D Tuesday, September 15, 2009 METRO 3 Journey. But the 48-year-old said he has had only had two near death experiences. The first was Hurricane Charley in Florida on Friday the 13th, 2004, he said. We were literally swatting away debris and I thought, This is it. I vide- otaped a goodbye to my mum. My second was during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We rode it out in this five-storey hotel. Everything to the east and west of us was completely raised from the concrete foundations. I still dream about it. Picture perfect storm Stunning images from a 17-year career chasing twisters and hurricanes Natures fury: A lone lightning bolt strikes the ground beneath an isolated supercell thunderstorm at sunset near Medicine Lodge, Kansas Pictures: Barcroft BY JO STEELEWHILE most of us would dive for cover at the sight of a tornado, danger is just part of the thrill for one artist. From standing just 60m (200ft) from a twister to experiencing the dead-calm at the eye of a hurricane, storm hunter Jim Reed (pictured) has seen it all. He has spent the last 17 years travel- ling through more than 2,000 US coun- ties pursuing the perfect stormy shot. Reeds photographs of super-cell thunderstorms and hailstones the size of cricket balls have been documented in his photo book, Storm Chaser: A Photographers Dark skies: Storm chasers monitor a twister in Kansas, far left, while a man gets caught in Hurricane Katrina index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html