Hurricane Season is here: What is your best storm story?

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:43:21 -0400

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/20/world/hurricane-danny/index.html

What is your best storm story? I have two:

For the first, I was at the Naval Academy when Hurricane Isabel hit. We had midshipmen (all plebes) standing at every entrance to Bancroft Hall supposedly to report on any changes in the weather. The problem was none of them had radios or anything (this reminds me of when we guarded the entrance with our cemented up drill rifles and bayonets after (9/11)). We were all told very clearly not to go out in the storm. So of course we did. We played soccer in the flooding water, ran through the waves as the sea level came over the seawall, and a ton of us got sick. My favorite memory of this one though was an image the next day that circulated of people kayaking through downtown Annapolis.

My second is when I was at AMO school in Milton Florida. We were evacuated because Hurricaine Katrina was supposed to hit the Pensacola area dead on. So we had an extended weekend and thought what better opportunity than to go to New Orleans! None of us had been there so it seemed a very prudent and timely adventure. Driving along the highway we went from seeing 0 cars in the other direction to a complete wall of traffic. We turned on the radio to hear that the storm was expected to hit New Orleans now, not Pensacola. So we turned north and ended up spending the weekend in Atlanta after some very interesting driving maneuvers.

Hurricane Danny could hit eastern Caribbean next week - CNN.com

Danny has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Aug 20 at 2015 2:45 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:45:17 -0400

Head for the hills LCDR Private RallyPoint Member. Thankfully I have never been in the full force of a hurricane. Only power outages for days-on-end where all food rots.

Response by PO2 Corey Ferretti made Aug 20 at 2015 2:45 PM

PO2 Corey Ferretti — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:45:42 -0400

I hate hurricanes we had some good parties for them. But after seeing and living the devastation of Katrina I hope to never be around for another one.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 20 at 2015 3:02 PM

SN Greg Wright — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 15:02:41 -0400

I was at sea on the SS Denali (a VLCC) in the Bering sea during a 100-year storm. We estimated the waves to be roughly 35' (well higher than our freeboard -- we were loaded, luckily). The helmsman was having trouble keeping the bow into the waves, and we took one on the port quarter. It hit with such force that it bent a 12" solid steel boom. Giant ships like that roll of course, but they typically do it very lazily, and anyone that's worked on them for any time pretty much stops noticing it. That night however, she was heeling over, at times roughly 30 degrees. This is enough to make her 'hang' for what seems like an eternity (which in reality was probably only 2-3 seconds, but that's NOT what you're thinking when you're on it!), and I remember chanting to myself 'come on baby, come back, come back over.' It was a scary night. Beautiful though. The howling of the wind and the roar of the waves was surreal. I can't imagine being in one on, say a tin can.

Bad news if we'd lost our rudder, though.

Response by Maj Kim Patterson made Aug 20 at 2015 4:14 PM

Maj Kim Patterson — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 16:14:36 -0400

Hurricanes? Those fruity tasting pink drinks with little umbrellas?

I got caught in one driving back to my HOR. I was in Pennsylvania with 2 young kids and when I realized I couldn't even see the wiper blades, I had no choice but to creep along to the next exit which luckily had hotels where we could bed down for the night. I've also been at the epicenter of an earthquake, experienced several more, been in a building torn apart by a tornado 3 feet from where I was standing and the planes were thrown about like darts, blizzards, white outs, Duststorms, etc. I have yet to experience a tsunami and will be perfectly happy if I never do. So the takeaway from this little blurb is as long as you are within 3 feet of me, you are safe.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 20 at 2015 4:25 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 16:25:00 -0400

About '03 or '04, we were sortied for a hurricane off Norfolk. The third day out or so, I had the deck at 0200 running East to West in the "box" trying to stay perpendicular to the waves. We were running into the edge of the box and needed to turn, but I had to make a judgement call between "navigation" and "safety". Not wanting to run out of the box unless absolutely required, I briefed a port turn and we settled into it at ahead full. Half way around, the waves "shifted' and caught us on the SB bow, then beam. I had the SB screw up full, ordered the port to full reverse and increased rudder to full trying to "hop" around to 90 degrees on the stern...

...we could hear the COs dishes slamming into the deck.

I got thrown into the port bridgewing hatch, the helmsman almost lost the wheel, and the Boatswain's Mate of the Watch let out a string of expletives as the Skipper came bounding up the ladder.

We settled out, looked to be pretty much ok. Captain asks, "Are we good?", I responded, "Seems so Sir" ...I think he face-palmed as he headed back down to his cabin.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Aug 20 at 2015 5:43 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 17:43:11 -0400

I should have been in the Navy. I had grown up sailing. I was a Sea Scout. When I turned 18, I earned my Coast Guard license to operate vessels for hire on inland waterways and coastwise. But they were too slow processing my application and I ended up in the Army. Thus, my storm story comes from a time before I entered the military. We were crossing the Chesapeake Bay in a war surplus 42' Army Air Force Crash Boat. We had almost arrived at Cambridge Md when we received word that a 24' Chris Craft with a young family on board had lost power and were foundering in the middle of the bay. There was no one else available and we went back out for them. I will never forget hanging onto the hand rails on the bow pointing out crab pots to the skipper as we plunged through enormous seas. (In the bay, unlike the ocean, the waves don't spread out as they get larger - they just get steeper). It was a helluva ride for a 14 year old kid...

