Hurricane Frederic

By NOAA

Frederic developed off the African coast on August 27, briefly became a hurricane on September 1, and then weakened to a tropical depression just north of Haiti. Frederic began to strengthen on September 7 and regained tropical storm intensity on September 9 near western Cuba. Frederic then turned to the north northwest with increasing forward speed for the next 60 hours.

The eye passed over Dauphin Island,AL on the 13th. The highest winds recorded on Dauphin Island were 120 mph with gusts to 145 mph. Tides of 8 to 12 feet above normal were reported in the hurricane warning area from Pascagoula, MS, to western Santa Rosa Island, AL. Storm tides were 12 feet at Gulf Shores, AL.

Advance preparedness activities by Alabama authorities kept the death toll to five with estimates of 350,000 persons evacuated from the threatened area.

Source: NOAA.

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		Your Memories Shared!

"I lived in Mobile in 1979. My family and Ihad moved there the year before from Kentucky. We weathered the storm in the study room of our home. Against the picture window, my father had placed a huge bookshelf that he had built and filled the shelves with heavy books. Against the bookshelf he shoved a sofa for added strength should the window break from flying debris. Our electrical service was lost that evening and was out for two weeks. Additionally, we had no running water for around one week. We had to use out pots and pans on our Webber grill in order to cook food. I remember that the bees and biting insects were all displaced and really out in full force attacking anything with a pulse. We were luck to have minimal damage to our home. I believe that we had to repair several areas of our roof as well as remove two thirds of the tall pine trees that once towered over our home. Some had been snapped in two and some had been damaged so that they were threatening to fall upon the house or into the roadway. I'll never forget how different eveything seemed to look that morning when we walked outside. It was a beautifully clear and blue sky with a hint of that humid feel one notes directly following a shower. . . only the beauty was marred by the destruction that was everywhere around us." --chuck d