Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Quoting gulfbreeze:
It sure would be nice to hear from people on this blog that have lived longer than 20 years and have seen some real history making Hurricanes!!

I haven't made any hurricanes but have suffered through a few.

In 1947, when I was about 3 months old my home town, Pointe-Ala-Hache, LA was hit by Hurricane George, The Fort Lauderdale Hurricane. My folks, building there own house at the time, were flooded in my grandmother's house. I was there but don't remember this one.

In 1956, Hurricane Flossy did not worry my father enough for him to evacuate us so at about 2 in the morning we children were awakened by our parents and evacuated to the attic. The house got about 5 feet of water in it but thankfully we didn't need the axe to cut our way out to the roof. I can still remember the morning view of the waves crashing into my cousin's house next door. Why my father had two windows put into the attic is still beyond me but they were used that morning. We were cleaning up the house by afternoon. My memory of that was sweeping the marsh grass out of the door as the water retreated and the water moccasin we found in one of the closets. My mother never tolerated staying at home again during any storm of consequence.

Had a few minor experiences during the rest of my hometown life but it wasn't till several days after I left for LSU in 1965 that Hurricane Betsy virtually destroyed the place. That hurricane did major damage to the town and it never fully recovered. My folk's house, raised to 11 feet off the ground after Flossy, was moved over 1/2 mile along the Mississippi River levee. My father had it returned to the site, raised even a little further, and he (with his sons helping) built the supporting structure very, very strong. It was months before the family got resettled into the house and if it wasn't for the iron will of my mother it might have never happened. The entire inside of the house had to be re-built.

In 1969 we had a very close call when Hurricane Camille passed a little east of Pointe-Ala-Hache. The storm surge up the river washed logs over the Mississippi River levee but not enough water to flood the town. The re-built (after Betsy in '65) Gulf side levee held. We never even lost electricity while the areas further SE in the Parish were badly damaged and flooded again. Later that same hurricane would dump enough rain over Nelson county, Virginia, my present home county, to kill 1% of the population in one night. A night of horror in the mountains when brooks and tiny creeks became raging rivers 40 feet deep. Some of the victims have never been found.

Finally, after both of my parents died, we sold the family place in Pointe-Ala-Hache, two weeks before Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore. Very, very few houses survived in town. Two that were destroyed were over 150 years old. But my parents home did take the 20 feet plus of storm surge and the mighty winds and waves. Several of the windows, including the frames, were completely knocked out and there was a refrigerator up in a tree outside but the house was one of the first completely re-built after the hurricane.

For all practical purposes the town, one of the oldest ones along the mighty Mississippi, has ceased to resemble anything I remember as a kid just 60 years ago.

Brief summaries each, but some of my history with hurricanes.

Good morning... Carlotta on the 6z GFS

Quoting percylives:


I haven't made any hurricanes but have suffered through a few.

In 1947, when I was about 3 months old my home town, Pointe-Ala-Hache, LA was hit by Hurricane George, The Fort Lauderdale Hurricane. My folks, building there own house at the time, were flooded in my grandmother's house. I was there but don't remember this one.

In 1956, Hurricane Flossy did not worry my father enough for him to evacuate us so at about 2 in the morning we children were awakened by our parents and evacuated to the attic. The house got about 5 feet of water in it but thankfully we didn't need the axe to cut our way out to the roof. I can still remember the morning view of the waves crashing into my cousin's house next door. Why my father had two windows put into the attic is still beyond me but they were used that morning. We were cleaning up the house by afternoon. My memory of that was sweeping the marsh grass out of the door as the water retreated and the water moccasin we found in one of the closets. My mother never tolerated staying at home again during any storm of consequence.

Had a few minor experiences during the rest of my hometown life but it wasn't till several days after I left for LSU in 1965 that Hurricane Betsy virtually destroyed the place. That hurricane did major damage to the town and it never fully recovered. My folk's house, raised to 11 feet off the ground after Flossy, was moved over 1/2 mile along the Mississippi River levee. My father had it returned to the site, raised even a little further, and he (with his sons helping) built the supporting structure very, very strong. It was months before the family got resettled into the house and if it wasn't for the iron will of my mother it might have never happened. The entire inside of the house had to be re-built.