Response by SGT John Wesley made Aug 20 at 2015 5:50 PM

SGT John Wesley — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 17:50:05 -0400

I live in Central Florida and in 04, we had 4 hurricanes that came thru my area. I was good til the third one (Ivan?) sent my oak tree into my kitchen... 10 days no power and when they finally got the power up, it surged and fried my refrigerator... 04 was not a good year...

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 20 at 2015 6:46 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 18:46:03 -0400

Mine was reading 200 pages of Katrina AAR. If there was a way to screw up the situation, we did it.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Aug 21 at 2015 5:18 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 05:18:10 -0400

Middle of June 91 Typhoon Yunya arrives in the PI. Same time Mt Pinatubo is erupting. Oh I love the feel of Warm Wet Cement and Glass (Volcanic Ash) falling from the Sky. One of the Coolest things I have ever seen in my Life but Hell No Don't want to ever do it again. Voice of Experience anything closer than 64 miles to a Big Active Volcano is Too Close. I was 18 miles downrange.

Response by PO2 Steven Erickson made Aug 21 at 2015 9:37 AM

PO2 Steven Erickson — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 09:37:44 -0400

My best “storm story” tells the tale of a submarine that wanted to be something else. It lasts only about 45 seconds in real time. But, since I like to hear myself talk…

We (USS Permit, SSN-594) were on assignment in the North Pacific. This starts with the TDU (Trash Disposal Unit) on a sub. You can’t throw stuff overboard, so we had a “mini torpedo tube” in the galley. You’d load up your garbage into nylon mesh bags in the TDU, load a few 8’ weights in the bag, and, like a torpedo, use water pressure to “shoot” the garbage out the bottom of the boat. Over and over again, until the garbage is all gone. There was a maximum depth allowed for using the TDU, so we had to come close to the surface.

So we’re at 120’ shooting TDUs. We’re rockin’ and rollin’, doing up to 35 to 40 degree rolls. I’m on watch as the Throttleman in the Maneuvering Room. I never minded the rolls so much, it was all the alarms going off intermittently - howling and screaming at us - as the contents of tanks and stuff were sloshing around.

In Maneuvering we have a digital depth detector so we know how deep the sub is. (We don’t want to “cavitate” and give away our position.) Because of the horrible waves above us, we’re watching the depth swing all over… 60’… 90’… 120’… 80’… But, although we’re rolling port and starboard, there’s no “angle” on the sub. Suddenly (isn’t it always “suddenly”?) we see 150’, then the indicator starts flashing “9999”… OK. Either we’re gonna die real quick, or…

BOOOM!!!

The whole ship shudders and we all get walloped around in our chairs. That can only mean ONE THING… We “broached” the sub. The impact was the Sail Planes smacking into the water as the sub slams back underwater. The depth detector comes back to life… 0’… 60’… 90’… 190’!!! and settles out at 210’.

The waves were so big that we DROVE OUT OF A WAVE… We went from 150’ to “airborne” (well, the front of the boat was out of the water, anyway) without changing depth!

The Officer of the Deck secured TDU ops immediately, and down we went to wait out the storm.

That was pretty cool – afterwards.

Response by SPC Chelsea Fernandez made Aug 21 at 2015 7:14 PM

SPC Chelsea Fernandez — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 19:14:35 -0400

I had a mild panic attack when hurricane Issac hit

Response by PVT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 21 at 2015 7:48 PM

PVT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 19:48:53 -0400

I'm waiting for the guy that's going to talk about his time serving in Operation Desert Storm.

Response by Sgt Tom Cunnally made Aug 22 at 2015 2:48 PM

Sgt Tom Cunnally — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 14:48:39 -0400

I was at Camp Geiger in 1955 & we got hit with 3 hurricanes. Diane was the worse & swept over our base when I was on guard duty at the Registered Pubs compound. To keep from being blown away I loosened my cartridge belt as wide as possible and tied myself to a telephone pole hoping it would not be blown over. Finally after a few hours, when the eye of this hurricane passed over us , I was relieved from my post. Diane had the strongest winds and the other two produced a lot of rain on us. Damage from all three was very extensive with tents, Quonset huts and trucks blown over.

Response by SGT Damaso V Santana made Oct 5 at 2016 6:53 PM

SGT Damaso V Santana — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 18:53:33 -0400

I lived Hurricane Andrew, don't ever want to go thru anything like that again. The morning after, the devastation was unreal, the horizon as you knew it was not there anymore, no trees, no street signs. A welcoming site was the 82 Division coming in and securing the area, choppers and humvees everywhere with food and water, made me very proud. I will never forget the low hanging clouds that stayed for about a month after, and the birds that had left a day before, began returning.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Oct 5 at 2016 10:52 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 22:52:53 -0400

I was a fourteen year old Sea Scout when we went out in a hurricane on the Chesapeake Bay to rescue a 24' Chris Craft with a young family on board who had lost their engine. There was no one else in the vicinity with a vessel capable of handling the job. We had a 42' WWII surplus Army P-250 Crash Boat, about 17 ton displacement, with twin Hercules diesels. We found them and towed them back to Cambridge Maryland arriving there just as the eye of the storm passed. I was too "excited" to even get sea sick.