida's economy

of over 100 million dollars.

CAPT. BURDIAN: My position here,

as the captain of the port

and as the sector commander,

is that safety is paramount.

Captain of the port has ordered

Port Condition X-Ray be set at noon today.

All ocean-going commercial vessels

greater than 500 gross tons

must prepare

to depart the ports and anchorages.

NARRATOR: Post Condition X-Ray

is the trigger

CAPT. BURDIAN:

All right, thank you. Let's roll.

NARRATOR: f or evacuation.

MAN (off screen): All right, guys.

Let's go to sea.

(people murmuring)

NARRATOR: Leading to

complete closure of the port.

(tense music playing)

All ships will head to sea

to escape the storm

while there's still time.

As Dorian's threat increases,

the decision to close Port Miami

is followed by ports further north.

In Port Canaveral,

all boats are ordered to leave.

MATT BEEDLE: All right.

Port's making us get out.

I got a Cat 4 coming

breathing down our necks.

NARRATOR: One of our cameras is with

fisherman Matt Beedle,

captain with commercial fishing fleet,

Wild Ocean.

BEEDLE: I mean the Wild Ocean fleet,

Sindy Sue, Miss Lynn, myself,

going into what they call a barge canal.

They used to use it

to haul coal and everything

to the power plant up in Titusville.

Now we'll try and get tied up

and hunker down.

NARRATOR: While large ships

must head out to sea,

smaller boats can seek shelter inland,

but some can be reluctant to quit

while they could still be fishing.

BEEDLE: You got other boats in the port

that are supposed to be going with us,

and they play the game of,

"Oh, we're not going yet."

And if they can't get out of the port,

the port fines them $30,000 a day.

Plus, if you leave your boat up here

and it breaks loose

and does any damage to anything

or any other boats,

you are responsible

and you are gonna pay out your butt.

(indistinct chatter on radio)

Herb, I guess I'll just go in front of ya.

NARRATOR: The Wild Ocean fleet

will meet to tie up

at a mooring they've used

in previous storms.

(tense music playing)

BEEDLE (off screen): This is the most

boats I've seen up here

ever for a storm.

I ain't ever seen boats up here

like this before.

All these people

that got their boats on the south side,

that is the worst place you wanna be on.

The problem with it is

it's gonna be north and east winds.

It's gonna be at the back of their boats,

not at the bow of their boats.

It's gonna spin those sumbitches around

and put more stress

on their lines than anything.

John, I'm gonna pass you on your port side

and turn around

and put my nose into the wind.

NARRATOR: On the north shore,

the boats are latched together

BEEDLE: Throw 'em that.

NARRATOR: f or increased stability.

BEEDLE (off screen): Throw that line.

Tie it to the bowline.

It's probably already on the beach now.

MAN: You're on the beach.

NARRATOR: Category 4 Hurricane Dorian

is now entering an ominous new phase.

Seen from space,

it's like a monster waking

as Dorian opens its eye.

(tense music playing)

A circular clearing at its center

is a sign of a well-established storm

with the strength to go on growing.

In the next 24 hours,

Hurricane Dorian will make history

in a way no one could have anticipated.

MAN (off screen): September 1st, 2019.

Prepping for the hurricane.

Highest ground in Hatteras

is inside of a truck.

WOMAN 1 (off screen): Top of the morning.

It's about like 6:56.

WOMAN: Ain't nothing happening now

It's just some wind

Some rain. Nothing too crazy yet.

MAN: Shrimp is really good right now.

The shrimp are very plentiful.

Shame the storm is coming on our part.

(thunder cracking)

NARRATOR: 8:00 a.m.

Dorian is flexing its muscles.

(tense music playing)

REPORTER: Winds have been bumped up

to 160 miles per hour.

Hurricane hunters flew through there

and found some stronger winds,

some lower pressure as well,

so they upgraded it.

NARRATOR: Bearing down

on the island of Great Abaco,

Dorian's power intensifies

in three mighty steps.

With the eye five miles from the island,

its winds leap to 185 miles per hour.

REPORTER: 185 mile-per-hour winds.

We could see gusts

up to 220 miles per hour.

We've never seen that before.

So this is a historical event

that is unfolding right before our eyes.

NARRATOR: In the hours before impact,

Dorian has intensified at a rate never

observed before in a storm so strong.

MAN (off screen):

The ocean's already huge here,

and the storm's so far away.

