Post Your Hurricane Experiences

[cycloneye]

I haved been thru 3 hurricanes(Hugo 130 mph 1989,Hortense 75 mph 1996 and Georges 110 mph 1998) and a strong tropical storm(Jeanne 70 mph maximun winds 2004).

First Hugo was a strong cane when it made landfall on the NE corner of Puerto Rico.From the night of the 17th of September 1989 bands of rain began to move thru the island and the winds began to increase steadly.By dawn on the 18th the rains turned very heavy in squalls and the winds were at around 35-40 mph.When mid morning came it was simply impossiblr to see anything in only 100 meters as the rain and the hurricane force winds were hammering the northern part of the island.Were I lived at that time in a house some big trees fell in the backyard.One of them fell against the house but didn't cause big damage at the back of the house.In the front part of the house many leaves and branches that fell from other trees nearby went to the front porch.One window suffred some damage as debris flew into it such as big zinc parts.You could hear that silbate sound as the around 90 mph winds were blowing.The good news is that all our family came out of that without any injuries.But the bad part was that we were without water and power for a little over 2 weeks.

About Hortense it was the 9th of september 1996 when the NWS issued a hurricane warning for all of Puerto Rico.We prepared for the worse as the system was moving very slow thru the caribbean waters south of the island and getting better organized with time.BUt when it made landfall near Ponce it was only a minimal cane but the major threat was the copius amounts of rain it would fall.And that was the case when over 23 inches fell in many portions of the island with several casualties.But my family did ok on this one as no flooding provblems occured in my area.

When I saw that moving frame at the weather channels tropical update and John Hope was there I said to my father,"Dad I think that wave will be a problem for the caribbean and maybe for us".And after that wave emerged Africa rapidly developed into TD #7 and a day after Tropical Storm Georges.I said to my family when the storm was almost a hurricane,Ok it is time to get prepared fully here.But at that time I was in a condo only a few months since I moved there.However I had the shutters already so we did the job to put them all.Georges became a strong hurricane just east of the leewards 150 mph and the family talked about evacuating from the condo.But after talking it over we decided to stick it out in the 5th floor after we saw that Georges weakened to a cat 3 as dry air did the job of weakening it.It was going to be a very hard experience because a cat 3 is a major cane.But thankfully it weakened a bit more to a cat 2 110 mph as it made landfall.Literrally as we were sitting in chairs the condo skaked a little bit as those winds of between 78-100 mph blew thru.Again you could hear that Silbate sound as the winds were blowing.The canes eye passed very close to my location around 10 miles to my south so we got the northern eyewall and after eye passed the eastern and SE quad so the winds were that strong for around 6 hours.Also the cane moved more slowly over the island and the whole event was of a duration of around 10 hours.After all was over the family was ok ut eventhough the shutters were there water came thru and the rooms were with water at the floor.We were without water and power for 2 weeks.

Tropical Storm Jeanne last year was almost a cane when it made landfall.But nothing too bad occured with that storm as it moved thru the island.We lost power for 4 days and that was all.

So in summary Georges has been the most worse cane I haved experienced followed by Hugo.I hope that I dont see any more canes in my lifetime making landfall as major canes but being Puerto Rico at hurricane Alley every season the family prepares early in the season by june hoping for the best but preparing for the worse.

Now let's read about your experiences.

[AussieMark]

I thought Georges made landfall as a 115 mph Hurricane (Category 3)

although I suppose not much difference between a 110 mph (strong Category 2) and 115 mph (minimal category 3)

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1998georges.html

[cycloneye]

I thought Georges made landfall as a 115 mph Hurricane (Category 3)

although I suppose not much difference between a 110 mph (strong Category 2) and 115 mph (minimal category 3)

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1998georges.html

Borderline110/115.

[Huckster]

We often hear experiences of recent hurricanes, but I wonder, does anyone here have any experiences or memories of any of the older storms, say before 1950? I am surprised that I don't hear stories more often than I do about Betsy in Florida and Louisiana and Carla in Texas or any of the many hurricanes to hit Florida during the 1940's.

[cycloneye]

We often hear experiences of recent hurricanes, but I wonder, does anyone here have any experiences or memories of any of the older storms, say before 1950? I am surprised that I don't hear stories more often than I do about Betsy in Florida and Louisiana and Carla in Texas or any of the many hurricanes to hit Florida during the 1940's.

I would like to see that too but what I can say to you is that the majority of the members are relatively young members and not many oldies here.But maybe some of those oldies stop by here and post.

[cajungal]

We often hear experiences of recent hurricanes, but I wonder, does anyone here have any experiences or memories of any of the older storms, say before 1950? I am surprised that I don't hear stories more often than I do about Betsy in Florida and Louisiana and Carla in Texas or any of the many hurricanes to hit Florida during the 1940's.

