Storms....

Very worried today about good friends in Punta Gorda. Hurricane "Charley" seems to have his sights on FL's west coast. They live beside a canel which almost flooded their place when a tropical storm went through last year. Reading the news online about the area, it sure doesn't sound good. Hurricane "Bonnie" has struck land in the Panhandle, but she's weaker than "Charley" who may reach Catagory 3. I tried to reach our friends by phone this afternoon, but only was able to leave a message, so maybe they're out putting up plywood, buying supplies or have "gotten out of Dodge" to head inland. My prayers are with them & all in the path of these 2 storms.

Have only been in one Hurricane & that was Hazel back in 1954. On October 15, 1954 Hurricane Hazel had just destroyed much of Haiti and had blown across New York and Pennsylvania. This dying hurricane combined with an extreme low pressure system to create a major storm. The storm blew across the Great Lakes with winds of 70 miles an hour. In Southern Ontario, it produced high winds and incredibly strong rain. In Toronto, over 300 million tons of rain fell on already waterlogged ground. The hurricane produced the worst-ever floods in that area. It destroyed an entire street of houses, and turned a farming area into a lake. 81 people in the Toronto area perished, and many of the bridges into the city were destroyed. The storm remains Canada’s most remembered hurricane.

Fortunately my family & I lived further east. Damage was mainly fallen trees & the electricity out for several days. I can still remember sitting on my bed doing homework while the house & windows trembled. We had several hard Maple trees around our place, the nearest one being next to our front verandah. A huge limb did come down but it fell away from the house, instead onto it. If it had hit the house, it would have come into my parents' bedroom. Was a strange & spooky night.

Please let our friends & others be as lucky....

Starfire