Praying for those people in the Bahamas.

Shoo.

(wind wailing)

WOMAN (off screen):

Okay, time is now 11:52.

WOMAN: The wind has just picked up.

Like a lot, a lot.

It's starting to scare me now.

NARRATOR: Just before noon,

Sunday, September 1st,

Dorian slams

into the island of Great Abaco

to become the most powerful hurricane ever

to hit the Bahamas.

(wind wailing)

MAN: It's 12 o'clock, and stuff's

definitely starting to come apart.

All the coconut trees have snapped off.

NARRATOR: Dorian's extreme winds

gust to a strength

only experienced inside a tornado.

(woman exclaiming)

NARRATOR: The intense pounding

is prolonged

by Dorian's slow speed of travel

across the island.

MAN: Look at that,

open ocean coming across

from the parking lot, the street,

to the marina.

NARRATOR: Dorian's winds have pushed

a 20-foot wall of water onshore.

WOMAN (off screen):

We standing right here.

The apartment building

As we stand, the whole roof came off.

Please pray for us.

Please pray for us, everyone.

Please pray for us.

Pray for Abaco, please, I'm begging y'all.

NARRATOR: By mid-afternoon

MAN (off screen): The eye is here.

NARRATOR: Dorian's eye is now over

the town of Marsh Harbour.

WOMAN: Woo, Abaco.

NARRATOR: An opening in the clouds

17 miles wide.

But Dorian's as*ault

on the northwest Bahamas

is just getting started.

(thunder cracking)

CAPT. BURDIAN: Good afternoon, Admiral.

Jo Burdian.

We're commencing our 24-hour IM

in anticipation

of tropical storm force winds

arriving within the AOR overnight tonight.

That's all I have, pending your questions.

ADMIRAL (over radio): Thanks, Jo.

NARRATOR: In Miami Coast Guard HQ,

Captain Burdian's incident management team

is briefing all units in the sector.

ADMIRAL (over radio): Do we have anyone

from the Bahamas online?

Okay.

(wind whooshing)

MAN 1 (over radio):

Here we go. Here we go.

Go, we are proceeding inbound to Dorian.

NARRATOR: The hurricane hunter NOAA42

is on its 12th mission

into the eye of Dorian.

MAN 2 (over radio):

Dorian, you've changed.

That is such a different storm.

NARRATOR: Dorian's eye has opened wide.

MAN 1 (over radio): There's a Grand Bahama

sized hole in this wall.

NARRATOR: A stadium of clouds

now 23 miles across.

(tense music playing)

MAN 1 (over radio): It's ugly.

Three, two, one, release mid-point sonde.

Science equipment is go.

NARRATOR: What they discover

is a hammer blow.

As Dorian reaches

the island of Grand Bahama

MAN 1 (over radio):

A very unfortunate place to stall.

NARRATOR: it's westward movement

has stopped.

(tense music playing)

The most powerful Atlantic hurricane

to make landfall

has stalled over northwest Bahamas'

most populated island.

BRENNAN: A storm moving

at a normal speed at that intensity

is going to be devastating.

To have a storm

basically sit over the same general area

is about the worst type of scenario

you could imagine for those areas

in terms of the impacts.

(melancholy music playing)

MAN (off screen):

This is what's left of the resort.

And there's some of the boats

that were in the marina.

NARRATOR: For 36 hours,

Dorian has subjected the Bahamas

to the most

prolonged and powerful battering

of a populated place ever recorded.

HOLMES: It's difficult

to fly over these areas

and look down at the devastation.

To see the level of violence

that these storms can exert

on the surface of the Earth,

and suffering of the people

that are on the ground.

But we gotta get over it.

Because our focus

is the current observation

and how that translates

into protecting people

in the coming days

for this particular storm.

It's a challenge. It's a challenge.

(tense music playing)

BRENNAN: At this point in time,

we're forecasting Dorian

to move north-northwestward,

moving just offshore

of the Florida east coast,

all the way up to North Carolina.

So the impacts

are gonna be over a very large area now.

MAN: Soon as you get it to him,

then get in on there

and get that tied off

and get that bowline.

NARRATOR: Dorian is now heading

for the east coast of the US.

In Mayport, Sea King's captain Ron

is alive to the growing danger.

YOW: Well, with the storm coming,

the wind's gonna be out hard

at the north and the northeast,

I'm wanting to get my bow

headed up into it.