I can't give you any info about Betsy because it was 11 years before I was born. The eyewall passed directly over here; however. I can tell you the story that was passed over from my parents. My mom was living in Thibodaux at the time. She was 17 years old and rode out Betsy with my grandparents and her 7 brothers and 3 sisters. They got 130 mph winds. She said they were all very afraid. Thibodaux looked like a dumpster the next morning. All of Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish had a lot of damage. They were without power for 2 weeks. I seen the pictures. Debris and telephone poles out everywhere. Lots of people lost their homes. My mom tells me of having to stand in line for hours just to get a block of ice.

My dad was living in Cut Off at the time with his family. (My mom and dad did not even meet; yet.) Cut Off is further down the bayou than Thibodaux. (About a 30 minute drive.) A small town on the way to Grand Isle. They got winds in the 150 mph range. But, my dad and my grandparents evacuated. The evacuated to my great-grandmother's home in central Louisiana. (St. Landry. Parish.) That is no way near the coast. Well, over 100 miles inland or more. And they got winds still up to hurricane force there. That is how large Betsy was. She was 600 miles across and her eyewall was 40 miles wide. She swallowed all of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes whole. When my dad came back home to Cut Off, the damage was far worse than it was in Thibodaux. They were without power and a phone for 3 weeks. Almost all the schools were heavily damaged. So, all the kids were out for a long time. They were very blessed that they did not lose their home. But, lots did. The damage was almost catastrophic there. Grand Isle was almost a total loss. Not a single structure escaped unharmed. I wish I had a way to scan the pictures. My uncle has the book. You would not believe your eyes if you saw the wasteland Betsy left Houma and Thibodaux in. Far worse than it left Florida.

These are my experience with hurricanes. We have went through close calls through hurricanes living here in Terrebonne Parish. Almost every year or so, we at least go under a warning, and have to board up the house. But, we have had luck on our side and they always seem to turn at the last minute. I been through plenty of Tropical Storms. Like the center of Bill passed directly over here. And Allison was the worst, she put my town under 4 feet of water. The center of Isidore also passed here. But, the only real Hurricane I went through was Andrew. I had just turned 16 and was a junior in high school. I just saw on television all the images of how Andrew destroyed Homestead and Florida City. The minute he crossed into the Gulf, I just knew we were the next targets. They let us out of school early that day. We were only a week into the school year. We kept hearing radio reports that the eyewall was supposed to pass directly over the Houma area. We started to get scared. He was still very strong then. A 4, I think. We decided to ride Andrew out just like we always have. We are die hard cajuns here. We boarded up the home. My mom bought plenty of water, can goods and had all the flashlights ready to go. About 6:00 or so that evening, my mom, dad, brother and I sat on our front porch waiting for Andrew. The trees started to sway back and forth. It soon became too dangerous to sit outside, so we went inside the house. We lost power almost right away. It was soon pitch black in the house and we were listening to sound of the howling wind. I could see the pine trees from the crack of my boarded up bedroom window. They were touching all the way to the ground. My curtains were being sucked all the way in with no let up. The winds sounded like a freight train. I was scared the roof would go any second. The radio was blasting that Schriever was now getting winds at 100 mph. Even though, we were expected to get hit with the northern eyewall, he made a west turn at the last minute. But, he scraped the coast for awhile before turning inland. He made landfall around Morgan City. That is 25 miles due west of here.

I barely slept that night. My Yorkie was a 7-month old puppy then. And she probably did not know what to think. She was scared. I still have her to this day. She is 13 now and still doing fine. Anyway, my brother and I slept in sleeping bags in the hall. My dad slept on the couch through the whole thing. He snores and sleeps through anything. I am a very light sleeper.

We woke up the next morning and was surprized to see only minor damage. Just a few shingles blown off the roof and the street signs everywhere. 2 telephone poles fell down a mile down the road. But, we did lose our fishing camp. It sat on a bayou below Houma near the Gulf. Only 2 walls were left standing. We were without power for 8 days. We went to buy a generator from Sears a few days later and the truck took a wrong turn from Houston. Lots of other families were waiting for generators too. So, we all slept in Sears. We had the dog with us and everything. They ordered pizza for us for supper and had donuts in the morning for breakfast. We finally got our generator, but the power came on not long after. So, we never got to use it and still to this day, we have not used it. We only lost power for a few hours with Isidore and only for a few minutes with Lili. So, never got to use it. Hmm... will 2005 be the year we have to use it? This post was long you guys. Do you think I could be a writer or what?

