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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Steve Gibby in Middle of a Earthquake in Chile!

Very glad that you are safe and sound back in the arms of your significant other Gibby. Welcome home.
 
Steve Gibby said:
Hi Red Family! Just now I’m finally able to get back to a computer and visit Red User..
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Yes, we were a little bit worried about you...Glad to hear from you again and welcome back.
 
Wow! Welcome back Steve, it's great to know you made it back alive.

In the back of my mind I wonder about the Tokai Earthquake, which is overdue here in Tokyo according to predictions. I can only hope that if/when it does hit I'm outside somewhere with my Red and can capture it whilst staying as safe as possible.

Thanks for the amazing story!

Cheers from Japan,

Paul
 
Welcome back Steve! I´m very glad to hear you´re well. Thank you for your report. You wrote it with such a lot of passion that one can feel the suspense of the action you were in and the overwhelming sadness this tragedy leaves to the people and nature.
With a pray and a lot of compassion for the victims.
Marc
 
Steve Gibby said:
Thank you Christian for starting this thread…the people of Chile are beautiful and my heart goes out to them in this tragedy.
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You are very welcome Steve. Thank you for your kind words... Glad you are back safe.

I miss my country.
 
Hey Steve, so glad to hear you're alive and well. And you're right: we must always remember to live our lives as if this day is our last!
Carpe diem!
 
Steve Gibby said:
Hi Red Family! Just now I’m finally able to get back to a computer and visit Red User. My deepest thanks to all of you for the very kind words, prayers, and good wishes…over the many miles I could definitely feel your support.

As I mentioned in my text message to Jarred, I feel very badly for the people of Chile. They’ve suffered greatly in this earthquake and the multiple tsunamis it spawned. Please say a prayer or send some positive thoughts to them. In my visit I found them to be very family-oriented, hard working, and friendly – they love life. The images of their suffering that I witnessed will always be with me. They’re strong and will come back – but it will take some time.

Our lives were nearly taken in Chile. We were using Red #5543 to film Peregrine falcons being satellite tagged before they migrate back to North America. Our work was right on the coast about 6 hours southwest of Santiago, just north of a small city on the Rio Maule named Constitution.

Our rooms were in the back a small restaurant, just about 200’ from the ocean, and maybe 8’ above sea level. South of us were large sand dunes. In front of us fishermen would beach their small boats and sell their daily catch. The peace of this setting was shattered at 3:34am on Saturday, February 27. In the pitch dark there came a growing rumble, then the ground began to shake. At first I hoped it would be just a small tremor – but seconds later there came a giant roar, and the ground shook so violently it was impossible to stand up for almost two minutes! Things were crashing and breaking. I said a prayer - the first of many that day and in the days to come. I just knew a tsunami would follow. As the shaking began to ease I could hear the wildlife biologists on the crew yelling something I already knew - that we had to leave quickly! Crawling around the room in the dark I somehow found some pants to wear, and my backpack. Throwing them in our truck outside I crawled back into the dark to rescue Bud Anderson’s Red #5543. Groping in the jumbled darkness of the bathroom my hand found the Red – but no batteries for it. Jumping in the two trucks we had we floored them down a narrow dirt road strewn with cracks, sand, and debris. Those in the 2nd truck later told me they could hear a tsunami crashing ashore right behind us!

The road out was a nightmare of cracks, caved in areas, and tilted sections. We knew we needed to get to higher ground. Turning up one dirt road into the hills we were stopped suddenly by a landslide of boulders and trees. Backing down the hill, we raced to another dirt road and drove as quickly as possible uphill past caved in road banks and fallen trees.

In the clear, dark air on the hill we stopped the trucks. The ground would shake again about every 20 minutes. It was then I realized I was barefoot and without a shirt. A Chilean fisherman in the truck ahead gave me some rubber sandals to wear and I put on a sweatshirt I’d grabbed from the room. We had a satellite phone. I called my wife in California to let her know I’d survived the quake and initial tsunami.

After it got light we cautiously descended the hill, passing multiple groups of Chilean families huddled around small campfires. I’ll never forget the sad, far-away look in their eyes. Their world had just changed.

The flat plain leading over to the coastal sand dunes was strangely different than it had been just the night before the quake. Now there were new lagoons of brown water. We slowly searched our way along the small paved road, which was full of big cracks and sinkholes. Carefully crossing a damaged bridge we rounded a bend to see another huge brown lagoon of water – with the road disappearing into it! Turning back something caught our eye at the river mouth about a kilometer away – another tsunami was coming! We furiously snapped still pics and low-resolution video of this tsunami slamming its way up the river next to us. Crossing the bridge, we stopped, jumped out, and stood there watching this wall of brown water rush under the bridge and disappear round the next bend in the river!

