All I did was grab some short videos of Hurricane Sandy’s impact with my iPhone and Flip cam and post them to my YouTube channel, meant for my music, and the next thing I know BBC World News is calling me to do live interviews from Manhattan on Halloween. I participated in two live interviews – one via SKYPE from my home and another from the New York City Bureau of BBC – to talk about Hurricane Sandy and share the videos from my YouTube channel. Over 5 million people watch those newscasts.
Just when I thought it could not get more interesting, Mentron Media, the production company hired by BBC Three to produce a documentary film on Hurricane Sandy, reaches out to me via my YouTube Channel and they want my video footage and to interview me as part of a documentary about how individuals were capturing the storm.
I said yes.
On November 15, 2012 BBC Three will air “Superstorm USA: Caught on Camera,” a one hour special airing at 10 p.m. If you live in the UK I hope you will be able to watch this story.
Below are some excepts about the film:
A fast turnaround documentary on how mobile phones and personal cameras captured the unforgettable images of Superstorm Sandy has been commissioned from Mentorn Media by BBC Three.
Superstorm USA: Caught on Camera, a hour special, will air at 10pm on Thursday, Nov 15.
Executive Producer Steve Anderson said: “From the moment that weather forecasters made their predictions, young people in New York and New Jersey documented the preparations, and then the frightening reality.
“Trees uprooting, power stations exploding and people being evacuated from homes while waist-deep in water; everything has been caught on personal phones and cameras by a generation that understands the power of instant video messaging.”
Mentorn despatched teams spent nights in makeshift accommodation as fuel shortages paralysed roads from the airports into New York City.
On a personal note, for those of you who do not live in Manhattan, I have to say this a very tragic event and we are still in recovery mode. I know personally people who lost power for days and even one person whose family home was 100% destroyed by the storm. People are still suffering in different parts of the city and many people are raising funds and volunteering to assist.
I was fortunate to have never lost power at home and even helped a friend charge their phone and gain internet access during this time. Please be thinking about us as we get back to normal.
I saw some interesting things happen with my YouTube Channel during Hurricane Sandy.
In two weeks since the storm, I have received 17,250 hits on my channel and 4 new subscribers, bringing total views to over 33,600. The bulk of those views were for one video, which the weather channel linked on their internet site, which has over 9,200 views so far (link HERE)
People viewed the aftermath of the Crane Collapse (link HERE)
Quite a few views on the cancelled New York Marathon that took place unofficially in Central Park. (link HERE)
BBC loved the video of people lined up outside of Trader Joe’s just to get into the store to buy food before the hurricane (link HERE). I had other media approached me about this footage also.
A deserted Times Square & Starbucks WiFi Grab caught people’s attention (link HERE)
These are amature shaky short videos, and yet, still tell a story. It’s my story and what I saw.
A reporter from the BBC said I was the first person to “report on” the lines oustide of various Starbucks of people getting the wifi. Hard to believe….and yet, I have at least 6 different Starbucks on my channel with the same lines out side.
Read the story 
