In September of 2025, my work is generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I'm being forced to shut down my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.
After observing and documenting storms and their impacts for 18 years, I'm getting to round out my experiences with severe weather by dealing with damage to my own house in West Virginia this week. The straight-line wind event in Charleston, WV on Monday, April 4 snapped a tree in half in my backyard, with the top portion of the tree striking my house and causing apparently significant damage. In addition to cracked interior plaster and rainwater leaking inside, the tree ripped the gutters and power line feeders down, in addition to breaking some of the shingles. The cracks and leaks on the inside indicate serious damage has occured to the roof and/or walls. I'm in the process of going through getting estimates and preparing an insurance claim (trying to do as much as I can remotely from St. Louis). Here are some photos courtesy of my friend Ken and my neighbor's digital camera:
AC compressor unit knocked off of its pad:
My Grandmother's house in Dunbar, about 8 miles away, also lost a tree to the storm. This one also was snapped off midway up, and although it took down power lines, it did not damage the house. Photo courtesy of Rick Wilcox.
Damage was widespread in the Charleston metro from this event, with winds easily 60-70mph or more.
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From Dan: Please Read
To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice. Unfortunately it has become necessary, so please bear with me!
Please don't copy/upload this site's content to social media or other web sites. Those copies have been a critical problem for me, seriously harming this site and my photography/storm chasing operation by diverting traffic, viewers, engagement and income. "Credit" and "exposure" does not benefit this site or my operation, rather they threaten my ability to cover my operating expenses. Please read my full explanation for this notice here.
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