Danny Cooke had the chance to go to the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and cover the lasting effects for a CBS report on 60 Minutes. That report aired on November 23rd, but Cooke released this extra drone footage online to provide a wider picture of how the world we’ve created can just stop in place. From Vimeo:
Chernobyl is one of the most interesting and dangerous places I’ve been. The nuclear disaster, which happened in 1986 (the year after I was born), had an effect on so many people, including my family when we lived in Italy. The nuclear dust clouds swept westward towards us. The Italian police went round and threw away all the local produce and my mother rushed out to purchase as much tinned milk as possible to feed me, her infant son.
It caused so much distress hundreds of miles away, so I can’t imagine how terrifying it would have been for the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens who were forced to evacuate.
During my stay, I met so many amazing people, one of whom was my guide Yevgen, also known as a ‘Stalker’. We spent the week together exploring Chernobyl and the nearby abandoned city of Pripyat. There was something serene, yet highly disturbing about this place. Time has stood still and there are memories of past happenings floating around us.
Armed with a camera and a dosimeter geiger counter I explored…
We’ve seen a lot of the Chernobyl aftermath captured on film and media over the years, from horror films and video games to documentaries. It’s an odd place to witness, even in footage like this. I have a hard time imagining what it was like for the people who lived there and had to pack up to leave in a moment’s notice.
It’s a good use for a drone camera for once. Better than watching another video of some person doing flybys on the beach.
(Via Danny Cooke / CBS)