Hurricane Helene has been in the news since making landfall on Sept. 26 at Category 4 strength, and devastating North Carolina with a tragic loss of life. Now Hurricane Milton is strengthening with 180-mph winds and heading towards Florida.
Seventy years ago, Hurricane Hazel came ashore near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as seen in the front page of the Lorain Journal above from October 15, 1954. The report notes, "Hurricane Hazel, accompanied by torrents of rain, hit with a devastating punch that washed piers away at Myrtle Beach, popular coastal resort, and severed communications lines.
"New York and Boston were put on the alert."
The weather.gov website notes, "Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 hurricane season (Figure 1) and is the strongest and only Category 4 hurricane to ever hit the North Carolina coast.
"Hazel made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane near Calabash, North Carolina, close to the North Carolina/South Carolina state border, halfway between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. The hurricane brought a storm surge of over 18 feet to a large area of the North Carolina coastline, producing severe coastal damage.
"Intensifying the damage was the fact that the hurricane coincided with the highest lunar tide of the year. Brunswick County suffered the heaviest damage, where most coastal dwellings were either completely destroyed or severely damaged.
"The official report from the Weather Bureau in Raleigh, North Carolina stated that as a result of Hazel, "all traces of civilization on the immediate waterfront between the state line and Cape Fear were practically annihilated." The December 1954 NOAA report on the hurricanes of the year states that "every pier in a distance of 170 miles of coastline was demolished".
"The damage from Hazel was not limited to the coast. With Hazel having a forward speed of as much as 55 mph at times, the Raleigh-Durham Airport reported sustained winds of 75 mph with gusts to 90 mph. With such high winds state-wide, heavy damage was caused to forests, and to property as a result of falling trees. In North Carolina, the most rain was received in the interior of the state: Robbins received 11.3 inches of rain, and Carthage received 9.7 inches.
"Nineteen people were killed in North Carolina, with several hundred more injured; 15,000 homes were destroyed and another 39,000 were damaged. Damages in the Carolinas amounted to $163 million. Beach property incurred $61 million of damage alone. Elsewhere in the eastern United States, damages were estimated at $145 million for a total of $308 million in losses from the hurricane."
I've never been to Florida or spent any time on the east coast or the Gulf, so hurricanes are pretty foreign to me. My older brother (who lives near Houston) has dealt with them and their challenging aftermath, with house repairs and insurance claims.
As for me, I think I'll stick with Ohio and its occasional blizzards.
Although the cold can kill, I'm with you, Dan, I'll take it over hurricanes.
ReplyDeleteI've spent some time in Florida (and have relatives there) so I always follow storms with interest. The elevation of Orlando, almost smack-dab in the middle of the state, is listed at 89 feet, so a 20-foot storm surge can do lots of damage.
Some of the coast there and the East Coast is filled with houses built on barrier islands: temporary piles of beach sand that storms shift from place to place. Beautiful, yes. Permanent, no.
When a hurricane gets loose in the Gulf, you hope it doesn't come your way, then you feel bad when it goes and clobbers someone else. But you're still glad it didn't come your way.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm unable to see the name "Milton" and not think of Milton the Monster.