Hurricane Memories Anyone??

[MyLadies]

As I reply to threads about Hurricane Ike, I keep referring to my childhood on the Texas Coast, and my priorities as a child to buy things like Marshmallows to tide us over during power outages (roasting them on the gas stove!). Thankfully (and God bless those who did) I never experienced anything like Katrina. I was 40 miles inland, so we never got the full brunt of storms, but power usually went out. My mother was Pregnant with me during Hurricane Carla in 1961 and had to flee the coast with me in a big pregnant belly, just to return home to a house that had no front porch left anymore because it got blew off by Carla. I still have the pictures. (which I should dig up, scan & share, in all their black & white glory...)

So.... does anyone else have any memories from past hurricanes? Hurricanes of old? Good, Bad, or just even silly memories of childhood when we didn't know how bad it could be and only bought Marshmallows... those kinds of memories? Memories of being 20-something and thinking Masking Tape on your windows will save you and the world? Please share!

Anyone want to share? Sharing these thoughts may take your mind off Mr. Ike coming, if only for a moment....

[ARCHIE]

This is going to be a very interesting thread to be sure.

I grew up in Atlantic City, NJ (when it was beautiful I want to add)
and when I was around 8 we had a terrible hurricane. We lived two
blocks from the beach on Pennsylvania Ave and on the third floor.
The winds were so bad. My uncle had a row boat out in the street
and the ocean came up that far and he and other's were rowing up and
down the streets. My grandmother opened the window to yell at
him and her living room curtains were caught by the wind and torn
right off the window and flew around the telephone pole outside.
They hung there tattered and torn for years. That story still
sticks in my mind. The bldg is now gone I wonder if the curtains
fragments are still there.

[MyLadies]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

This is going to be a very interesting thread to be sure.

I grew up in Atlantic City, NJ (when it was beautiful I want to add)
and when I was around 8 we had a terrible hurricane. We lived two
blocks from the beach on Pennsylvania Ave and on the third floor.
The winds were so bad. My uncle had a row boat out in the street
and the ocean came up that far and he and other's were rowing up and
down the streets. My grandmother opened the window to yell at
him and her living room curtains were caught by the wind and torn
right off the window and flew around the telephone pole outside.
They hung there tattered and torn for years. That story still
sticks in my mind. The bldg is now gone I wonder if the curtains
fragments are still there.

YES!!!!! These are the kinds of stories I want to hear. Stories of old.

You just never think of The East Coast when you think of Hurricanes, I just think of the Gulf Coast... but you on the East Coast get them as well! By the way, I love that movie "The Perfect Storm" I am always totally enthralled with it when I watch it.

[ARCHIE]

Originally Posted by MyLadies

YES!!!!! These are the kinds of stories I want to hear. Stories of old.

You just never think of The East Coast when you think of Hurricanes, I just think of the Gulf Coast... but you on the East Coast get them as well! By the way, I love that movie "The Perfect Storm" I am always totally enthralled with it when I watch it.

Hmmmmm never heard of it. I will look for the DVD.
Is it scary?

[MyLadies]

I remember a time, probably in 1988 or so... I was young and in my 20's and didn't ever think watching the news was a priority in my life. Well, one morning, before I even had dogs, I had a big Siamese Cat named "Spi" (short for Spider).... well, Spi was meowing at the top of his lungs & sitting on his "cat tree"... So about 6:00am this morning I stepped out of bed wondering what he was meowing at, into a WET CARPET!!! My first thought was "why did he pee outside his litterbox???!"

So I walked around my bedroom in this 1st floor Duplex and it was ALL WET!!! Spi had nothing to do with it! "Something" had come and rained during the night, and the rain was contained within the privacy fence of the duplex I was renting and flooded my apartment.

Now, I guess it was Hurricane Gilbert. (so it took me 20 years to figure it out? What a "duh" head I was in the 80's? LOL!!!!!!! I was young, dumb, and not a blonde, but a silly brunette!)

I never watched the news then,... I only Party'd like it was 1999 (Prince), so I had no clue back then what was going on in the world.

My Siamese Cat probably had more sense than me back then...!!!

[MyLadies]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

Hmmmmm never heard of it. I will look for the DVD.
Is it scary?

Mmmm, not scary, but interesting? It has Marky Mark in it. LOL. (ok Mark Wahlberg). Very New Englandy, and they're on a boat fishing out at sea. These HUGE waves come, and ... well,..... you gotta watch the rest.

[ARCHIE]

Originally Posted by MyLadies

Mmmm, not scary, but interesting? It has Marky Mark in it. LOL. (ok Mark Wahlberg). Very New Englandy, and they're on a boat fishing out at sea. These HUGE waves come, and ... well,..... you gotta watch the rest.

Thanks I'll keep an eye for it. As long as it's not scary.

[Lexi Rae]

yes, gloria, she was a nasty hurricane, i laugh now,but was crying then.
went to put my car on higher ground..i live by the beach, and i walked back
holding my pants up in 4 foot waters.. coming home to see my day trying
to hold the basement door closed, water gushing in , him barefoot and his pants coming down too, we both were in 4 feet of water, dad crying hellp!!
help!!! it was a nightmare.. he lost his car in the garage,, water was on top
of the hood of it.. it was sooo scary... more scarier to see my dad crying afraid of losing the house. the bay came up and almost met the ocean..
we live in the middle.. fun to live on the water,, ya think???

