Help Our Cause

In late June, 2023, our primary vehicle suffered transmission damage in Tennessee. It was determined that it could be a 1-2 week job -after- getting it towed across two states. For the past few months, the idea of purchasing a larger SUV or truck and equipping it more appropriately for not only streaming , but to assist people after severe storm damage has been thrown around, and the tentative plan was put in place back in May, 2023, that we would purchase the vehicle in January, 2024 and utilize January, February, and March to equip the car and begin using it on April 1, 2024. We would document the process along the way and allow our audience to “sponsor” the car in return for special recognition. Our current vehicle would then be re-equipped to a lower level than it is now and used as a back up or for transporting our staff after severe weather disasters, which is an ongoing project that we can’t release details on just yet, but are very excited to in the next few months.

This entire job was expedited immediately and the next day after our car problems Vince flew to Chicago, purchased the 2009 Tahoe, drove it back to Tennessee the same day, removed equipment from the car, then returned home to begin the process. In the mean time, the car will be arranged transport to West Georgia Auto Transmission to receive a new transmission in the next few months when finances (and time) are most appropriate to do so. It will be utilized as a back up in the event the Tahoe is in need of repair or to transport staff as mentioned above.

A post was made the day the vehicle broke explaining that anyone could “sponsor” the new project. It’s shown at the bottom of this page. 

We expected a small response, but did not expect hundreds of messages, contributions, and kind words showing support.

Thanks to all of our sponsors for making this upgrade come quicker than expected. The vehicle is fully equipped as of July 1, 2023, and decals will be installed toward the middle or end of the month, marking final completion. Anyone who wishes to be considered a sponsor can do so thru the end of July, 2023. Simply use the PayPal link on our homepage (SeeTheStorm.net), then, to receive public recognition and have your name placed on the vehicle, website, stream, etc, you'll need to fill out the contact form, right here on our website, stating such.

The contributors who wished to “opt in” to public recognition are the following:

Brenda K.

Jen S.

Ben

Aundrea

Darla S.

Gary F.

Josh M.

Lori Ann B.

Billy A.

Iain C.

Diane F.

Dustin G.

Jennifer O.

Richard D. H.

Eric S.

Ken B.

Dylan R.

Kim D.

Douglas M.

Nick W.

Nicole G.

Karen H

Debbie P.

Boca Raton John

Dora & Mark H.

Barbara M.

Rhaige9

MzVicky

Bex

Andrea

Jennifer R.

Caleb K.

Rob L.

Jeff K.

John A.

Ann M.

Lynn T.

Beth

Kay G.

Christina S.

Vampgirl

Dottie & Robert D.

Mike S.