In 1969 we had a very close call when Hurricane Camille passed a little east of Pointe-Ala-Hache. The storm surge up the river washed logs over the Mississippi River levee but not enough water to flood the town. The re-built (after Betsy in '65) Gulf side levee held. We never even lost electricity while the areas further SE in the Parish were badly damaged and flooded again. Later that same hurricane would dump enough rain over Nelson county, Virginia, my present home county, to kill 1% of the population in one night. A night of horror in the mountains when brooks and tiny creeks became raging rivers 40 feet deep. Some of the victims have never been found.

Finally, after both of my parents died, we sold the family place in Pointe-Ala-Hache, two weeks before Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore. Very, very few houses survived in town. Two that were destroyed were over 150 years old. But my parents home did take the 20 feet plus of storm surge and the mighty winds and waves. Several of the windows, including the frames, were completely knocked out and there was a refrigerator up in a tree outside but the house was one of the first completely re-built after the hurricane.

For all practical purposes the town, one of the oldest ones along the mighty Mississippi, has ceased to resemble anything I remember as a kid just 60 years ago.

Brief summaries each, but some of my history with hurricanes.

I love to just watch trees fall during tropical storms. Its awfully cool.

Quoting LargoFl:

Where are you on these maps, largo?!

Quoting ProgressivePulse:


Driving the turnpike the other day through West Palm I noticed the leading edge of the wooded areas are finally starting to come back to life that were stripped in 04. Pretty amazing, 8 years in the making.

8 years is no amount of time for mother nature.

Quoting MAweatherboy1:

Good morning... Carlotta on the 6z GFS

And much later in the run

Quoting weatherh98:


Where are you on these maps, largo?!

over several sites on the web like mikes weather page and baynews 9 etc..mike has a great page at..spaghettimodels.com

Quoting LargoFl:
over several sites on the web like mikes weather page and baynews 9 etc

Yea but what's your 10-20

Quoting weatherh98:


Yea but what's your 10-20

dont understand that

Quoting weatherh98:


Where are you on these maps, largo?!

im in largo florida,pinellas county,near tampa,st pete etc

Quoting LargoFl:
dont understand that

Cb radio talk

It means what's your location

Quoting LargoFl:
im in largo florida,pinellas county,near tampa,st pete etc

Thanks

Local mets say our rainy season has begun, Thank You Mother Nature, end this drought please

Gotta go, ya'll... have a great day! And contrats to all those finally getting some rain...

Good Morning to all. Good rains falling over the Lakes northwest of Austin should stay west of me but at least the Lakes are getting some water.

Wow!!! Thank YOU, Dr. Masters, for your kind words about WunderPhotos® and for your outstanding review of A Letter to Mother Nature!! I'm am so happy to know how much you appreciate WunderPhoto photographers and the volunteer moderators who keep the Wunder Photo Galleries current with weather and outdoor photos!! It's a labor of love and it's always nice to hear such kind words!

Thank You So Much, Luci!! You have certainly inspired me with your lovely books!! Here's a review I wrote for Amazon when I received my copies of A Letter to Mother Nature.


My eagerly anticipated copies of A Letter to Mother Nature (Second Edition)(Volume 1)from Amazon has arrived! WOW!!! Luci has done a superlative job!! I purchased copies and loved the first edition, so my admiration for her second edition is even more so because it has included more of Luci's inspired writing and more images from members of the talented WunderPhoto community on Wunderground.com. This is a "wunderful" book to give as a gift and a lovely book to keep for anytime you want to be uplifted by the beauty of nature! The profits go to support the disaster relief charity Portlight.org, founded by members of the wunderground community. Awesome! What a great gift to Portlight and to those receiving the book!

Luci is a talented writer and I love the way she put together my photos, ending with Nightwatch, a loggerhead sea turtle, expressing her gratitude to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for helping her recover her health and return to her ocean home. It sincerely illustrates Luci's beautiful theme, "Words of Gratitude"! The lovely photo of the cypress trees showing us how if we all stand together is a perfect example of what happens when we do!! And so is Luci's book, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, and Wunderground photographers, and Portlight!