[recmod]

I went through the eyewall of Charley in the Orlando area. My Hurricane Season 2004 website has the detailed and illustrated story:
My Hurricane Charley Experience

--Lou

[WXBUFFJIM]

Cajungal, you are a very good writer, I'm impressed honestly. My experience with tropical systems include Isabel. Isabel was a definite storm that I'll forever remember. We had south winds of 50-70 mph. High water levels from the Atlantic Ocean seeped into the Chesapeake Bay. As winds switched from northeasterly to southerly, water quickly piled up on the entire length of the Chesapeake Bay with surge of 6-10 feet. Over 3000 homes in the Baltimore area were affected by the coastal floods in the Baltimore area ALONE!!!! Damage estimates were into the millions in Maryland and 1.2 million people lost power here in Maryland. Over 8 million customers lost power in Isabel and storm surge was the biggest factor in this as wel as cat 1-2 winds.

I'm surprised we never lost power in isabel despite 60-70 mph winds. Power flashes were widespread all around us on the night of Sept 18-19, 2003. Quite scary yet amazing to see first hand even outdoors.

Jim

[EDR1222]

David in 1979 was my first, then through the 1980's a couple of tropical storms ( Isidore, maybe around 83? and a couple others. Erin in 1995, tropical storms force winds felt from Floyd in 1999 here on the Central Florida east coast, and maybe a few gusts to hurricane force from Irene later that same year.
Then of course, Frances and Jeanne last year.
David didn't seem to be too bad here in the Melbourne area,but I was young and do not remember much. I do remember hearing reports of a tornado spawned by the storm that did some damage. Erin was in and out of here pretty quick and took down some pine trees. The most significant thing with Erin was the 9 inches of rain that fell after she passed.

[*StOrmsPr*]

Well my first experience with a Hurricane was Hugo back in 1989 i was 9 years old and yes i do remeber LOL and since i live on the eastern part of the island almost every time i got beat by very single cane that pays us an unwanted visit .Hugo is the reason for my interest in weather. i was fascinated with the idea since i didnt knew what a cane was, and the stories my grandma told me about (San Liborio 1926, San Felipe #2 1928,San Nicolas 1931, San Ciprian 1932, Santa Clara (Betsy) 1956 and some other i cant remember right now) seem like a scary film (Love them).

I remeber that all family moved to my grandmas house , and like at 5 pm or so on sept 17 my firts experience started geting worse by the hour and by midnight, my uncle had lost his house ,i remeber starting to cry scared becase of the huge noise the explotion of the house made. i remember my grandma starting to cry as she began to remeber San Felipe #2. then around 2 am on the 18 two big mango trees had alredy fallen and a coconut palm had fallen on my uncles car, and i remember opening the bathroom window just in time to see another big coconut palm going all the way down to the floor and the back up again .i was so fascinated yet scared thinking i wasnt going to find my house at the end ( but nothing happen thank to God) only my uncle lost his house. then i remember when my mom opend the door of the house there was like almost 4 feet worth of leafs. then we were without power and watter for 3 months.

then in 1996 Hortense oh do i hate her . over 23 inches of rain, thanks to that i almost lose my hause in a land slide that left behaind a 13 feet high hole and the last room of the house with some cracks as (Thank to GOD) the land slide stoped just a few inches away form the house, but other than that just a couple of days with out power and like a week without water.

then Georges in 1998 i remember it like it was yesterday i was alredy a weather enthusiast . the weather started to deteriorate around 2pm on sept 21 i live in southwestern Humacao in the south east part of the island, just were he made landfall as a 115mph cat 3, the first part (western eyewall) was nothing impressive as is didnt have that much wind in the sence that was only for like 3 hours, then the calm of the eye reach us and i even venture out of the house to see the damage, an avocado tree had alredy fallen on top of the house with a mango tree that has fallen right in the back entrance of the house , and i just remember closing the door and just as i lock it the (virazon) the eastern eye wall reach us ,then everything went form calm to chaos, i was so impressed with the sound of the wind blowing and then around 8 pm my sisters house lost its roof .then after 3 am the wind began to calm down. and the the other day the clean up started. my sister house lose its roof ,also the house of one of my cousins, and my best friend lose his house.we spend litte over a 1 month without power and like 3 weeks without water

then my Jeanne nothing really bad happend here except that at the end there where more trees down that with Georges and Hortense together, 3 days without water and 1 weel wothout power .


and in between Hugo and Georges we got a couple false alarms with
Luis and Marilyn in 1995(Though Marilyn did make a direct hit bringing Hurricane forse winds to the island of Culebra, but nothing more that a couple of passing showers and gusty winds for me), Bertha in 1996, Lenny in 1999, Debby in 2000 and with Ts Dean in 2001 almost 8 inches of rain fell in my house in just 4 hours.

[msbee]

you know, I have been through so many hits and near hits that I lost count.
let's see
Frederick 1979.. .... a lot of flooding.. we were ok because we live on a hill, but town was badly flooded out.

tropical storm klaus..1984... hit us from the west.. no warning...lots of boats damaged in the harbour..... just washed up on shore and destroyed because there was no warning and none sought safe harbour.....