With the ground still shaking in aftershocks about every 30 minutes, some of the crew ventured out to where we’d been staying. It was like a moonscape – the fishing boats were all pushed way inland onto sand dunes, the wooden shacks were all gone, and there was a big lagoon of brown water where there had been no water just the day before. There were some miraculous rescues of a few items of our equipment – a latched Pelican case with a drive and Red LCD inside, our 4-wheeler was on a dune by some fishing boats, etc.

The drive out of the coast area was long and dangerous – bridges out, four wheel drive down dirt roads, boulders across highways, no electricity anywhere, no water, no food, roads washed out, trees and house parts everywhere, and collapsed houses everywhere. I’m a full-tour Viet Nam war veteran. What I saw that day gave me flashbacks to the Viet Nam war. I’m sure these images will stay with me for the rest of my life.

In Santiago we finally found a small hotel to stay at. The aftershocks continued. The airport was closed. But I was now able to send and receive text messages – which was a lifesaver. That’s when I sent the TM on this thread to Jarred, answered one to Ketch, and exchanged tons of them with my wife Pam.

To all – we need to remember to live each day as if it’s our last, and someday we’ll be right. I love life…and its good to be alive. I’m humbled to get more chances to shoot images of our natural world to leave for future generations.
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Good words, great to see you posting here again Steve, you sure gave us a good scare buddy, and you have no idea how grateful I was that you could respond to my txt message!! Quite a Story as expected, a close one, my friend, thanks God, just an other good story to tell about.

And our toughs are with those affected in Chile as they have been for the people of Haiti and other parts of our rebellious Planet.


Steve Gibby said:
This is Pamala Gibby to all you Red Soldier's out there. I want to thank all of you for the wonderful prayers and support you gave me for my husbands safe return. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and yet I could feel the power of support you sent our way. Steve is an amazing man but there were times that even I wasn't sure he'd make it back home to me.

But he's home safe and sound and we look forward to many more adventures around the world. LOL... but, next time he won't be going without me!

Tiny Red Soldier, Pamala Gibby
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Pam, you are most welcome, and you might be a Tiny Red Soldier, but you are sure Mighty ;~) so very happy to know your arms are again rapped around the love of your life.
 
Gibby, so glad to hear you all are ok, and thank you for your continuing sharing and warmth ln this forum. My heart goes out to the people of Chile, that can not fly away, but must rebuild from the rubble.
 
Steve,

You are a good man. God bless you and your family. As well, those who need help in these hard times.

Glad you are safe,
E. :-)
 
Thank you so much for the kind words and warm welcome back. Red User goes way beyond being just a tech forum - its now a big, worldwide family.

We all share a common interest and passion for using the Red camera to capture beautiful images. At times that passion can place us in harm's way. But risk and returns are inseparably connected.

People regularly ask me what I plan to do when I retire. I just smile and tell them "Those of us who really love our work never retire!". I plan to travel the world and get beautiful images for the rest of my life.

I've always gone out of my way to help those who are just learning how to use Red cameras. This near-death experience in Chile has clearly reminded me of what is important in life. But it has also given me a renewed resolve to step up and help others to learn how to document the natural world with the amazing tools Red has provided us.

When we leave this life the beautiful images we were able to create will remain here to enlighten future generations. I really feel I have some very meaningful images to record before I move on.

I'm so happy to be a member of this community - and I thank you deeply for your words of encouragement and support.
 
Steve,

You are truly lucky to have found and to be doing what you are so passionate about. The world is a better place to have men like you who lead by example and live the life they want instead of living the life they fear.

Wishing you 100 more years,

Chris Lancaster
 
Rock on Gibby. That's bad-ass. Glad to see you are in such lively spirits. Hope to see some of those beautiful images you plan to capture, and glad to hear your girlfriend has her beloved boyfriend back. : )

My thoughts are with the Chilenos that are suffering and adjusting to their radically new lives. There is always something to get from change. Hope they find divine guidance to those lessons available to them, and hope they can feel safe and strong soon again.
 
What an incredible story! Very relieved to hear you got to safety, Gibby. It serves as a reminder for us all. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us here.
 
Steve Gibby said:
People regularly ask me what I plan to do when I retire. I just smile and tell them "Those of us who really love our work never retire!". I plan to travel the world and get beautiful images for the rest of my life.
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LOL Funny coincidence Steve, I tell people exactly the very same words, he he, besides those of us that truly love and are passionate about our work, never really work a single day really, as it surely never fills like work, at list surely not to me!
 
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