I experienced Hurricane Irma which was the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in recorded history. It was a Category 5 storm when it made landfall on Barbuda on September 6, 2017. Its winds were 185 miles per hour for 37 hours. That's longer than any storm ever recorded!

Irma held 7 trillion watts of energy. That's twice as much as all bombs used in World War II. Its force was so powerful that earthquake seismometers recorded it. It generated the most accumulated cyclone energy in a 24-hour period. Irma is the 5th costliest hurricane in recorded history, causing widespread and catastrophic damage throughout its long lifetime. It was also the most intense hurricane to strike the continental United States since Katrina in 2005.

My father captured an image of me in Hurricane Irma's powerful winds. In this photo I'm right at the edge of the water, about 2 blocks away from the shoreline. I was actually standing inside Tampa bay next to bayshore boulevard. Normally the water would be at least 6-7 feet deep where I was standing but the hurricane had sucked all that water up. Shortly afterwards, the ocean surged back in but we escaped just in time.

It was exciting to experience this once in a lifetime natural phenomenon. And to be able to share it with my father as we photographed everything, made it that much more memorable.