Hugo 1988... again, not a direct hit, but we had a lot of rain and wind...we boarded up our whole house and sat in darkness and listened to the wind howl all night. we were without electricity and water for a few days... and our garden was totally destroyed. I remember bathing in our pool because we had no water....

1995... the year that was!!!! First we got hit slightly by Iris, only a tropical storm.. a lot of rain.

Hurircane Luis!! September 5,1995! the day that all St Maarteners will never forget.
Luis destroyed the island. I was in the USA at the time and missed the storm. I could not get in touch with my family but finally arrived back on the island 4 days later on the first plane allowed to land.
I will never forget the destruction I saw everywhere I looked. Our house had some damage but nothing major luckily but about 85 % of the houses on the island were either destroyed or lost their roofs.
we had no electricity for over 3 months, until mid December..
we did not get phone service back until March.
it took months to rebuild the island. some hotels that were destoyed have never opend again.

About 10 days after Luis , Hurricane Marilyn came calling. She dumped tons of rain on us and flooded everything out but we did not get major wind damage from her.. she went on to pretty much devastate St. Thomas.

1996. Hurricane Bertha. the eye passsed over parts of the island. Bertha was only a CAT 1 though.. we thought that was a piece of cake after Luis!
no problems, mon!
I remember my husband got caught in the eye. he thought the storm was over and he went to check damage on our businesses. the back side of the storm caught him on his way home and almost blew him off the bridge.
I think 1997 was a storm free year.
in 1998 Georges clipped us. We were lucky with Georges and did not receive much damage on the island.

1999. Hurricane Jose hit us on October 20th. It was my husband's birthday and also the day his favorite uncle died.
It was all very strange. We left the uncle's house and went home to finish boarding up our house. Jose gave us a more rain than wind though...
then along came Lenny in November. the ground was still staurated from Jose, and Lenny dumped over 20 inches of rain on us in one day I think. everything was really flooded. I emember it seemed to rain forever.. MY house was leaking everywhere!!!
we lost our large retaining wall. It just collapsed into our pool, totally destroying the pool, and then all the mud behind that wall just streamed into our yard.
what a mess!

since 1999, we have been lucky here on st. maarten.
NO STORMS!
Let's hope it stays that way through the 2005 season also!

[HurricaneBill]

Let's see.....

Hurricane Gloria 1985

I was only 4 years old but still remember my parents taping up the windows and screens. We lived in Peabody at the time. My dad had to go to work at the hospital. My mom stayed home with me and my twin sister and older brother. I remember it got very windy and it was raining. At one point my mom let us go out on the porch and look at the trees blowing. They were all bent over blowing in the wind. But the most frightening part was the wind howling. I'll never forget that noise. It was like a whistle on a train. I had never heard the wind make a noise like that and I was scared. My mom took us back into the den. We sat on the couch. At one point, I remember lying on the couch and looking out the window up at the sky. The clouds were dark and moving quickly. Although it was afternoon, we had a nightlight in an outlet. We all sat on the couch and would watch it go on and off. We'd lose power for a few minutes and then it'd return, etc. The next day, there were leaves and branches down everywhere. Some guy across the street had this big willow tree and it fell during the storm.

[jujubean]

the only hurricane I've experienced full force was andrew but I'm pretty sure I don't want to ride out anymore (at least not any direct hits)but any way that sunday evening my family and I were trying to decide to stay or go.about that time the news was saying to try to stay where you were,provided you were not in a flood zone ,due to the traffic tie-ups.so that is what we did. I have to say I'm not a religious person but it's amazing how quick you find god in times like those. the winds came on really fast and you could hear the rain getting harder.when it started to get really intense you could hear things slamming into the house and actually hear and feel parts of the house ripping off.It's funny how you don't really panic all you can do is pray. at the height of the storm a tree branch went through the storm shutter and broke the window and my father and brother spent the rest of the storm trying to hold that window in place because they new if that window went it was going to be bad for the roof. we all managed to escape unscathed.... with the exception of the house that is....we lost a total of three rooms and when I say lost I mean everything except the concrete slab. half of the roof was gone and one of our cars was on its side about four houses down..... but through all of that, we made it and that was the most important.when we opened the front door for the first time we were speechless I couldn't believe the things I saw,for example there were no trees standing and what few were didn't have one leaf on them or the electric poles on the ground in perfect unison every 100 ft or so every single one ....they looked like someone just placed them there perfectly. when we finally could drive there was so much damage everywhere you look its almost impossible to describe but I think the one sight that always sticks out in mind is when I saw the largest u-haul truck they rent dangiling off the u-haul company's roof... boy that was a sight to see... a hurricane is really bad but the aftermath is way worse but that's another story.

