Emmy-Nominated Drone Filming in St Martin After Hurricane Irma for CNN
Rapid-response drone cinematography in St Martin in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma, filmed for CNN with senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward. The aerial coverage revealed the extraordinary scale of destruction across the island, showing damaged buildings, stripped vegetation, debris-filled streets and communities cut off by the storm.
The assignment required operating in a disaster zone where power, transport and communications had been severely disrupted. Flight decisions had to account for damaged infrastructure, humanitarian activity and the need to work sensitively around people whose homes and communities had just been devastated.
The wider CNN hurricane coverage was subsequently nominated at the 39th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage, with Lewis Whyld included among the credited team on CNN Worldwide Hurricane Coverage.
For commercial clients, the project demonstrates judgement, adaptability and disciplined decision-making in an environment where conditions were changing rapidly and there was very little margin for error.
CNN — Hurricane Irma Coverage →
Official News & Documentary Emmy Nomination →
Drone cinematography across St Martin in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma for CNN, revealing the scale of destruction across damaged homes, stripped vegetation, debris-filled streets and communities affected by one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record.
Project Details
Client / Broadcaster: CNN
Correspondent: Clarissa Ward
Location: St Martin / Saint-Martin, Caribbean
Date: September 2017
Role: Photojournalist, Drone Pilot & Drone Cinematographer — Lewis Whyld
Filming: Rapid-response aerial cinematography in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma
Environment: Major disaster zone / severely damaged island infrastructure / humanitarian response
Coverage: Destroyed homes, stripped vegetation, debris-filled streets, damaged infrastructure and the wider scale of destruction across the island
Operational Conditions: Limited power, disrupted communications, damaged transport infrastructure and rapidly changing conditions
Technical Approach: Lightweight aerial systems deployed to provide rapid visual assessment and broad geographic context where ground-level filming could not easily show the full scale of the damage
Editorial Approach: Sensitive visual journalism focused on documenting the human and physical impact of the storm without interfering with emergency activity or affected communities
Story Focus: The scale of Hurricane Irma’s destruction and the humanitarian impact on St Martin
Recognition: CNN Worldwide Hurricane Coverage was nominated at the 39th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage, with Lewis Whyld included among the credited team
Commercial Relevance: Demonstrates disciplined decision-making, adaptability and safe operation in complex, unstable environments with limited infrastructure and little margin for error
Specialism: Breaking News / Disaster Response / International Deployment / Drone Journalism / Aerial Cinematography / High-Pressure Operations
Operating a Drone in a Major Disaster Zone
Hurricane Irma left St Martin with widespread structural damage, blocked roads, disrupted communications and severely reduced infrastructure. The operating environment was therefore very different from a planned commercial shoot, with conditions changing quickly and limited support available on the ground.
Drone flights had to be planned around damaged buildings, debris, emergency activity and the movement of people through affected areas. The aircraft needed to remain simple to deploy and recover while still providing the wider perspective required to show the scale of destruction across the island.
The aerial footage allowed CNN to connect individual scenes of damage with the broader geography of the disaster, helping viewers understand how extensively homes, roads, vegetation and infrastructure had been affected.
Drone Cinematography for High-Risk & Unpredictable Environments
The St Martin assignment demonstrates a level of operational judgement that carries well beyond breaking-news work. In unstable environments, the priority is not simply getting the shot; it is understanding when a flight is appropriate, what risks are changing around the aircraft and how to adapt without creating additional problems for the people or infrastructure on the ground.
That same approach is relevant to commercial filming in factories, construction sites, ports, energy facilities and other complex environments where conditions can change quickly and where production has to fit around live operations rather than interrupt them.
For clients, the value is confidence that the drone operation can remain controlled and proportionate even when the environment is difficult, unfamiliar or evolving.
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Planning Drone Filming in High-Risk & Complex Environments?
Through Whyldthings, I provide specialist drone cinematography for productions operating in difficult, restricted or rapidly changing environments where judgement, planning and operational control are critical.
The Hurricane Irma assignment in St Martin required rapid deployment into a heavily damaged disaster zone, with flights planned around debris, disrupted infrastructure, humanitarian activity and constantly changing conditions while still delivering clear aerial storytelling for CNN.
For commercial and industrial productions, the same approach applies to factories, construction sites, energy facilities, ports and other live environments where the filming operation has to adapt safely around the site rather than asking the site to adapt around the camera.
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