James88
Weather Master
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Posts: 576
Loc: Gloucestershire, England, UK
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Yesterday on the main board there was some discussion about past experiences with storms. I was wondering whether anyone on this board experienced the infamous Hurricane Elena in 1985. I know that Louisiana and Mississippi see a lot of storms, and Elena was one of the stronger ones in recent years. If anyone did experience Elena, what was it like?
Edited by James88 (Wed Jul 07 2004 03:22 PM)
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LI Phil
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Posts: 2637
Loc: Long Island (40.7N 73.6W)
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Frank P & Steve may have been affected, we'll have to see if they post here.
One of the more interesting tracks. I'm sure many of the residents of the west coast and panhandle of FLA were monitoring this one closely.
Here's a short article on Elena from the St. Pete Times.
Anyone out there go thru Elena? Lovta hear your stories...
LI Phil
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2005 Forecast: 14/7/4
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"If your topic ain't tropic, your post will be toast"
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Goula Girl
Unregistered
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Hi LI Phil,
I'm from Pascagoula, MS. Hurricane Elena was my first experience with hurricanes. My husband and I had only been married five years. We lived in our first house (apartment life before that). We sort of got concerned when Elena threatened the first time but then she turned toward Florida and I forgot all about it. Later on that weekend, we went out to dinner. When we got back in the car, we turned on the radio and the announcer said that one of the senarios possible for Elena was a U-turn back to Mississippi. I remember saying, "that sucker is gonna turn around and come back and get us." I still was not overly concerned. I had never been through a hurricane. We were transplants to the coast.
Sunday aftermoon comes and my husband and I are out mowing the lawn, weeding, and etc. We finally noticed all of the activity going on. We went inside and watched the weather bulletins. That "sucker" was coming straight for us!
Anyway, to make a long story shorter we evacuated and were safe but we were shocked when we got home. Pascagoula looked like a war zone. We were without power for a week. We had no phone for two weeks. Our first home no longer had a front porch. It was on the back patio.
I learned what hurricanes can do from a very fickle lady. And then came GEORGES! Talk about FICKLE.
So you see, I listen and watch but I don't put much stock in landfall predictions. Thought you might like to hear my Elena story. My Georges story is even more interesting. I stayed through that one -- not by choice. If you've got time I'll tell you sometime.
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James88
Weather Master
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Posts: 576
Loc: Gloucestershire, England, UK
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That would be interesting. What was Georges like to experience?
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LI Phil
User
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Loc: Long Island (40.7N 73.6W)
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Hey (Pasca)Goula Girl,
Yeah, I'd love to hear about Georges too. Hope insurance covered Elena...
As the old Miller beer ads used to say, "if you've got the time, we've got the beer." Well, I got the time...
Cheers,
LI Phil
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2005 Forecast: 14/7/4
BUCKLE UP!
"If your topic ain't tropic, your post will be toast"
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Goula Girl
Unregistered
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I really was just kidding but since YOU asked about my Georges story. . . Here we are in a different home, and three kids later. As news of Georges spread my neighbors are all out in their yards and we start discussing the possibilities. Keep in mind that my husband works at a refinery that does not shut down unless, well you know. My neighbors were all making fun of me wanting to leave WITH my husband which was not possible. One of my neighbors was newly married when she went through Camille. She said that the area where we now lived did not even flood during Camille.
So, since everyone was saying that Sir Georges was going in near New Orleans that we would be "fine." I ironed clothes all day an into the night. Ironing is not one of my favorite pasttimes but I could iron and watch the weather reports. I finally talked myself into going to bed at about midnight. Things were still OK. Louisiana was the target that Georges had his sights set on. At around two I woke up to howling winds and driving rain. I managed to stay calm until around three. I woke my darling husband up (this was the man who also thought I was being silly.) If I was going to be afraid he was too!
Georges made landfall between Ocean Springs and Gautier which is about a fifteen minute drive from us. We had very little structural damage except for the roof but we had nine trees down in what used to be our back yard. We think tornadoes were the culprit.