[Ixolib]

1965 Betsy – Lots of wind and a long night; my first storm.
1969 Camille – We all know THAT story...
1979 Frederic – Noisiest storm with the winds consistently from the NNE.
1985 Elena – Coming here, going there, coming here; She's baaaaack!!
1998 Georges – Longest storm in my memory.
2004 Ivan – Brushed with only the gusts, put no power here for two days...

[MSRobi911]

My storms would be the same as Ixolib's.

I remember quite well evacuating to Hattiesburg when Betsy was coming this way and then trying to get home because the water was over the causeway between Moss Point and Escatawpa by the old drawbridge.

Camille, as I posted in another thread my little brother and I stayed with the "employees families" at Singing River Hospital cause my Mom, Sister and Brother all worked there at the time and my Dad worked for the MP school system and had to stay there in case the power went out to the freezers at the High School he would have to start the generator so the food wouldn't defrost...you know that wonderful government cheese...which I love! Makes the best mac and cheese ever.

Frederic was right after my third wedding anniversary and I remember we went to supper with another couple the night before it hit and then the next day the resturant we went to was gone.....strange feeling. But the night that Frederic came thru I was working in the Emergency Room and had to stay there and work in case something catastrophic happened, it did, the roof blew off the National Guard Armory next to the hospital and that is where they had put all the families from the hospital employees to stay during the storm so they had to come running across a field in the middle of the storm to get to the cafeteria of the hospital. We had some injures due to that with falling roof and running and stepping in holes, that kind of thing. The National Guard rolled up under the roof of the ER in a duck (sp) and came running in and said they needed a doctor to go with them that a man was having a heart attack down in Bay Towers....about 2 blocks from the beach, of course one of the young guys said, hey I'll go...so he went, when he got back, he looked at me and said never again! He said it was raining really hard and the wind was blowing and they had to go into boat mode cause there was so much water and that there was a Reservist at the front of the "duck" with a long pole and he would pick up the live power lines and sling them back over the duck, he said he was scared to death he was going to be electrocuted....The roof over the emegency entrance had tiles in for the ceiling, they tied a rope to the Head Maintenance guy at the hospital and he had to go out and poke all the tiles down so they wouldn't be flying missles which is what they were doing so they sort of controlled it so nobody would get hurt. I could go on and on with stories from that night, but I will add that in our first Three Trauma Rooms there was standing water over your ankles in all three rooms, after the storm they finally figured out where the water was coming from.....the wind was blowing it thru the bricks, where after Camille they never washed the walls down or checked the concrete in between them and they were all cracked and crumbling from the salt water.

Elena, Elena, Elena.......that was my 30th birthday, what a way to spend it huh! We stayed on the third floor of the courthouse, my daugher was 15 months old and would not go to sleep for crap..she was scared and her ears were popping from the pressure. But the big thing I remember is that all the windows in my Datsun 200SX were blown out, seems as though the court house roof has pebbles on it and they were blow off and there wasn't a car in the parking lot that had any windows. My car was full of water and when I went back to get my Mother in Law or one of the three brotherinlaws there to give me a ride home, they had left! They didn't even tell me they were going, they just left. My husband was in a meeting with EOC and National Guard and the Governor's office and he had to leave and take us home....wow, what a birthday huh? But really it was good compared to our 25th wedding anniversary....09/11/2001. I will add that we went to Slidell for Labor Day Weekend and when we got up Sunday morning the storm was still going to Florida, then we went to Walmart (we didn't have one here at that time so it was a big deal) and when we got home, Nash Roberts was on WWL saying it was headed straight to Pascagoula. You talk about some fast packing!! We got on the road and after we got to the MS/LA line....we were the only care headed east....go figure...the West bound lane was bumper to bumper.

Georges, well what can I say....everything I owned got wet, we had almost 2 feet of water inside my house and the grass lines on the outside were at 5 feet so had to totally redo my entire house, cut out walls, etc. We lived in a FEMA trailor in our front yard. Our neighbors had their FEMA trailor in the back yard, we couldn't get ours back there. During the storm we stayed at the Adult Detention Center (county jail) because my husband was the administrator their at that time. Couldn't even tell anything was going on if you didn't go out the sally port or the front door.

Ivan....went to above Meridian about a 5 hour drive north of here won't do that again, too far away and not easy to get home. We played Mexican Dominoes and had good food to eat and worried like hell what was going on at home.

Oh yea, there was a little TS, don't remeber its name, came in around Halloween because Robi and I had been to New York with the Doctor and his wife that I work for and they landed the plane in Mobile in the middle of the thing....I think it formed over Lake Ponchatrain (sp)some time in the late 80's.

[MGC]

So little time so many tropical cyclones.

