Debbie is making me homesick

[Dave McClung]

When I was a child living in Louisiana, the most excitement we had was waiting for the hurricane to arrive. When I was 3rd to 5th grade, we lived in Crowley, LA. The parsonage where we lived still had stains on the walls that were above my head to show how high the water had gotten in prior hurricanes.

The only place in town that the flood waters had not reached was the railroad loading docks. When a hurricane was headed our way, my dad would drive our car to the loading docks and park it. We would take food, water and blankets to the upstairs rooms.

Back then (the 1950's) we didn't get as much advance warning as folks get today. Word would come in on the radio that there was a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and we would immediately start getting ready. It was exciting and I still remember how disappointed I would be when the hurricanes missed us. Sometime we got winds and rain, but I never saw the flooding that happened in prior hurricanes.

I got another taste of teh excitement in the 1980's when hurricane Elisha hit Houston. The company I was managing had a lot of projects along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Elisha caused a lot of excitment and damage.

I know how people all along the Gulf Coast are now watching Debbie and wondering where the storm will go. I miss that kind of excitement.

[Susan Unger]

You remind me of my college friend Angie. She lives in Florida and is making comments about the excitement. For me, storms means migraines so I have been thinking all along that she's nuts.

[Cynthia Prentice]

When I was a child living in Louisiana, the most excitement we had was waiting for the hurricane to arrive. When I was 3rd to 5th grade, we lived in Crowley, LA. The parsonage where we lived still had stains on the walls that were above my head to show how high the water had gotten in prior hurricanes.

The only place in town that the flood waters had not reached was the railroad loading docks. When a hurricane was headed our way, my dad would drive our car to the loading docks and park it. We would take food, water and blankets to the upstairs rooms.

Back then (the 1950's) we didn't get as much advance warning as folks get today. Word would come in on the radio that there was a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and we would immediately start getting ready. It was exciting and I still remember how disappointed I would be when the hurricanes missed us. Sometime we got winds and rain, but I never saw the flooding that happened in prior hurricanes.

I got another taste of teh excitement in the 1980's when hurricane Elisha hit Houston. The company I was managing had a lot of projects along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Elisha caused a lot of excitment and damage.

I know how people all along the Gulf Coast are now watching Debbie and wondering where the storm will go. I miss that kind of excitement.

I grew up on the Texas coast, in Baytown, and I can SO relate to this...the word excitement does describe it. When we were little and we would have a very windy day, my sisters and brother and I would pretend a hurricane was coming in and we would play a game we called "Hurricane." We would run around the back yard preparing for the storm. As part of our preparation we would "gather the crops" before the storm hit...pick the green beans (grass), pick the green peas, (little leaves off a bush), harvest the potatoes (sweetgum balls that had fallen from the tree) etc. We weren't farmers but added that part in because it gave us more things to prepare. There was just an excitement in the air when preparations for a tropical storm took place. I loved listening to all the storm stories my parents and their friends would tell...most of the stories were about 1961 Hurricane Carla, the category 4 storm that came in at Port Lavaca and pounded the Houston area. Our job was to scrub the tub so we could fill it with water, move the wood pile etc. Several years ago I found out that my grandmother's father helped with the Galveston Island recovery after the Great Storm of 1900. With 8,000 dead, conditions on the island were so bad they had to keep recovery workers on the island at gun point.

Dave....I'm with you...at times like this I do miss the excitement.

Cynthia

PS: I was twenty years old when I rode out August 18, 1983's Hurricane Alicia (Cat 3 - that made landfall at Galveston) at my apartment which was about 2 miles from Galveston Bay. My mom and siblings had just arrived for a visit and the 18th was my Mom's 50th birthday. My sisters and I had made individual letters that spelled out Happy Birthday and had put them over the window. When Alicia blew in with all her fury (we caught the full force of the hurricane) the window broke and the letters went flying all over the room. Here is a picture of my sister Judith (standing on the chair) and I nailing a bicycle box over the window right after it broke.

[Hans Deventer]

I have to admit that for one moment I wondered, who is Debbie and does Linda know her?

Thankfully, that misunderstanding was quickly solved!

[Diane Likens]

Most of my family still lives in Florida. They're being pounded right now. I pray for their safety but envy the excitement.

I remember Season 2004 -- I lived a block from the bay and worked two blocks from the gulf. Had to evacuate home AND office for three of the hurricanes. PLUS I was a claims manager. I was tired that summer and fall but it sure was neat!

[Cynthia Prentice]

I think alot of the excitement comes from people connecting with each other in a way that is different than the rest of the time. The potential storm becomes a conversation starter...in the grocery store line...at the hardware store etc. Strangers all of a sudden have something in common. The speculation...where will it go?...will it turn?...will it bump along the coast?...will it fizzle or explode at the last minute?...connects people in conversations. In many ways...as strange as it sounds...the storm brings people together and gives a sense of community. It becomes "us" against "the storm" and in this day of disconnected, independent individualism.....that is something special to encounter.

[Dave McClung]

I think alot of the excitement comes from people connecting with each other in a way that is different than the rest of the time. The potential storm becomes a conversation starter...in the grocery store line...at the hardware store etc. Strangers all of a sudden have something in common. The speculation...where will it go?...will it turn?...will it bump along the coast?...will it fizzle or explode at the last minute?...connects people in conversations. In many ways...as strange as it sounds...the storm brings people together and gives a sense of community. It becomes "us" against "the storm" and in this day of disconnected, independent individualism.....that is something special to encounter.

In the refineries and chemical plants along the Gulf Coast it becomes a very expensive game. The risk of having a plant in operation when a hurricane hits is unacceptable, but closing down and restarting a plant is very expensive. Some of the plants take days to restart after they are shut down. The economics make the plant operators watch the storm minute by minute to see where it is going.

For constructon companies, like the ones I have managed, it would be very dangerous to have the boom of a crane in the air when a hurricane hits. That means that construction jobs have to be closed down and cranes secured well before the high winds hit.

[Cynthia Prentice]

In the refineries and chemical plants along the Gulf Coast it becomes a very expensive game. The risk of having a plant in operation when a hurricane hits is unacceptable, but closing down and restarting a plant is very expensive. Some of the plants take days to restart after they are shut down. The economics make the plant operators watch the storm minute by minute to see where it is going.

For constructon companies, like the ones I have managed, it would be very dangerous to have the boom of a crane in the air when a hurricane hits. That means that construction jobs have to be closed down and cranes secured well before the high winds hit.

I can see how that would be a challenge! My apartment was across the street from Exxon Refinery, the largest refinery in the United States. The blessing??? It was a priority to restore power to that area first...so I was only without power for 1 1/2 days after Hurricane Alicia.

[Dave McClung]

I can see how that would be a challenge! My apartment was across the street from Exxon Refinery, the largest refinery in the United States. The blessing??? It was a priority to restore power to that area first...so I was only without power for 1 1/2 days after Hurricane Alicia.

I have done projects in that refinery.