[chachi]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

Thanks I'll keep an eye for it. As long as it's not scary.

Carol your just like me. I cant take the scary movies either

[missj2007]

I have a lot but won't put all of them on here lol it would take forever. One hurricane I forgot the name, my cousins, aunties, mom and sister and I all went to stay with my grandparents since they did not want to evacuate. They live close to the beach but never get flooded out too bad but we were scared for them.Another hurricane we didn't know about and were traveling to Orlando rode right through it came back and Pensacola was just destroyed! Hurricane Ivan came on my birthday Sept 16th, it was going to be my sweet 16 and it and up being my dreary 16th! My mom boyfriend told us to come out side and the lighting looked green. Than things got worse. I was scared and called my grandma than the phone cut off. Than the noise of a train it was horrifying. Next the door blew opened to our apartment and I screamed my mom's name while I went to put something against the doors. We went back to lay down and the ceiling caved in , in the dining room. I was saying what's next? Ivan really messed up Pensacola. I remeber the long lines to get gas,people skipping,people trying to sell you ice when it was free. People stealing from the stores: jackets, outfits,purses etc. Eating the MREs. My sister had left and went to Alabama with her husband and they were not letting them in. I hate it when people leave, I wanted us to all stay together. I can not wait to move away from Florida, I am tired of hurricanes! Wanted to add when I was in school for some reason I loved hurricanes, I loved preparing for them and missing a few days of school!

[MyLadies]

Originally Posted by missj2007

Wanted to add when I was in school for some reason I loved hurricanes, I loved preparing for them and missing a few days of school!

Yeah, aint it funny how we didnt mind them back then as kids?

But now as adults we know how much there is to lose? We now understand our mom & dads frantic behaviour to protect our belongings that they worked so hard for.

[missj2007]

Originally Posted by MyLadies

Yeah, aint it funny how we didnt mind them back then as kids?

But now as adults we know how much there is to lose? We now understand our mom & dads frantic behaviour to protect our belongings that they worked so hard for.

So true, and for me I had never experienced anything like Ivan before, it is something I don't want to go through again or anyone else.

[MeganS]

We've (thank God) never been hit with a hard hurricane where i live. When I was pretty young we had hurricane Floydd. All I remember is that I had this little play house out in the backyard, and my brother and I went outside and played house and used the rain water to fill the house's ice cube trays lol. and I also remember that the Pond flooded and the post office was up to it's windows in water.

The worst storm we've had (the post office's opinion is not included here haha), IMO, was the Nor'Easter last year. School closed for it and everything. my mom and I were in the city (which also got hit - we swam through Manhattan lol) overnight, but my friend called to tell me school was cancelled and my dad called saying that the power was out and everything.

My prayers are with all of those in the paths of the hurricane.

[dinolover]

When I was 5 Hurricane Andrew hit us. I don't remember too much because I was quite young but I do remember some. A tornado hit my house. I remember that all of a sudden the wind became a lot stronger and we could hear it becoming louder. I remember my mom grabbing me and my brother and putting us into a closet. I didn't know what was going and kind of thought all this was a game. My mom looked very scared and then the winds became worst. I felt the roof above creaking and suddenly blew away and rain was coming in. I don't remember much after that but I remember the aftermath and that our whole ceiling was torn off. Except for the small area in my bedroom closet (The thing that is kind of a miracle was that, that was the place that my mom stored all of our pictures and it was one of the only things that didn't get destroyed). We didn't get our power restored for nearly 3 months because a neighbors aluminum roof had entangled itself on the power pole. It was hard and we had to stay with friends and hotels for nearly 4 months since out house was unlivable. We ended up renting an apartment as our house was being reconstructed and fixed.

[mblab]

Hurricane memories I remember the most have to deal with Hurricane Andrew. Some slightly lighthearted stories might be better to share than the others.

Well, my house wound up being in Andrew's eye wall, lots of damage. Thank goodness my house was old by the neighborhood's standards (built in the 50's) so it wasn't structural--it did ruin the roof--but everything else. We had to live in a hotel due to the excessive amount of work we had to do in order for the house to be fixed. We tried camping it out for a while. That included sleeping in the den on sleeping bags or a pull out couch. The couch was so bad we preferred sleeping in sleeping bags!

So once we went to the hotel, and being only 5 or 6, I thought it was AWESOME! I got to go to the near by Eckards and get Lisa Frank school supplies, which my Mom would have NEVER let me get otherwise. I thought that was just the coolest, I wasn't concerned that school was postponed due to this insane hurricane that hit!

Another funny story, I remember the huge trash piles that'd be on everyone's yards. My neighbors and I would get on our respective piles and throw things at each other, and thought it was the best game ever!

It's funny how you view things when you're little. I hated getting "Hurricane Days" as it meant something bad was or might be coming. But I'd get insanely jealous whenever I'd hear that my family up north got snow days!