Worst Storm?

[pcbequalsheaven]

Whats the worst storm you have ever been through on the Emerald Coast? I remember Opal, even though i was just a young kid. My dad took us outside (me and my brother) and we got to play in the wind while the eye went over our house. It was really cool, till the wind picked up again, and we had to go outside. I remember huddling with my family in the bathroom that night all night. Interesting place to camp out as a f If i remember correctly, we were without power for about 2 weeks, and without water for about a week. took em about a year to repair a bridge that was damaged just down the road from us as well (we had more than one way to get out). What about you? What is the worst storm you remember?

 

[Will B]

Sat through both sides of Eloise back in '75. I can still remember going outside to play while the eye passed. Clear blue straight up surrounded by massive walls.

We lost all our screen and the marble chips from the roof, but that's all. I remember lots of houses on the beach near Ed Walline Park and Dune Allen that were gone or severly damaged.

Edit...
I googled Hurricane Eloise to verify the date and ran across this picture. For those familiar with Dune Allen, this is THE original Fort Panic!

http://4warnwxteam.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/eloise3.jpg?w=490&h=324

 

[Lake View Too]

Great photo! I believe Eloise was stronger than Opal. The devastation was pretty widespread. I did not stay through Eloise, but I had to drive through parts of Opal, and it was intense. I stayed through Erin (just before Opal) and all the beer and muscle relaxers in the house couldn't calm me down.You think it's going to be an hour of excitement, and it turns into six hours of intense anxiety.

 

[Will B]

Great photo! I believe Eloise was stronger than Opal. The devastation was pretty widespread....

LOL!! Of course it was! There weren't hardly any homes down here!

Our house is directly across the street from Goat Feathers next to that horrlble brown monstrosity. At the time of Eloise there were only 10 homes or so between our home and 393 (including the beach road right in front of us). There were no homes on the dunes in SRB back then until you got to Ed Walline Park. Dune Allen has always had 'em.

 

[kwalsh0001]

Worst storm???

Well, not exactly the Emerald Coast, but......

.....My first day on active duty in the U.S. Air Force. I signed in at some place called Keesler Air Force Base (yep, Biloxi, MS), and was told to immediately report to a designated storm shelter because of something called Camille (yep, THAT Hurricane Camille).

What I experienced was totally unexpected.... I had been thru hurricanes while growing up (Long Island, NY), but nothing like the next three days.

Ultimately, my car (Volkswagen Beetle) was found about 400 yards away.... apparently, it was watertight enough to float--for a while at least.

(Don't try to compute my age from Camille's dates--let it suffice to say I'm old....!)

 

[Lake View Too]

This is a before and after of Eastern Lake Inlet 1975.

 

[Andy A]

Thank you all for the hurricane history lesson of Walton County!!!

 

[BJackson]

Picture of my house in Grayton Beach after Hurricane Eloise in 1975. Hurricane Eloise was much worse than Hurricane Opal for us. All of Walton County was devastated by the direct hit. Since we had received over 20 inches of rain in July from an unnamed tropical storm, the winds of Hurricane Eloise toppled trees all the way to the Alabama line. Every bridge on 30A was washed out. We were without power and water for weeks. I remember standing in line in Seagrove to get water from the National Guard. At that time there wasn't a governmental response to help with cleanup.

 

[seagrovegirl]

I grew up in Dune Allen and Eloise hit when I was 12. My father and brothers stayed, my mother and I went to the hospital in Ft. Walton were I was admitted for a rare illness. I don't remember much of the storm, since I was heavily sedated, but I remember the window in my room breaking and being wheeled into the hallway. After the storm my mother could not reach my father and brothers for over 24 hours. The radio reports said Santa Rosa Beach was wiped off the map! I can't imagine how worried my mother was.

Thankfully our family was fine and the house faired incredibly well. Huge trees fell all around and every one missed the house. My father and brothers said they would NEVER stay for another hurricane again! They mentioned the eye going over and going outside to check for damage, then the other half of the storm hit.

Electricity was out for about 10 days, not sure about the phones. The beach in Dune Allen was a mess and I do remember Fort Panic on it's side on the beach. We used to call it the pregnant A frame. Homes were in Oyster lake and some just completely gone. Huge piles of debris were everywhere. It was a mess for a long time.

 

[Lake View Too]

Yes, I had forgotten about the bridges being washed out!There was an incident where a car was barreling down 30-A, a few days after the storm, at night, near Camp Creek Lake, unaware that the bridge was washed out. The driver, perhaps a bit impaired, ran right through the barricade, jumped one of the wash-outs, and landed in the mid-span of the bridge, between the two major wash-outs. I seem to recall a photo of it, but dang, that was a long time ago.