I have vivid memories of trying to hide my fear as we huddled in the interior hall of my home. We moved twin mattresses into the hall for the kids (I don't know why, we didn't close our eyes.) My lesson learned from Georges was that preparation is ALWAYS best. We had not even boarded windows. The family joke now is that when my husband talks to my about plans for a hurricane "scare" that he better have a hammer in one hand and a peice of plyboard in the other. He now has peices measured and numbered for a quick fix! The weather still fascinates me but I have an real fear that comes only from experience.
That's my Georges story. I hope I don't have to add to my list of tales any time soon. Keepin' my fingers crossed.
Goula Girl
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LI Phil
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Loc: Long Island (40.7N 73.6W)
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Thanks for sharing! Enjoyed the story.
LI Phil
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2005 Forecast: 14/7/4
BUCKLE UP!
"If your topic ain't tropic, your post will be toast"
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hurricane_run
Storm Tracker
Reged: Sun
Posts: 366
Loc: USA
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ditto
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dfwguy
Unregistered
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I was in New Orleans over Labor Day during Hurricane Elena in 1985. I was staying at a small hotel in the French Qtr. ...I had never been through a Hurricane before and was a little scared...The Hotel set up champagne and OJ in the lobby-they brought out bags of chips and had the TV on non-stop. Mostly we sat around and drank and ate...I thought the whole thing was a little over-blown (I'm from KS and have experienced tornadoes) but it makes for a great travel story...I ventured outside periodically and just remember lots of rain and occasional gusts ofwind....
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Redbird
Unregistered
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I remember that weekend well.......................was real thankful to be out west living................and now the abstract is a full in my face reality................how life can throw changes.
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BillyV
Unregistered
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We lived in Gautier when Elena came and i was only 11 at the time. But i remember the event very well. My father was the local Kmart manager and so we stayed at the store instead of leaving town. Actually we did leave, the first time they said it was coming, but this time we didnt. My mother's strongest recollection is of Mike Reader sounding panicky when he was telling people about the approaching storm. It was frightening to me then (now I would be more interested in what was going on outside) and I remember hearing winds tear off part of the store roof. The damage ended up being minimal compared to some of the other shopping centers near ours. Our biggest fear was the mobile home park we lived in then. Needless to say many homes were destroyed when we went back to the park. Thankfully our worst damage was a gash torn in the front of the home. Of course our porch and shed were thrashed, but it could have been much worse. My brothers and I made plenty of discoveries in the days to come around our yard.
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LisaJ
Unregistered
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Your stories are very interesting. I had never heard of Hurrican Elena until I moved to FL. I have only been here about a year. I don't know if I was even born when Elena hit (I was born August 31, 1985). I am quite interested in your take on Hurricane . Many people are afraid b/c of the damage that has already occured and the extreme winds. If hits, it will be the first hurricane I will have been in (that I can remember). Being from South-Eastern Virginia I am used to only getting the outskirts of hurricanes. I would definitely be interested in what you guys think about . Thanx
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gulftrade
Unregistered
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I was in living in Tallahassee at the time, attending . I worked part-time in an office setting at night. We knew there was a "storm" coming, but had no idea what effects there might be. About 8:30 PM, I finally told the bosses I had had enough and was going home. A co-worker had already tried to drive to her home, only to turn around after encountering down powerlines & trees. She followed me to my little garage apartment and spent a sleepless night on the couch. We listened to the wind howling and debris hitting the windows all night.
The next morning the power was off. We were so completely unprepared. I went out to my car to listen to the radio and hear what was happening. Having no food in the house, I somehow made it to the grocery store and found a surreal scene. They were operating on generator power, enough to keep the cash registers going. Everyone was functioning in a dazed state.
For the next few weeks, all you could hear was chain-saws buzzing as they cut up the remanents of the fallen trees. The most impressive (and sad) sight was the 100 year old oak trees completely uprooted.
Now living in the Tampa area and having been through 2 near misses this year, I don't take anything for granted. We were prepared for , and though it appears he will not visit us, we're glad to have been ready (as ready as one can be). It's like going through a fire drill. Everytime you do it, you get better at it. You are ready for the eventual and seemingly inevitable, but continue to pray to be spared.
