from THE NEWNAN TIMES-HERALD, September 17, 2017
What’s with the hurricane names like Harvey and Irma? If they were named something more destructive like Hurricane Death-Megatron-500, everyone would evacuate immediately.
In 1950, the formal practice for storm naming was first developed by the U.S. National Hurricane Center for the Atlantic Ocean. Storms were named using the alphabet (i.e., Andy, Bill, Charlene), and these names were the same for hurricane season. When a new season of hurricanes came came around, it was always the exact same names and same order.
To avoid the repetitive use of names, the system was revised in 1953 so that storms would be given female names. The National Weather Service was mimicking Naval meteorologists who name storms after women just like ships.
I was in a hurricane in Destin, Fla. in 1995. Her name was Erin. Our 1995 Erin was pretty tame by comparison to these in the news lately. It was the fifth named tropical cyclone and the second hurricane of the unusually active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season. When it made landfall on the central eastern Florida coastline on Aug. 2, it came in as a Category 1.
But moving up to the Florida Panhandle, it struck again on Aug. 3 as a Category 2, causing a moderate amount of damage because of its peak strength of 100 mph winds and 973 millibars in central pressure just prior to the second landfall.
We owned a condo in a mid-rise development. The building was swaying, I suppose to give instead of break. Our sliding glass doors were bowing in. In 1995, we did not have hurricane doors, which we eventually replaced because of Opal two months later.
But Erin didn’t have much of a surge and therefore didn’t cause much damage. As a matter of fact, after it passed, we went outside and took pictures on the beach, and Alvin’s Alley, a locale at many resort towns, printed T-shirts right off the bat that we wore the next day saying, “I survived Erin.”
Our oldest child was 10 at the time, and he and his cousin were participating in a week-long Marine Biology Camp at the Gulfarium. Erin hit on a Wednesday. They were able to get in their first two days of camp, then the hurricane, and finally the last two days. What was so interesting about the last two days of camp was they saw marine life they hadn’t seen in their first two days. I guess we got our money’s worth after all.
Although a Category 2, we didn’t lose power, but two months later, in rolls Opal, a Category 4. It destroyed our condo. Our condo’s roof was made with tar and pebbles (really rocks), and they were displaced by being blown into our glass sliding glass doors and windows. And then, of course, the rain came in and made a mess. Boardwalks, landscaping, balconies, and railings were destroyed as well. The pool had crazy stuff in it.
After more than 30 years, we sold our second home this year. After this week, I might be extremely glad we did.
*** Luck and prayers to the Southeast. Next up: Jose. Stay safe.
Lee St. John, a retired Coweta County high school English teacher, is the author of five humorous books and two audio books.