My first TC was Hurricane Hilda. I was 8 in 1964. Hilda passed to the west of my house in NO East. I remember it being quite windy with plenty of tree branches broken on the ground.

Then, in 1965, Hurricane Betsy paid us a visit. I didn't really pay much attention to the weather back then, only if it was nice to go out and play. My first hint that something was up was getting to stay home from school. My Mom was the typical stay at home mom, my father owned a business in the French Quarter. My uncle came over that morning and started moving the yard furniture into our laundry room. It was then that I learned a hurricane was coming. So, that afternoon I helped with that and still found some time to play. By evening, my Dad got home and we were watching Nash Roberts on TV. My Mom, being a Yankee was not all that familiar with hurricanes. My Dad, a New Orleans native, having weathered the 1947 hurricane was not that worried. Of course once the winds started blowing my Mom decided she was running for higher ground. So, my Mom decides the family is going to evacuate. We leave and while on route to the French Quarter a strong feeder band moves through. I remember riding down Chef Highway watching debris blow across the road. Looking back this was not a particular bright thing to be doing. By the time we drove by Gentilly Woods shopping center, all of the windows in the stores had been blown out. Finally after driving for what seemed like hours, we arrived at my Aunts house on Royal Street. The wind by now was so strong that my Dad had to carry us kids one-by-one across the street. My Aunt live on the second floor. The house would shutter and groan every time a gust of wind hit. Plaster started to fall off the walls. Sitting in the dark with only candle light was a treat as far as I was concerned. Typical of children, I had no fear. The adults on the other hand were big time worried. I fell asleep during the hight of Betsy. By morning the worst had passed and my Dad took us for a walk to see the business. I remember all the signs being blown down, a couple of brick walls had blown down crushing the cars parked below. Later that day we started the trip back to NO East to check on the house. My Uncle decided to ride out Betsy at the house. We had to drive around many down trees and debris blocking the roads. We stopped to watch a Coast Guard Helo searching flooded homes. Finally got home to find only a tree was uprooted. Living without power for what seemed like forever sucked. It was hot and sticky. The streets were flooded several blocks away and we rode our bikes thru the water seeing an occasional catfish or crawfish swimming.

Camille in 1969 gave us in NO a big time scare. Again Nash Roberts was the man. Nash said the Mississippi coast was going to get Camille so we stayed put. I can't imagine risking your life on the word of a Met when a Cat 5 hurricane might hit. It got pretty windy that night by no where as bad a Betsy just a few years before. My Dad took us out to see some of the damage. We drove HWY 90 east as far as we could until the road was blocked by a camp that had washed up on the highway. I recall looking out into the marsh and all you could see was debris, the remains of camps.

I was up in Virginia in 1976 when Hurricane Belle brushed the coast. We drove down to VA Beach and watched the big waves roll in. I've been through stronger NorEasters when I lived there.

I was back in Louisiana when Hurricane Bob hit. The NHC classified Bob as a hurricane. We drove thru the hurricane and drove into Bob's eye. Bob was in no way a hurricane at this time despite what the NHC was saying. See they have been overstating storms since 1979.

I was living up in Jackson Miss when Andrew hit. My Mom, still the hurricane chicken drove up to stay with me during Andrew. Andrew passed just south of Jackson as a tropical depression. Andrew produced a lot of tornados that night. My Mom was probably safer in New Orleans.

Allison in 2001 moved just north of my house as a STS. Allison sure did look tropical on the radar loop. I think the NHC misclassified Allison in Louisiana and Mississippi. Allison made my roof leak.

Move back to the coast just in time for Georges. Thought at first that Georges was going to hit over in Louisiana but with every advisory, the NHC shifted the track eastward. Georges was the longest duration hurricane I've been through. I was on the weak side of Georges but still had no power for two days.

TS Bertha in 2002. Well, despite being only 45 miles from Bertha the wind was not. I drove down to the beach in Pass Christian looking for Bertha. Still IMO a big bust by the NHC. Observed worst conditions in a thunderstorm.

TS Isadore flooded the road to my house in 2002. First time in 7 years I was flooded in. Usual tree braches all over.

TS Lili a week later blew down more tree braches that Isadore missed.

TS Bill passed to my west in 2003. Just a little wind and rain.

Hurricane Ivan, I know this will sound arrogant, but I had high confidence in my forecast that Ivan would impact the Al/Fla region. I did little in prepration for Ivan. All I did was secure loose lawn furniture. I didn't evacuate. Of course, I had a plan to run for it. Had Ivan not started to show signes of an eastward jog while off the mouth of the river I would have moved inland 10 miles to a friends house in upper Harrison County. It got a little windy and the usual tree limbs where blown down. Still have a pile of branches I have to burn in the backyard.

TS Matthew produced a bucket full of rain at my house. We had to drive through the rain to New Orleans for the Saints game. Another fun ride.

