They risk their lives to save millions of others by being in the eye of the storm.

Being struck by lightning and dodging tornadoes are just some of the daily hazards faced by the crews of the Hurricane Hunters.

"It's like a rollercoaster going through a car wash," is how Lieutenant Colonel Dave Borsi of the US Air Force describes being on board these aircraft which track the deadly Atlantic storms.

"Sometimes there's so much extreme turbulence we can't focus," he says.

"Occasionally we do get struck by lightning and some of our equipment shuts down and we have to reboot and power back up.

"We do get concerned now and then but we are so focused on what we are doing it passes."

Lt Col Borsi, 48, of Mississippi, has been chasing hurricanes for 12 years now. As chief pilot of a Hurricane Hunter he is responsible for flying into Nature's biggest storms to gather data for the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The US Air Force Reserve (53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron) operates ten Hurricane Hunters (WC-130J Hercules aircraft) with 20 crews of about 100 air staff, based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.

NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) operates another three Hurricane Hunters (WP-3D Orions) plus a G-IV Gulfstream high altitude jet, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.

Together the crews collect data from each tropical storm, updating the National Hurricane Center's computer models 24/7 for as long as the storm is active.

"Any threatening storms and we are there," says Lt Col Borsi.

"We are in the storm for about six hours, with a flying time of between ten and 12 hours in total."

The crews fly into the mid-Atlantic, up to 400 miles east of the Windward and Leeward Islands, and as far as the islands of Hawaii in the Pacific.

"One of the most important things we do is to investigate whether there is a hurricane there or whether it is just a low pressure system," says Lt Col Borsi.

A Hurricane Hunter's equipment monitors conditions such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction.

"We map the extent of the storm as we go through the hurricane, such as how far out the tropical force and hurricane force winds are," says the pilot.

"It's tough to figure out the intensity the storm and what category it is going to be, particularly as changes can happen very quickly. So that's why they have us out there."

Lightning, tornadoes and waterspouts are just some of the hazards the air crews face on a daily basis during hurricane season.

"We're about five to ten thousand feet, right in the storm," says Lt Col Borsi.

"We pass through all the feeder band thunderstorms into the eye, which is like coming out into a huge football stadium.

"Those are the most spectacular storms. You can look up and the sky is clear."

The chief pilot names Hurricane Mitch (Category Five, 1998) and Hurricane Felix (Category Five, 2007) as among his most memorable experiences.

"But every storm has its definite character," he says.

"Going through the storm, one pass might be very smooth, the other one might be very rough. You can even have a Tropical Storm rougher than a Category Five hurricane."

On March 19, the public will have the chance to tour a Hurricane Hunter in Bermuda. People can visit a WC-130J Hercules and meet a USAF Reserve crew, between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at BAS-Serco Ltd., Southside, and airside at L. F. Wade International Airport.

For further details contact: HurricaneAwareness@weather.bm