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THE WIND — I think the closest thing I’ve experienced to a hurricane was six years ago when Davis County experienced a severe windstorm. I remember waking up that morning to the sound of wind rattling my window and the newspaper we used as curtains and just knew this was going to be an interesting day.
If it wasn’t for the fact that it was finals week and I had to go take a test that day, I probably wouldn’t have left the house. But my roommate and I ventured out to campus where at least one window in the main building had shattered and students — including myself — struggled to stay standing up.
Later, after the power went out and a trampoline tumbled into our apartment complex, I learned that winds got up to 100 mph, which is well within the speed winds get to in a hurricane.
The Weather Channel reported that wind speeds in Hurricane Irma got as high as 142 mph. And even though residents probably didn’t have finals to worry about, that didn’t stop some people from going out and experiencing the fierce winds and rains Irma brought to Florida.
Storm chasers Juston Drake and Simon Brewer posted this video of Brewer standing in a 117 mph wind gust for at least 28 seconds.
Though for Brewer and Drake, this is just another day at work for them. Besides hurricanes, these storm chasers have tackled tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms, wildfires, floods and volcanoes where they record their experiences on Twitter, the Weather Channel and on the television show ‘Storm Riders.’
For now, I’ll stay safe inside during storms and leave it to storm chasers to experience earth’s most extreme weather.
Camilla Stimpson is a news writing intern for KSL.com and enjoys reporting on politics, crimes and her own awkward moments on 50shadesofawkward.com. When not writing, she can be found watching "30 Rock" or "Law & Order," napping, planning trips she can't afford and Googling dogs she can't have.
