Circa 1965 Hurricane Betsy hit us in South Louisiana, sustained winds of 125 mph and higher gusts. I was in Larose, Louisiana, which the eye passed over. Destruction was massive. When the eye passed over neighbors came to our house for protection as we were still standing. My grandfather and my family built the house and I thought he was crazy due to the all the extra bracing he built into the structure, he was wise. Our home stood as many were destroyed.
It was most odd when the eye came over. I went outside and there was just a gentle breeze as opposed to the prior horrific winds. I could look at the sky and see stars. The winds came back with equal force an hour later.
We had little help post hurricane. Oddly we did not need much as the community helped each other as they could. In South Louisiana we know how to survive. The big thing was electricity. Our Freezer with a couple of hundred pounds of meat was defrosting. I took all of this to those that needed it as otherwise it would go bad. I gave a lot of steaks and roasts and hamburger away.
South Louisiana people know how to survive. I came from Texas and now live again in Texas but grew up in the swamps of Lafourche Parish South Louisiana. The swamp was a paradise for a young kid to fish and hunt. The swamp can also kill you if you do not understand it. I loved the swamp.
During the Columbus Day storm in Oregon in 1962, I remember our family going outside when the eye passed over in the morning. After a night of hurricane-force winds, it was almost calm for those few minutes, then the wind resumed as strongly as before for the rest of the day.
That's the only time I've ever been in the eye of a cyclonic-type windstorm.