Remembering Alicia 25 Years Later

[KatDaddy]

I started this same thread at the local KHOU board. Alicia was the last major hurricane to hit the Houston-Galveston areas. This area has been very fortunate over the past years. We have seen many of our friends on the board who lost everything in 2005. With the 25 year anniversary of Alicia next month I wanted to share my experience with everyone.

I was already a weatherfreak but Alicia really set me off. I was registering at Pealand High School as a freshman a few days before Alicia made landfall. I had never experienced a hurricane before. They always missed us like Anita and Allen. I remember the day before Alicia playing dodge ball on the trampoline with friends. We would get a few gusts that would sway the trees but nothing to bad. I also remember checking the radar on TWC every hour as Alicia intensified. I vividly remember Jim Cantorie showing the radar of Alicia tightening up. TWC was new and Jim had hair. At one point that afternoon I realized this is really it. Alicia will be my first hurricane. I remember riding my bike back to my parents to see what was going on. Most of the windows were already boarded up by that time. They take hurricanes serious and Carla was our Rita I was watching one of our stations live from Galveston as the side of the Flagship Hotel began peeling off. I thought wow our winds were no more than 30-35MPH in gusts. My dad finished securing everything during the evening and as 9PM approached it was time to go in. Just before daylight was gone I could easily point to the center of Alicia with the clouds. The rotation of the clouds were perfect. The low clouds moved rapidly in from the NE then toward the NW and eventually off to the SW. It was like a pinwheel. Looking SE the clouds hardly moved toward the horizon. Alicia was a very tight and small cyclone. I watched Doug Johnson on Channel 2 during the 10PM broadcast and they closed with radar showing Alicia approaching Galveston. I had the NOAA weather radar on constantly at that point and many hours to follow. The winds started to pick up around 11PM as they backed to a more NNE direction as Alicia's eyewall advanced toward Pearland. We started getting periods of light to moderate rain and winds gusting to 45MPH as 11:30PM approached. We lost our first tree. It was a medium size top-heavy fir tree. The winds just pushed it over after the recent heavy rains had saturated the soils. I still thought this is cool. Around 12:15PM the winds really began to gust with force......I am guessing 55MPH. As the winds increased out of the NNE-NE I could see sheet lightening to the NE. This is when I realized this aint going be fun. For I knew if the wind gusts were starting to make me a little nervous when that squall gets here its really going to scary. About 12:45PM Alicia's northern eyewall was upon us. From that point it was a ride. I thought it would never end. I felt the wall of the house shake. I heard rattling across the roof as it vibrated at times. The wind was roaring through our huge live Oaks in the front yard. Amazing how loud the wind is when blasting through trees. The winds slowly shifted from NNE to NE and ENE. The highest winds came from the ENE and E between 3 and 4:30AM. We had a protected patio where we could watch Alicia. I heard what I thought was a tornado (likely just a very high gust or mini vortices nearby). Man I was under the mattress waiting for the house to blow apart. Yep I was scared.
One of my friends stayed with us since his family lives along Clear Creek. While I was half hiding, talking to my grandmother (who experienced the 1915 hurricane as a kid as well as the hurricanes of the 30s and 40s thought Alicia was nothing), and I listened to the NOAA weather radio my friend came in and said you gotta check this out. So here I go outside half scared and half amazed to see what he is talking about. He said listen......here comes the gust. In the distance you could here the gust approaching (it sounded like the jets taking off from Hobby when we have north winds). It was a low roar which became louder and then blasted across the yard. The trees would bend to 45 degrees as the sustained gust roared across. Around 4:30AM the winds maxed out at 80G100MPH in the northeastern eyewall. I saw the true definition of sustained winds. About 5AM I passed out asleep from pure exhaustion, excitement and being scared. When I woke up it was just getting light
The wind was out of the S before I crashed and now they were E to ESE. I remember not being happy since I missed the change of wind direction. As the first light of day was visible I remember climbing onto the couch to peer out of window. Now when I was much younger there was a weather/disaster documentary called "When Havoc Struck" that I watched. It started off with Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. That is the first vision/thought/feeling I had after seeing massive oak trees that have stood all my life gone. The true power of a hurricane was seen and realized at that point. By that time it was getting close to 7:00AM. I opened the garage door a little on the NW side of the house to see the front yard. I notice the sky was much lighter to W. I was so exhausted and overwhelmed I did not realize until later that day it was the eye of Alicia passing just W The eye went straight up Highway 35 in Pearland. The southern eyewall was nothing compared to the northern and northeastern eyewall. I am estimating winds gusted between 60-80MPH from 7-9AM. We had a board on our sliding glass door that begin blowing off about 8AM so me, my brothers, and dad went out to stabilize it. We got that done and then played a bit in the wind. I could lean way over in the wind...you would almost fall over...it was fun. After that we went back inside and watch tons of insulation and siding blow across our 3 acre yard from the new neighborhood. By 10:30AM the rain had stopped and the winds were back down to 30MPH We never experienced any portion of the eye but had much more rain in the southern eyewall. I estimated only 5.50" overall. We lost 2 trees and a few shingles as well as some large branches off one of the oak trees. Not many leaves left on the pecan tree. I did not crash until 6PM the day of Alicia. I was up at 7AM the day before with a 45 minute to 1 hour power nap. That afternoon we drove down 518 into main part of Pearland to see damage. I thought wow I can see the downtown skyscrapers clearly. Alicia blew out all the air pollution.
Alicia was a life weather event for me and I respected severe/tropical weather before Alicia. After Alicia my interest and respect grew a hundred fold. In the days to follow I thought about the 130MPH and 150MPH or greater winds in hurricanes. No doubt a terrifying experience. I cant and don’t want to imagine what the survivors of Andrew 1992 dealt with that night as he buzz sawed across S Florida.

