Angry Planet host talks shop with emergency service workers

By: Amanda Monahan

George Kourounis’ day at the office isn’t typical.

He might be camping on the edge of a volcano, stalking a tornado or swimming with piranhas.

“Sometimes you just have to put your toe in the water,” said Kourounis, host of Angry Planet, discussing his swim with the sharp-toothed fish. “I wanted to prove to people, you can swim with piranhas.”

He was one of the main speakers at the Emergency Management Conference held in Kingston this week. He spoke to those working in emergency services, offering a unique look at natural disasters.

Kourounis has embarked on many adventures for Angry Planet, including driving into Hurricane Katrina.

“No one in the city except for me and the National Guard,” he said.

He told the audience if he didn’t crawl his way around Gulfport, Mississippi, during Katrina, he would’ve been gone like a kite.

“It felt like being in a blender for three hours.”

Keeping his feet planted to the ground during hurricanes, dodging tornados and lowering himself into the active Erta Ale volcano were far from the scariest things he’s done.

A visit to the Kitum cave on the slopes of Mount Elgon in Kenya left him fearing for his life.

There were many hazards in the cave including elephants, leopards, hyenas and the possibility of the cave collapsing due to elephants mining the salt. But the one on everyone’s mind was the possibility of catching the Marburg virus, which causes you to bleed out.

Kourounis told the group he attempted to catch one of the thousands of bats furiously flying through the caves. He successfully caught a bat but the outcome was not expected.

“Bat bit right through my glove and I didn’t know if I had a week to live.”

Kourounis spent a week wondering if he would develop symptoms but when he didn’t become sick he received numerous rabies shots as an extra precaution.

“It was a prolonged type of fright.”

When the series Angry Planet is over, Kourounis said to keep a look out for the possibility of more shows documenting his adventures.