As we are now in hurrican season again, it is interesting to try to imagine what it must have been like to be set upon by a hurricane unannounced.
It didn't work out too well for the inhabitants of Galveston, Texas in September of 1900. The local station of the U.S. Weather Bureau assured the citizens that the approaching storm would miss them; consequently, few decided to evacuate.
Isaac's Storm : A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History