[Scorpion]

I haven't really had many experiences since I just moved to Florida from Arizona 7 years ago, but these are my few.

My first experience was Hurricane Georges. I remember being really excited about it coming in our direction. I was even more excited about the fact that they were gonna give us school off and Georges weakened to a minimal hurricane. We put shutters on the front windows just in case. Georges passed us way to the south but I remember looking out the window during the night and the winds howling in a feeder band. I had never seen wind like that in my life, the tree in my front yard was literally bending at a 180 degree angle.

Next was Floyd. I was thinking that it was gonna hit here and I was so excited. I had no idea what a near Cat-5 would possibly do. We were all hyped up and put up all shutters. School was canceled, and the whole area was evacuating. I was quite dissapointed that we did't get a show. Maybe 40 mph gusts at most.

Irene was my first actual experience with a hurricane. We didn't really think anything of it until the day it was coming. We had no shutters on the house because we thought it was going south. It was more of a rain event I remember with some strong gusts, although our power went off and we had the worst flooding I ever saw. It also took out many screened porches and stop signs.

Then nearly 5 long years pass with nothing. Some "threats" that I was excited about were Michelle in 2001 and Isabel in 2003. Michelle brought us some TS gusts maybe, and Isabel high surf. 2004 starts off with a bang. I was thinking we were gonna get something out of Charley, TWC kept saying 50 mph winds and such. The day Charley hit, it was sunny here. However, at school I was surprised to learn that Charley intensified to a strong Cat 4 and took a turn toward the east. All my friends were saying it was coming straight at us. People were even putting up shutters, I thought it was so eerie that in 6 hours we would be seeing hurricane force winds. Then nothing happened as Charley turned more northward and we didn't get squat. High wind warnings canceled.

Frances was my biggest experience. I was thinking it was all ours ever since it was a TS. I just had the feeling. As she came closer, the excitement and adrenaline built up. All I could think about for nearly a week was Frances. Finally, she approached and school was canceled. It seemed that the apocalypse was coming, everyone was stressing a strong Cat 4/ maybe 5. People were fleeing, our town turned into a ghost town. I took many pictures of the area because if we got directly hit I knew it would never be the same. And I was still so excited. When she weakened to a 2, I have to say I was somewhat dissapointed. Sure, our area wouldn't be annihilated anymore, but my disaster die-hard nature wanted a show. Now all excitement ended as she slowly crept towards us. It seemed like forever. For nearly 2 days the weather didn't change, just 30 mph winds and high clouds. I wondered if it would ever come. Finally, the first feeder band came in with 60 mph winds, and I was outside in it. That was an incredible experience. Strongest winds I had ever been in. Soon the weather deteriorated more and by the next day winds were sustained at 50 mph with gusts to about 75 maybe. All day the winds blew and the power didn't go out. This wasn't bad I thought. I was outside most of the day shooting video. Trees were starting to snap and roof shingles were blowing away. By night it was getting really bad, and the power went out. It was really eerie hearing the roar of the wind. Sounded ghost like. The next day the winds were still howling, but not as strong as before. The damage was incredible, almost all trees were down, screens torn up, a foot of water on the street, branches and leaves everywhere, signs torn down, etc. It was a huge mess. Once the sun came out I realized how awful it was without power and the aftermath of a hurricane. All I heard during the day was chainsaws and generators. I had no phone service so I couldn't communicate with my friends. There was absolutely nothing to do but sit in the stifling heat of the house, read magazines, and listen to the radio for damage reports and of course, the progress of Ivan. The food was going bad fast and no restaurants were open. The traffic was a nightmare with no working lights. It was hell. Finally, after 6 days the power comes back on. The first thing I do is go back on Storm2k to see that there is a Cat 5 Ivan with a projected path right over my house. After a few minutes of shock, I just scream What have we done to deserve this! Thankfully Ivan missed us.

School finally returns and things are back to almost normal. Then Jeanne comes calling. I am starting to get over my post-storm shock. I am once again excited for a hurricane to come. We put back on the shutters and await. Then my parents force us to go to Miami. I was extremely dissapointed because I knew the winds would be much more powerful than in Frances, and I wanted to experience them. So I spend the night in Miami, mostly on S2k and the chatroom. I knew the damage was going to be awful this time around. We return two days later to see the damage isn't really that bad, just an extension of what Frances did. More trees and branches down, more shingles down, etc. By now hurricane season is just becoming tiring. We get another week off of school, which was the only good part lol. Finally, by October 4, things get back to normal. September was a month of mayhem, excitement, and misery. I will never forget it.

Hopefully this year brings more TC's, but hopefully not as powerful and as damaging. Im excited to see what is to come.

