The Storm Chasers Tell Their Stories - with 2009 updates!

Sean Casey - TIV Chief and Champion Storm Chaser
"I was on Christmas Island for six weeks filming red crabs mating and migrating to the seashore to deposit their eggs in the Indian Ocean. The island had a large enough population to support a public library but was small enough to give me 'island fever.' So I'm doing a lot of reading, because the crabs are slow to mate this year for some reason or another, and one of the books I've checked out is on storm chasing and the idea hit me to go out to the Midwest with an IMAX camera and see how hard it was to film tornadoes. On the very first chase day I was hooked and have been going out each year for the past nine seasons. Every year I got more comfortable with the act of chasing tornadoes and each year I had the desire to get closer. So I came up with the concept of building a vehicle that we could actually drive into a tornado. With the TIV we could film the action up close where all the drama and power is found and do so in the relative safety of a 16,000-pound armored vehicle."

Ronan P. Nagle - TIV Driver
"My first experience with tornadoes was during the 'super outbreak' in April 1974. Huddling in my grandparents' basement with the emergency broadcast tone sounding on the TV is one of my earliest memories. In 2000, I spent two months chasing tornadoes and it was love at first chase. Since then, storm chasing has been something that I look forward to all year long. This season will be my 7th season, 5th with the TIV/TIV2. I had to miss a few years, as I was starting my production company in NY. That’s when I figured I needed to come up with a way to combine my profession and my passion for storm chasing. In the fall of 2005, I teamed up with Original Media (the production company that makes the series) to pitch the show to Discovery, and the rest is TV history."

"Last year was hard dealing with TIV2, but it reminded me a little of the first year in TIV1, the ‘shake and bake’ year, when Sean and I had our fair share of problems. Among other things, we had a fire in the vehicle when all of the batteries, we had mounted in the back of the ‘passenger compartment,’ flipped on each other, and in the last moment we had to crawl past the noxious fumes only to discover that every wire had fried! As luck would have it, the first person to pull over to assist turned out to a gentleman that did specialty wiring for hot rods. He took us to his home, put us up for three days and rewired the entire vehicle! In all my years, we have been fortunate enough to come across amazingly generous people wherever we go!"

"I love adventure and doing things that only a few people will dare to do. When I tell people what we are attempting to do with the TIV, they assume we're crazy, but I feel it's a calculated risk that is worth taking. During the other 10 months of the year, I live less dangerously working as a producer in New York."

Byron Turk - TIV Navigator
"Born in Georgia and raised in California, I studied film in sunny Santa Barbara at UCSB. While initially interested in music and movies, my life would be changed forever when a former teacher of mine, Jackie Apodaca, passed my name along to her friend Sean Casey who needed help on his IMAX movie. A summer of storm chasing later left me with a new friend and a new obsession. Hooked on the adrenaline rush and desire to conquer the ultimate challenge, I eagerly and perhaps foolishly join Sean in his quest to achieve the unachievable: Intercept and film the perfect tornado. I also enjoy conversations with the meteorologists where they try to teach me what the clouds mean… they try ever so hard. Lack of good judgment has led me through four years and counting of this adventure. After last year's struggles, I am looking forward to a newly rejuvenated TIV2 and helping Sean film his IMAX movie this year. In the off season I work as a freelance filmmaker, play the guitar in my apartment, and like to eat cold soup right from the can. The Byron Fever … Catch It!""