Hurricane happenings

[Allen]

No pic's, just conversation.

Hurricane Milton sucked the water out of Tampa Bay temporarily. While most hurricanes push a storm surge Milton sucked the water out in a term called "reverse storm surge".

Hurricane Frederick (1979) did the same at Mobile Bay.

For a comparison hurricane Georges (1998) pushed 28' seas and flooded Pascagoula MS.

Katrina that hit way over in MS destroyed the 1000' pier and surrounding buildings at Gulf Shores AL. Leaned the USS battleship Alabama and did destruction over in Pensacola, FL due to the tidal surge.

While some parts of the Tampa area did receive a surge and flooding, hurricanes that suck water away are sometimes referred to as "dry hurricanes".

I didn't post any links because all of those I opened wanted you to disable your ad blocker or subscribe to read the whole articles. There is much info on it if you care to look it up though.

[PWC]

Sounds kinda like a tsunami; suck the water out then come back in a rush.

When it came back in Tampa, did it "surge" or just come back at normal tide height?

[Allen]

Sounds kinda like a tsunami; suck the water out then come back in a rush.

When it came back in Tampa, did it "surge" or just come back at normal tide height?

Donno. Yes, end result was a tsunami. During Katrina one of my co-workers saw the tidal wave coming down the street. As the water rose against his house a few blocks from the coast at Pascagoula he heard the windows start to creak. To keep them from blowing out he opened them and immediately had to swim out of his house. Don't know if he did the right thing or not. He, and the other co-workers that lived in known flood areas could not evacuate in advance due to our employer not letting us shut down operations soon enough.

I know with Frederick there was so much going on that a surge wouldn't have been noticed much. VERY high winds, many tornado's and trees flying everywhere. Remember, they usually come in after nightfall and there is never any power or lighting. After the storm we had few trees left. A lot of those that survived such as pines with long stable tap roots were snapped off--they looked like power poles. NO trees had leaves left. Dauphin Island south of Mobile was reshaped and the nice modern steel and concrete bridge going to it was gone completely.

Compare that to the pictures of the recent storms. As bad as the destruction was in NC, GA, TN, North AL the pictures all show trees and trees with leaves indicating more damage from water instead of wind.

[PWC]

I always thought everyone that went to Boloxi for hurricane parties in the big hotels were crazy. In Jackson we usually got rain, not so much wind, but tornados.

When Camile hit, it left a huge freighter beached across the highway between Boloxi and Gulfport, blocking the highway. My father was sent down to install a temporary plant for oxygen and alcyletene so the ship could be cut up for insurance. I was overseas at the time, but I have 8mm pics somewhere.

[Allen]

I always thought everyone that went to Boloxi for hurricane parties in the big hotels were crazy. In Jackson we usually got rain, not so much wind, but tornados.

When Camile hit, it left a huge freighter beached across the highway between Boloxi and Gulfport, blocking the highway. My father was sent down to install a temporary plant for oxygen and alcyletene so the ship could be cut up for insurance. I was overseas at the time, but I have 8mm pics somewhere.

Yes, those people who had the hurricane party were crazy but they won't do it again. With most hurricanes they could have gotten away with it but not with Camille. Biloxi used to be a beautiful place with wide open views of the white sandy beaches. Now it is wall to wall casino's.

A large shrimp boat was swept a couple of blocks inland too at Biloxi. It was made into a restaurant.

With all the changes, I haven't been there in years.