[Cookiely]

Hurricane Donna came calling when I was nine. I remember my grandparents came to stay. None of us slept, because the noise of the jalousie windows rattling was unreal. I remember it as a "holiday" type of feeling. Laughter, love, food and games. I look back now as an adult, and realize how worried my grandmother was for the safety of her home. It was a small wood structure which was surrounded by huge grand oaks. One of the oaks was five feet from her house. She paced from one window to the next. We drove to the bayshore and I remember the streets and homes for miles being flooded. I think my grandfather fished on Bayshore Blvd, but I don't think he caught anything. I'm not positive but I think a tornado took out the Skyway drive in and I have a memory of crying because we had so many good times as a family going to that drive in. Last season was not bad. I've experienced worst thunderstorms than what we received from the hurricanes. Mostly it was a lot of work preparing and back breaking work cleaning up the yard twice. I was saddened at the devastation others had to endure, but grateful we had been spared again which left me with feelings of guilt.

[melhow]

mine is a little funny...

I grew up in Clearwater, Fl 75-93, went to college in Athens, GA, and flew for Southwest Air 97-2002. I now live in Largo, Fl. I often joke that I rode out more hurricanes thanks to Southwest Airlines than I ever did living in Florida, thanks to SWA flying me into affected cities JUST before the airport closed. The TS's and Hurricanes I have been in is like a grocery list:

83- Barry
85- Elena
88 - Keith
95 - Erin
95 - Jerry (in Georgia)
97 - Danny (in Georgia)

And here comes the Southwest years. Basically, if it hit the US and we flew there, it was like a 99% guarantee that I would be in it:

98 - Earl
98 - Hermine
98 - Georges
98 - Bonnie
99- Harvey
99 - Irene
99 - Floyd (nice)
99 - Dennis
00 - Helene
00 - Gordon
01 - Allison
01 - Gabrielle
02 - Edouard
02- Kyle
02- Isadore
02 - Lili
02 -Bertha

Then I quit and it got better:

03 - Henri
04 - Charley (not really, but my nerves felt like they had been in that one)
04- Frances
04- Jeanne

The best for me was Elena, because that was a bunch of days off school and I got to skim board on my parents front yard and play Intelivision. Had I been an adult at the time, I'm sure that my reflection on Elena, of course, would be much different. She was endless.

The worst one in my book was Jeanne. Not because of damage or danger, because Floyd would take the cake, but more for sheer exhaustion. I cross my fingers that 05 will be an unproductive year.

The craziest storm I've ever been through, however, was not a hurricane or TS. It was the no-name storm that lasted four days in 92. EVERYTHING flooded around here and I remember being stuck at a little coffee shop with no power and with a bunch of friends in Safety Harbor for HOURS because the rain and lightining were so awful that we were afraid to run out to our cars and try to drive.

[Lindaloo]

Camille- I was young but remember a few things about that night. I remember the windows breaking out upstairs and my Father and Uncle had to rush upstairs to cover the windows. A HUGE Live Oak fell just short of hitting the house where we were all sleeping. Also the look of fear on the adults faces while we were sitting at the table to eat before the storm hit. None of them talked about the what if's at the table but I could sense it just the same. I do remember driving home and my Mom was very worried about our home. I remember hearing them both sigh with relief when we rounded the corner and there was no damage at all. We went out driving a few days later and took photos. The Pascagoula I remembered was forever changed!

Frederic- I was a teenager at the time so this storm was exciting to me. I stayed at a neighbors house and their Dad had the front door open the whole time. When the second half of that storm moved through, their side door started moving in and out. Kathy (friend) and I had to push our backs up against the door while Mr. Duren ( Kathy's Father) made his way outside to nail a board over it. He was holding on to the side of the house and I just knew he was going to get blown away. During the eye Kathy and I ventured outside. My Mother heard us and yelled, "Get back in that house you are going to get electrocuted from the power lines!!" lol. So we went back inside and after the door incident, we went to sleep. The next morning, devastation.

Elena- I do not remember one thing about this one. I slept through the whole thing, even during the time my Mother spotted a tornado which sucked the water out of both toilets and they ran to the hall (they did not wake me up!!). The tornado jumped our house and hit the neighbors house which tore the roof off and set it down in the street. I woke up the next morning and there was devastation everywhere!

Georges- Stayed at my parents home. I went to sleep but woke up about 3:30 in the morning to ferocious howling winds. Walked into the living room to see fear on my Moms face AGAIN! I told her that this does not sound like a damn CAT 1 to me! My Dad and I stepped out on the covered back porch just in time to see a tornado in the distance. I turned to say something to him and all I saw was the screen door shutting. LOL!! I thought yeah sure, leave me standing there. The next morning I drove to where I saw the tornado and three businesses were destroyed. After georges, I vowed to never stay again. I have had enough. We all vowed to leave from now on and we have.