Storms are very unpredictable.

I'm not endangering anyone for money.

That's not worth it to me.

(tense music playing)

MAN 1: It's just crazy out here, man.

It's scary a little bit.

NARRATOR: On the fishing boat Gooch,

off North Carolina,

the spreading anxiety

is captured on camera.

(thunder cracking)

MAN 1: Lightning coming this way.

MAN 2: Y'all wanted a documentary.

You're getting it as real as it gets.

(thunder cracking)

TAYLOR KELSEY AIKEN: It's do or die now.

We're cleaning all of our product

and freezing it, so we don't lose it.

NARRATOR: Hatteras,

on the outer banks of North Carolina,

is on a countdown

to collision with Dorian.

At Jeffrey's Seafood,

brothers Taylor and Kelsey Aiken

handle distribution for

a number of fishing boats on the island.

TAYLOR AIKEN: Trying to get all of

our fish outta here.

They'll be paid for it

and we'll make money on it,

so at least we'll be able to

get something outta this,

ahead of the storm anyway.

NARRATOR: A mandatory evacuation

comes into effect later today.

They need to get as much of their fish

as they can on the last truck out.

(tense music playing)

(truck horn honks)

TAYLOR AIKEN: We were able to get

all of our fresh product out on the truck,

but we had $20,000 worth of product

in our freezer

that we had to, you know, hold onto.

NARRATOR: The risk now is storm surge,

and with it, power outage and flooding.

The freezer is just a few feet

above the ocean.

TAYLOR AIKEN: If it blows 35, 40, 50 miles

an hour out of the northwest,

all that water from across the sound

will come here, and it'll flood.

That's what happened the previous years

when Matthew came.

This right here, that's how high

it was in here in Hurricane Matthew.

That's five foot of water in here,

you know?

But that was insane.

I've never ever seen it that high.

KELSEY AIKEN: That's the latest

satellite image of Hurricane Dorian.

TAYLOR AIKEN: By 8:00 p.m. tomorrow,

it'll be in North Carolina,

and by 8:00 a.m. Friday morning,

it'll be on top of us.

KELSEY AIKEN: Yeah, I don't know,

it doesn't look very good,

to be honest with ya.

NARRATOR: Further north

in the Port of Wilmington,

cargo vessel Ice Ranger

is due to leave for Florida.

With Dorian in their path

and coming this way,

they've made a bold plan

to skirt around the storm.

Leaving port ahead of Dorian's arrival,

they'll pass within 80 nautical miles

of the eye

on their course

for Port Canaveral, Florida.

Taking command for the two-day voyage,

Ukrainian captain, Zakhar Zemlyakov.

CAPT. ZAKHAR ZEMLYAKOV: I am very proud.

I was promoted

5 days ago.

All the responsibility

is now on my shoulders.

Little bit scared

but I have experienced crew.

NARRATOR: Passing this close

to Dorian's eye,

Zakhar expects to face large swells.

(tense music playing)

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen):

This type of cargo is concentrated juice.

It's a very heavy box.

About 1.6 metric tonnes.

When the ship is moving, rocking,

the cargo could shift to one side.

It could be dangerous for us.

KELSEY AIKEN:

We're looking at some flooding

from what they're saying.

They'll be a foot of water

in that house right there.

(tense music playing)

NARRATOR: In Hatteras,

mandatory evacuation

of the island has begun.

TAYLOR AIKEN: It can be that drastic, that

the storm wipes out the roads so bad,

that it takes weeks, even months,

to repair sometimes.

So Kelsey and I, we made a decision

that we were gonna stay

because we wanna be here for our fishermen

and we wanna be here

and be able to recover

everything we can, as fast as we can.

(alarm beeps)

TAYLOR AIKEN: There's the official warning

right there.

Hurricane warning in this area.

Pretty much telling you

that if you haven't made plans

to get out of here,

it's probably time to do it.

(tense music playing)

TAYLOR AIKEN:

Yep, I'm here, this is happening.

You know, there's no going back.

This is what we're doing.

TAYLOR AIKEN: September 5th, 2019,

at my house, ready to go.

Bring what you got, Dorian.

A lot of people left.

We're here for it now.

Whoa, did you see that?

NARRATOR: On the outer banks,

fishing crews keep our cameras running

as they head ashore

to take care of their property.

