Josh Morgerman
Why Morgerman chases storms
Josh Morgerman has gone into the eye of nearly 50 hurricanes by choice, said S.I. Rosenbaum in Outside. He’s among a small group of hobbyists who chase giant tropical storms around the world; when residents are racing to evacuate, Morgerman, 49, is often on an inbound flight. “It’s like a hunger for food or sex,” he says. “It’s very innate, it’s hard to verbalize, and it drives you.” The fascination started when he saw The Wizard of Oz as a boy. Growing up on Long Island, N.Y., he got what he wishes for in 1985’s Hurricane Gloria. “The wind starts to go nutty, the house is shaking, trees are being blown down,” he says. “Holy crap, I was so excited.” From his California home, he constantly monitors the Global Forecast System, looking for brewing storms and hoping for a Category 5. “I start getting into hunting mode,” he says. “Less and less appetite, less and less sleep.” He does feel a little guilty about fetishizing something so deadly: He was in a hotel room in the Philippines in 2013 when Super Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people. But the obsession is all-consuming, he admits. “It’s why I’m not married and I don’t have kids. It sounds very selfish. I just didn’t want to be encumbered.” ■
April 12, 2019 THE WEEK
