[dansangel]

Please come join us as we welcome the Hurricane Hunters to A Few Of FR's Finest!

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Angel.

[.45MAN]

Good morning to all!! Hope everyone has a great day, it's the turning point of the week.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin', everybody ! Happy Tuesday !

72 degrees as I post this.

Have a cup while you FReep !

For those who prefer hot chocolate.....

[dixie sass]

Morning Dansangel! Over the hump day! What a timely article. Everytime we drive to the airport we see the Planes they use for the this service. They are beauties too. But then, dating a ex-navy pilot and having a dad and brother and son who adore anything that soared through sky... well, you kind of get an appreciation for the birds and the men who fly them.

Having gone through a few hurricanes (Yep, Hugo was one). I definitely have a great appreciatiation for what they do. They ARE risking their lives everytime they fly into a storm. They buck enormous winds and lighting - two of the most destructive forms of nature.

There was a documentry sometime ago and they showed the going from the most horrible storm into the calmness of the eye. Such a contrast. Buffeting winds and rain and incredible noise to an eerie silence by comparison.

Living in the Low Country of Charleston,we have a great appreciation for what they do.. these men give us early warning. They are the reason the Islands were evacuated in a timely manner, ships moved to sea anchor, business closed and protected, etc, etc.

[GailA]

Morning ALL...coffee's on

[Temple Owl]

A very good morning dear angel and all. Have a second cuppa or something and enjoy life.

[LadyX]

Growing up in Florida gave us the alternative to snowstorms of Northerners - hurricanes.
My first years were in Coral Gables, a residential area by Miami, and I remember well all the hurricane precautions. Fill the tub with water (to use to wash up, flush toilet, etc.), secure everything outside (garbage cans, lawn chairs, etc., tacky pink flamingos, if you had one..:)).

I enjoyed them as a little one, since I was allowed to stay up late and listen to the weather reports on the battery-operated radio (pre-TV days).
Inevitably, the power would go off, and I thought it was really cool to have a kerosene lamp and play endless board games with my sister.

I do have a story that predates me a bit. My father in his 20's was a Manager of Florida Power & Light facilities, and in 1928 had the one at Okeechobee.
My sister Anne was 3 when the very destructive 1928 hurricane was brewing.

To ensure their safety, the Lake Okeechobee area a sea level swampy territory, he placed Mom and Anne on a train to go to South Carolina to stay with her parents.

Surely enough, it was a monster in terms of lives lost - -

* Deadliest Hurricanes

Hurricane Year Category Deaths

*FL (Lake Okeechobee)1928 4 1836

*FL (Keys)/S TX 1919 4 600#

*FL (Keys)1935 5 408

*FL (Miami)1926 4 243

Those 1,836 deaths in 1928 resulted from the storm itself and diseases from the flooding and lack of potable water.
The number would have been greater had Daddy not had a great idea and acted swiftly.

In a day with few cars, much less trucks and no way to get planes in (which could not carry hefty loads anyway), he ordered through the government emergency water supplies to be brought in by trains early on, saving the day for many.

Side Note: Anne describes to me remembering that time well, staying right here in Barnwell, SC with our grandparents, my grandfather a minister here.

The parsonage was a two-storied house, and as she stood at the head of the stairs, the remnants of the storm had headed here, causing a huge oak to crash through the wall right at the foot of the stairs while she watched!
Safety indeed, but it nearly caused her early demise!

I've been through many a hurricane, including two at Parris Island, two in Virginia on the coast in Chincoteague (1955), and quite a few inland in North and South Carolina, as well as Florida.

Later years brought bizzards in Ohio and South Dakota and literal whiteouts in Alaska, as well as The Good Friday Earthquake there in March of 1964.

Someone once asked if I thought perhaps it could be that I trail disaster in my wake!

I report - you decide..:))

[Diver Dave]

Very interesting topic today, dansy.

Luckily, we don't get any hurricanes in this neck of the woods - just a little "Rock 'n Roll" occasionally.

Did ride out a typhoon in the Pacific long ago. We just battened the hatches and got out a deck of cards and waited for it to pass. Not too many folks were interested in chow call during those times.

[Dog Gone]

Another great thread!

[Mama_Bear]

Finally, I'm here! I've been working on Friday's post all day, thinking, "I've got to get to the thread before everyone leaves". Time just got away from me. We've also had two thunderstorms come through that have caused me to have to shut down my computer for awhile. I don't know what's up with our weather, we NEVER have rain this time of year.

This is such an interesting story about our brave Hurricane Hunters, and beautifully presented, as always. Thank you, Dansy. They truly deserve to be in the Finest Spotlight.

I am hoping to get Friday's post finished by this evening, so I can spend a little more time on the thread tomorrow. :-)

((((((((((sistah hugs))))))))))))))

[Exit148]

I am definitely a land and water person ----not air! Flights scare the heck out of me, but at the same time, I'm fascinated by it.

To think of someone DELIBERATELY heading for a black cloud, or heaven-help-me -- a hurricane --- well, God, please be with them!

I didn't realize the Hurricane Hunters took such detailed information fronm that hanging thingy. It must be an exciting life, and so important to all of us! Not only must they have experienced, fearless pilots, but they must have scientists who know the fine points of weather changes and their meanings.

I've flown in all kinds of things when I've been in China, and all I could think when I'd look down at craggy mountains --- "where are the airports out here??"

True story --- We flew to Mexico in a regular jet with an American pilot, then waited for one of those little 4-seaters to take us to an island off the Yucatan Penninsula. We were with a group of fly-fishermen, and as we waited for our little pup-planes, I was getting more nail-biting nervous. I told the group that the only thing that would make me feel better was to have a tall blond German pilot walk in and say "My name is Ludwig Von Baron, and I am your pilot!" (You know -- the 'war-ace' type of person) What I didn't want is to have someone named Pablo Pedro Santana Rivera, who was more at home eating tacos. (I know I'm stereo-typing, but this was MY life here!)

Anyway -- shortly after, the door opened, and in walked a tall reddish-blond guy who said:"My name is Ludwig, and I am your pilot"!!!!! HONEST! I about fell over! However, I was not assigned to his plane! You guessed it --- I got a pilot whose name was Pablo!! And he was quite experienced and got us safely to the island. (BTW - Ludwig was French -- not German.)