Thanks for letting me share!
Gulftrade
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TampaDon
Unregistered
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LisaJ... Your exactly the same age as my son who was born 8/31/85 during Elena. We were in Brandon, my wife in the hospital, and all the Tampa Moms were evacuated from Tampa General Hosp to the Brandon hospital. Elena just sat out there in the Gulf.. looming and we waited, just like with . Only time will tell where he is to go.
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msgatorslayer
Registered User
Reged: Tue
Posts: 1
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I was a pre-teen during Elena. Living in New Port Richey. Don't remember a whole lot. I was at the movie theatre with some friends, and when we where leaving, the ushers where telling us we where under evacuation orders.
My Dad picked me up. We went to my Grama's house.
I remember that Sims Park was under water and that a tornado touched down over by the Pasco County Court, wrecking on of it's newest buildings.
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Redbird
Unregistered
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In 85 I was working at K-Mart and I know the roof would not have stood any type of winds let alone those of a hurricane..........thank gawd the store was in California.
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natb1
Unregistered
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I will comment on this one. It has taken me a little time on google and NOAA to recall the name of this hurricane.I experienced this one as a teenager in Panama City Fl. I knew it was in the 80s, and it had a very unique track.
I was probably a sophmore at Rutherford High School in Panama City when I experienced my first Hurricane, namely Elena. My parents just purchased our first "non-trailer" home in Callaway. It was a nice Brick Ranch with a shallow pitch roof. The great feature was the STORY Tree house in the back yard. Actually it was more like a little house on stilts that used a Tree for a corner post. Anyway...It was "way cool"!...LOL.
We had a large sliding glass door as a rear exit, and imediately outside the door was a 24 inch thick dead tree. There were no remaining appendages on the stick, but it was at least 25 ft. high, and only 10 ft. away from the house.
What made our situation most unique was the fact that my father was the owner of our 52 ft. Shrimp Boat called the Lady Louise. This boat was my fathers buisness, and the families income. This boat was not insured either. My dad took my brother and sailed for the inter-coastal water ways to ride out the storm. Ironicaly, images of this effort made way into newspapers 20 years later, and 1600 miles north.
I and my sister weathered Elena at home with mom. We didnt board up, but we did tape all the windows.
Anyway, the storm didnt stike us directly, but we did take hurricane force winds. The storm struck at night so I could only witness things close to the house. Winds brought down the dead tree, and the treehouse. Fortuately they fell parallel to the house. My dad brought the boat home safely the following day, and all was well again. I understand Lynn Haven suffered some bad flooding, but I never witnessed it.
That storm was interesting mostly because it kept changing direction. Glad I finally figured out its name.
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rufusfrog
Unregistered
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I was eleven when Elena hit. My parents and I stayed behind. The main thing I remeber about Elena, was the track it took to get here. It made a loop in the Gulf before it hit. I had one of those 3 ft above ground pools, that was common back then. It was full of water and still lifted off the ground. My father ran outside, when the eye was above our house, and parked one of our trucks on the pool. It was actually more exciting than scary. I am writing this post as his way. The latest report puts it here in 24 hrs. I decided to stick it out. They have a manditory evac going for everyone south of I-10. I am about 2 miles north of I-10. Well, I will post my experience with in the comming days.
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James88
Weather Master
Reged: Tue
Posts: 576
Loc: Gloucestershire, England, UK
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Wow, some really interesting stories. Thanks for taking the time to share them! 
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Timbo
Registered User
Reged: Wed
Posts: 4
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Elena was a very strange storm. I lived in Ft. Walton Beach and was working for GE who had responsibility for the Eglin AFB Test Range. We had to evacuate Okaloosa Island Radar Sites which was an all night scramble and then when it went over towards Tallahassee we got the all clear and then started to take things back out to the island. Within about 4-6 hours, we got the word it was coming back towards us and we had to re-evac the island again. Winds were crazy and the waves were washed out the fishing pier on the island. That storm was nothing like Opal though!
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