[Derek Ortt]

wasn't Cantore... he wa sat the University of Vermont then. He came to TWC in 1986

[KatDaddy]

Hmmmmmmmmm. Perhaps I am mistaken Derek. Who else would have on the air during that Summer.

[JtSmarts]

Great post KatDaddy! I throughly enjoyed reading your vivid account of Alicia. The only time I've really experienced hurricane conditions was Hugo, but I was only 3 years old and slept through it. However the aftermath is still ingrained in my memory.

[KWT]

The thing with Alicia is that it came in one of the slowest seasons ever and yet just goes to show it only takes one and this season along with 1992 are the ultimate proof of that idea.

[Honeyko]

I used to have a pic of the remnants of Alicia, still a perfect swirl not snarled up in any frontal boundaries, over Rochester, Minnesota (where they received some moderate rain).

[Ed Mahmoud]

I had just moved to Orlando, FL 32813, and have no personal memories.


My wife does, mainly about trees down in her old neighborhood near Veterans Memorial between Gulf Bank and West Mount Houston, and lack of AC for several days in August.

[Ed Mahmoud]

wasn't Cantore... he wa sat the University of Vermont then. He came to TWC in 1986

Close

A native of White River Junction, Vermont, Jim graduated with a B.S. in Meteorology from Lyndon State College (Lyndonville, Vermont.) After an internship with Channel 7 in Boston during the Summer of '85, Jim found his dream job. "I am proud to say The Weather Channel was my first job out of college." (Jim first appeared on The Weather Channel in July of 1986.)

From TWC web page

[srainhoutx]

Memories. Although I was young for Carla/1961, it certainly impacted my life and began my "interest" in all things weather related. I will never forget the images of the first radar shots of a hurricane shown via "live" black and white TV on KHOU with Dan Rather and the old Ray Charles song "Hit The Road, Jack", being played over and over again. The damage to the east side and the Galveston Bay Area was tremendous. Significant damage in the Baytown/La Porte, Pasadena and Kemah/Seabrook area along with the West/Upper Bay was just unbelievable. One situation I would like to never repeat, particularly with the growth that has occurred.