This is long, but if you could take a moment to read the entire post, I’d be appreciative.   Alright everyone, here’s the latest: I started this YouTube channel to give everyone a real-life look into my life as a storm chaser. Unfortunately, this means you’re stuck with hearing me complain about the bad days just as much as you are going to hear me be thankful for the good days. Today is a bad day. First of all, Doug Yates Towing in Chattanooga is great- use them if you’re nearby and need towed. Here’s the bad news:  Looks like the transmission decided to eat dirt today. No warning, just dumped its fluid everywhere. Looks almost like the aluminum casing is cracked, so it needs a new one. We’ve got our friend and moderator, Bob, from West Georgia Auto Transmission in Carrollton, Georgia that will be fixing this for us, but it’s going to be awhile due to funds and the fact I need to transport this thing about 3 hours down there to him. With that said, let me share with you what I’ve been working on:   After the Rolling Fork tornado, I decided that I wanted to start carrying more supplies to help these great people we meet after disasters.  I can only carry so much in a sedan, and I’m pretty much full with 2 tarps and a chainsaw, let alone 2 or 3 saws, ropes, chains, water, etc.  See where I’m going?  I decided we’d start budgeting for a larger vehicle again. I have always liked the Chevy Tahoe platform as it’s fairly easy to work on and labor rates are fairly reasonable.  I planned on doing this next year. ….yeah…. Someone must be watching out for us, because, in full transparency, today is the day that our YouTube earrings for last month was deposited.  We’re going to use those funds to accelerate the following:   We’re going to equip a new vehicle, a Tahoe, 4x2. We’re sticking with 4x2 due to 1) less things to break and 2) slightly better fuel mileage.  We’ve got one lined up that’s been inspected and given the green-light, which is in Chicago, Illinois. More on that later/below.  We’re going to build this vehicle for the purpose we serve instead of adapting to the vehicle we drive. This will get a nice wrap again along with some KO2 tires, Bob will rebuild the transmission as preventative maintenance for us, and we’ll equip it with lots of supplies. We’re going to also be able to tow our new enclosed trailer that’s being donated to us by a dealer in Mississippi who will be working with us to purchase a few saws, tables, tents, tarps, and any tools that we may be able to use to help these fine people we meet after storms clean up and get on with their lives. This is a very rewarding thing to be offered without asking and I’m appreciative that a business trusts me with this opportunity. This news was delivered today, so great TIMING (Daniel reference) because we’re picking up our Tahoe tomorrow, which will be better suited to tow a small trailer when needed vs my sedan. Obviously. I was previously employed as a mechanic, so I’ll be doing most of the work on the new vehicle and documenting the process daily for channel members and giving the rest of you great folks updates during live streams.   Now, our friend Drew Richards from RadarOmega is leaving his family to drive up here and get me down to Huntsville, Alabama, where I will fly out of in the morning. I’ll be heading to Chicago to pick up the vehicle and drive BACK down to Chattanooga and remove equipment from the car (I can’t fly with all that stuff, it would take up the whole plane).  I will then drive to the plains for the Saturday severe weather event.  We’ll arrange a way for me to tow the Taurus to Bob next week and I’m going to have Bob fix it as a back up vehicle, OR for a vehicle that our friends can use, such as our moderators and or Nikki, to drive out and meet me to assist after storms, much like we did with the Kentucky floods.  With all that said, I’m going to be totally honest here: This break down literally is breaking me. We’re tapped out in the operating fund for the next few weeks, as I’ve got to save the emergency fund for the next potential problem. I’m not asking for pity money, donations, or tips. Instead I’m thanking you all for the support. The past month was the BEST month I’ve had in terms of finances and growth here on YouTube. I don’t actually “make” much money, because about 75% of my income goes back to cover expenses. I do this because I absolutely love what I do and am lucky to have support from almost 95,000 of you and of course, Nikki as well.  However, anyone that wishes to “sponsor” our new project, you can use the PayPal form on my website. You can include a comment with the ‘donation’ OR you can email me (on the website) saying you sent PayPal funds and I will credit it to the “I need a new car fund.” I’m going to take those folks that ‘opt in’ by notifying me they want to be included, and put their names on our website as official ‘disaster assistance sponsors.’ I’m also going to find a way to fit you on the car somewhere in the form of vinyl lettering. You may have a small piece of vinyl bumper sticker with your name on the car or the trailer, but rest assured that you can have the ability to say your name was near a tornado. I guess that sounds cooler than it is. I’m also going to automatically put your name in the hat for our monthly t-shirt drawing. I don’t care if you contribute $1000 or $1. No matter what, you’re going to be appreciated and recognized if you choose to be included. Of course, if you don’t want to be publicly recognized, you don’t have to opt in. You can just contribute and say nothing.   You folks have allowed me to turn my dreams into reality on several occasions these past two years and even though this is a really poor situation, I think we can find the light at the end of the tunnel, which is having a more reliable, cheaper to repair vehicle, PLUS a back up vehicle in a few weeks/months.   Thanks again everyone. I’m going to provide updates as this develops. I never thought I’d be sitting at a McDonald’s in somewhere-Tennessee waiting for some guy from a weather app to pick me up, to fly on a plane to buy a car, to drive back to somewhere-Tennessee and get stuff out of my now broken car, to drive to somewhere-Nebraska to chase a storm, then drive to somewhere-Wisconsin to say hi to my family before driving back to somewhere-Tennessee to two my broken car to Carrollton, Georgia. I honestly should have live streamed this so far. We must find the silver lining in everything. For me, that’s that this didn’t happen in front of that tornado the other night in Mississippi. We could have been in a position to literally abandon the car and run away. No joke.   I’m just thankful that we have Drew close by to come get me because an Uber for a 100 mile drive probably would not be ideal.

Show less