MAN 1: Man,

it's definitely picking up here.

It is what it is.

NARRATOR: As Hurricane Dorian

prowls the eastern seaboard,

GPS data shows vessels steering clear

of its vast wind field.

But Ice Ranger continues on its course

into Dorian's storm force winds.

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen): Valeriy!

Introduce yourself please.

VALERIY KISELYUK:

My name is Valeriy Kiselyuk.

Second officer on motor vessel Ice Ranger.

I'm duty officer right now.

Now we are receiving Inmarsat-C signal.

It's all about Dorian.

Very

scary storm.

NARRATOR: For every 10 miles,

they burn over a ton of fuel.

But taking the shortest route

must be balanced

against the safety of the ship.

(ship creaking)

KISELYUK: With this weather it's difficult

even walking the deck.

(wind wailing)

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen):

The wind is very strong.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, man. Careful.

(tense music playing)

NARRATOR: The planned route

requires the crew to be on high alert,

ready to respond to any change

in Dorian's trajectory or power.

(ship creaking)

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen):

Of course nobody sleep this night.

You can't even drink the coffee.

No more coffee. No more tea.

Just only keep the watch.

(ship creaking)

NARRATOR: Hurricane Dorian

is moments from making a direct hit

on Hatteras, North Carolina,

its first and only US landfall.

TAYLOR AIKEN: So it's happening.

(wind wailing)

TAYLOR AIKEN (off screen): Seven o'clock,

September 6th, Friday morning,

we are almost in the eye, you can see it

right there, the whole storm.

And so, it begins.

The power just went out, right now.

And then internet goes out,

and then your phone service goes out.

And then you're like,

"Okay, now I'm really trapped"

because you're not only

physically trapped,

now you're virtually trapped, as well.

(wind wailing)

KELSEY AIKEN: Ooh, what you gonna do?

As the eye is approaching,

you're getting that inner eyewall,

most powerful winds and driving rain

and it's gusting

to about 100 miles an hour,

and pretty wild hearing

the shingles go whoock, whoock,

you know, come off your roof.

(tense music playing)

KELSEY AIKEN (off screen): As you can see,

it's just blowing really, really hard.

As you get though the eyewall

(wind wailing)

you can see it from a distance,

the light changes.

It goes from being very dark

to being lighter, lighter,

and then it goes like dead calm, silent.

(tense music playing)

TAYLOR AIKEN (off screen): Officially,

officially in the eye, look at the flag.

KELSEY AIKEN: Wow, we're in the eye.

The birds come out and they fly

to wherever they think is gonna be safe.

Animals kinda come out

of their hiding where they were,

and then all of us come out

and explore and see like,

you know, "Wow,

we're in the middle of this."

It's very strange. It's very eerie.

Gives me the chills

just thinking about it.

(tense music playing)

NARRATOR: Hatteras is the most

hurricane prone city in the US.

But even here, being in the eye

is an extraordinary event.

MAN (off screen): Hey, hey.

- Everyone all right?

- WOMAN (off screen): Hey.

TAYLOR AIKEN: I had to go look.

I couldn't take it. I had to go.

KELSEY AIKEN: There was literally

six inches of water

in the bottom of the creek

still draining out towards the sound.

WOMAN (off screen): I mean,

you don't see it this low.

Sometimes you see the bank over there,

but not all this exposed here.

KELSEY AIKEN: When all that water

gets sucked out on the southeast wind,

and then as soon as we get that shift

and that northwest eyewall comes,

it pushes all the water back.

It comes all at once,

like a wall of water.

TAYLOR AIKEN: Next thing you know

(alarm wailing)

TAYLOR AIKEN: There you go. (laughing)

Okay, y'all stay safe.

KELSEY AIKEN (off screen): Bye.

TAYLOR AIKEN:

It's time to get back inside.

WOMAN (off screen): All right, bye guys.

See you soon.

NARRATOR: The eye is surrounded by a band

of the storm's most violent winds,

following just minutes behind.

TAYLOR AIKEN (off screen): See that?

That's all rain water rushing off the back

into the sound.

I could see the front coming.

I barely get to the house and it starts

blowing hard again and raining.

All right.

The rain started getting really heavy.

Look, that water's coming up so fast.

This is nuts.

TAYLOR AIKEN: Shoulda went home earlier.

Woo!

TAYLOR AIKEN: Let's go!