Fast forward to 1983...
As a fire fighter at that time, so much effort was spent preparing for Alicia. We all remember that there was not a lot of time as the system developed and approached the area rather quickly. I will never forget driving a pumper engine company truck at 2:00 AM in the morning as Alicia made landfall to a building collaspe when a peak gust picked up the front of the 50,000 lbs pumper and the steering wheel spinning in my hand, before putting us back down. Today, this type of situation would not occur with OSHA and Federal/State guidelines for OEM operations during a storm. Seeing a barge across HWY 146 before the tunnel was demolished for the new Fred Hartman Bridge and water up to the overpass on I-10 @ Magnolia. Another item to remember were the piles of debris, both trees and structures that littered the Houston Metro area for weeks. Other Hurricanes have come and gone during our time in the Lower Keys from 2001-2006, but that is a whole different experience. Thanks for starting a Topic that we could take a walk down memory lane, KatDaddy. Hopefully for those that have not been through this type of force of nature, our words will help you to understand our interest in them.

[HouTXmetro]

I was about 4 years old.. All I remember were family members huddled in our home as Alicia made landfall and battered Houston. Our street flooded but our home was spared being that it was elevated about 2 feet on cynder blocks.

[jasons2k]

Thanks for the post. That was before I moved here but my sister lived here. She said it was the scariest thing she ever lived through.

[Swimdude]

Excellent post. I am yet to experience a hurricane myself, living in the Houston area... Though I experienced the madness that was pre-Rita. I still wish to experience a storm myself - maybe then I'll know better.

[vbhoutex]

Alicia-where do I start? Maybe the beginning would be best. Preface. I live about 35 miles inland from where KD is and about 25 miles(as the crow flies from Pearland that he mentions).

