Documentary - Hurricane Hugo - Luquillo, Puerto Rico - September 18, 1989

This is my Hurricane Hugo chase video. The footage was taken during Hugo's landfall on the northeast tip of Puerto Rico at Luquillo. In my 25 years of hurricane chasing, this remains, overall, the best footage I have ever been fortunate enough to capture. Though I have been in stronger hurricanes, given that Hugo was a Category Four and the strongest portion of the eyewall passed directly over my location (during daylight hours), I had the rare opportunity to document the full force of an intense hurricane at a direct coastal location. Though significant damage begins about 8 minutes into the video, the peak winds occur between 10 through 21 minutes in, and are sustained near 135mph with gusts to 160-170mph. An anemometer on the island of Culebra (just offshore Eastern Puerto Rico) reported a peak gust of 170mph when the same portion of the eyewall passed over that location a couple of hours prior to reaching Luquillo.



YouTube - Hurricane Hugo - Luquillo, Puerto Rico - September 18, 1989