Whoa, whoa!

That sign. Look at that sign!

Whoa!

(ship creaking)

KISELYUK (off screen):

This is motor vessel Ice Ranger.

We are passing very closely Dorian.

Whoa!

(ship creaking)

NARRATOR: Ice Ranger is at

the most critical part of its journey,

passing within 70 miles

of Hurricane Dorian's eye.

(instruments clashing)

KISELYUK: Very strong.

(ship creaking)

Now we have the captain on the bridge.

He's come to alter the course

to starboard.

NARRATOR: Their plan

is to change direction,

cutting through Dorian's wake

to make for port.

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen):

Now we have a swell of 6.5 meters.

And a significant wave 7.9 meters.

NARRATOR: In heavy seas,

the cargo in Ice Ranger's hold

is at risk of breaking free

of its bindings,

causing a shift in weight

that would leave her gravely unstable.

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen):

Check it out, guys.

37 degrees to starboard.

NARRATOR: In the 25-foot swells,

the rolling motion

is at the ship's safe limit.

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen): Whoa.

(ship creaking)

KISELYUK: Right now

is everything falling down.

(dishes crashing)

NARRATOR: Fighting against

the strong wind and waves,

the Ice Ranger's top speed

is reduced by more than half.

(ship creaking)

KISELYUK: Speed right now is 8 knots.

CAPT. ZEMLYAKOV (off screen):

Unbelievable.

(ship creaking)

NARRATOR: Diverting around Dorian

has added a day to the journey.

(ship creaking)

(wind wailing)

TAYLOR AIKEN (off screen): Yeah,

this is the backside of the eyewall,

the other side of the hurricane.

This is the flooding side.

(wind howling)

TAYLOR AIKEN (off screen): Yeah,

this (bleep) is about to get real.

This is what we got.

It is flooding.

In my backyard, there's been waves.

KELSEY AIKEN (off screen): Pretty gnarly.

NARRATOR: In Hatteras,

Dorian's Category 1 winds

have pushed

a seven-foot wall of water onshore.

A tsunami-like storm surge is ripping

though North Carolina's outer banks.

KELSEY AIKEN: Honestly, right now,

the worst thing is things floating

into your house and taking down

the structure that's there.

Wow, look at it rushing right there.

That is insane.

Can't go past the river.

I'm going inside.

Shut it, shut it, shut it, shut it.

Oh, holy (beep).

Just hoping the wind falls out soon.

Now we were getting messages

from friends and people

saying it was the worst they'd ever seen.

There's the coast guard right there.

(melancholy music playing)

KELSEY AIKEN: Flying around

checking on everybody.

(tense music playing)

(birds chirping)

KELSEY AIKEN (off screen):

It's Friday, September 6th.

It's finally going down.

As far as I know,

everyone's safe in Hatteras.

TAYLOR AIKEN: We're safe.

(melancholy music playing)

NARRATOR: Dorian's passage over Hatteras

lasted four hours.

Even more devastating

than its 90-mile-per-hour winds

was the seven-foot storm surge

that swept across the island.

KELSEY AIKEN:

It buckled the walls right here.

(Kelsey sighing)

Wow, there was a lot of force

coming through here for sure.

TAYLOR AIKEN: All said and done,

we lost thousands of dollars

of frozen fish product,

and we had thousands of dollars

of damage to our business.

KELSEY AIKEN: Holy (beep).

That part of the wall is gone.

All right, we're in.

(dramatic music playing)

KELSEY AIKEN:

You're looking at the damages

and you're saying to yourself

you know, "Well, that sucks,

but all that can be replaced, you know?"

WOMAN: Back down.

KELSEY AIKEN: All right, go.

TAYLOR AIKEN: We're pretty fortunate

considering how bad it could've been.

Compared to what happened in the Bahamas,

we've lost, you know, nothing pretty much.

All right.

Let's not blow the door.

Woo, yeah, good work, guys.

NARRATOR: Cape Hatteras

was the only point in the US

where Dorian made landfall.

Days later, the Aiken brothers

were back in business.

Ice Ranger

arrived safely in Port Canaveral

under the skilled guidance

of its new captain.

In the Bahamas,

Hurricane Dorian was

the island's worst ever natural disaster.

This catastrophic as*ault lasted 27 hours,

the most prolonged battering

by an Atlantic hurricane

of any populated place

in recorded history.