We were visiting my parents in FWB, FL. that August. We had a 4 year old and an 8 month old at the time. My dad was always a weather fanatic from as early as I can remember(wonder where I got it from?? ) and had always included me in his observations and "trained" me as I grew. We both were watching the tropics since it was hurricane season and it had been quiet so far that year. Anyway we had noticed the beginnings of Alicia on the satellite photos that were being shown on the weather. There were also little signs in the weather that things might be brewing, but nothing spectacular. The day we left, I said to him as we were leaving, "watch us have to deal with this(it then appeared to be headed to TD status to us) when we get back to Houston". The drive home was normal with "normal" summer showers along the way. Of course by the time we were back home 10 hours later what was to become Alicia had become a depression. As she grew and it became obvious we were going to get something from her I went out and got some supplies(didn't keep a hurricane kit then). LIke KD above I remember the weather deteriorating slowly as the day before landfall went on and by the time I went home from work that day it was getting obvious we were going to be in for somewhat of a ride with squalls starting to come through occasionally. I watched the weather on every channel I could muster and listened to my NOAA radio incessantly, much to my wifes chagrin. That evening as Alicia strengthened and drew close the weather really began to get squally. After watching the late news and being sure everything was as in order as it could be I went to bed. I told my wife-"they are wrong, it is going to turn more NW and come right into us instead of going further down the coast"(what would have been a straight shot). I don't even know why I knew that besides gut instinct, but I "knew". About 2am the next morning I was awakened by the first really nasty squall coming through with winds probably gusting into the 50 mph range. We lost power at that time so we then had to rely on our radios for info, but I did learn that she had indeed turned NW and was headed in over the West end of Galveston Island before we lost power. To say the least the weather deteriorated rapidly after that and I was not able to go back to sleep as I was constantly outside trying to see what I could since it wasn't daylight yet. Lots of debris and many limbs were already coming down. When we finally began to get some light was about the time that the eyewall was approaching our area(7ish) because at that time basically I felt like all hell had broken lose(mind you I had been through a few canes already including Camille(not at the center thank goodness). As KD said you could hear the gusts coming through the neighborhood with that roar to them. Our winds at that time were probably in the 60-70 mph sustained range with higher gusts. My wife kept busy entertaining/comforting our 4 year old as I kept checking for leaks, damage etc. I went outside again onto our front porch to watch. As I was standing there the wind kept getting stronger and stronger which of course was the eyewall and the rain was past torrential and of course sideways. Then I heard it. Off in the distance I began to hear this roar of what I thought was another gust. I started to become frightened somewhat(not enough to go back inside though)by the sounds I was hearing as it got closer and I could tell it was tearing things apart about a block away-I could hear the metal carports at the apartment complexes being torn apart and literally heard a few trees thud to the ground. By the time this got about a half block away the sound had changed and become constant and I had decided it was probably a tornado and I didn't have time to get inside then. I held onto the column to my right and dug my fingers up under the shingles on the house as it hit our yard. There was a 18"-24" diameter tree about 20 feet in front of me. I almost couldn't see it as everything whited out and the roar was unbelievable. I was literally being thrown back and forth holding on for dear life. Then I watched as that tree lifted into the air about a foot or so, twisted what looked to be back and forth, settled back to the ground and then the entire middle of it crashed to the ground. As the wind had settled back down right after that I tucked my tush between my legs and ran inside screaming "tornado" and promptly tripped over my wife who was huddled in the hall with our 4 year old. That is when I knew I hadn't imagined it because she lived in OK and KS before Houston and knew the sound and where to go. Soon after that the eye or should I say deteriorating eye come right over us and we went out to survey the damage. A neighbor and I went to try and find some ice and look around. No ice, but lots of damage and there appeared to be a definite path where the I felt the tornado had come through. We barely got back to the house before the southern eyewall came through and everything went to crap again for a few hours, but not as bad as it had been. It was later confirmed by the NWS that we had a tornado(probably FO) go through our neighborhood with about a 2 mile path. We ended up without power for seven days after that. Fortunately we ran a couple of extension cords across the road from a neighbors to power the refrigerator until we could clear it out and take to relatives who had power and thankfully air conditioning. Anyway, I'm sorry this iso long winded but the memories are still vivid. I later told my p's that I never want to go through that again even as fascinated as I have always been by hurricanes. I guess because this time it was me who could lose everything I owned.

[TexWx]

Hurricane Alicia.
25 Years ago.
I was 10 years old. Seems like yesterday.

Alicia is probably the storm that made me the weather freak that I am now.

Being from Texas City, I know about extremes.. weather/fires/explosions...etc.

The first storm I remember running from was hurricane Allen in 1980.
Everyone was in a panic... this storm was freaking huge. My mom and dad leave for Somerville, Tx. (this is where we went anytime something was coming close).
I rode with my sister and her husband and the funny thing is we almost got lost and drove to Corpus....

Fast Forward to 1983.
It was either Saturday the 16th or Sunday the 17th when the wind really started picking up. We were riding our skateboards around the neighborhood and letting the wind just push us, and we were movin'

Mom took me out to the Texas City dike, the day before. The water levels were rising up above the road and it was getting worse the farther out you went.

Then the fun stopped, and everyone was serious. Not depressing or anything. It seemed like everyone was helping out each other, and just drinking beer and boarding up windows.
Then the streets were dead.

Alicia came in and it was bad, and I thought it would never end.
Everyone dealt with it in their own way.
(My parents had a bad time during Hurricane Carla in 1961)

Dad: Drank

My Uncle: Slept

My mom & my brother: Huddled in the bathroom and listened to a station broadcasting out of Texas City.

Me: On the toilet with a nervous stomach.

The next few weeks were really bad.
No lights, No Ice and it was hot.

I don't wish this on anyone, but I wouldn't trade that time for anything.


These are pictures of me the night before Alicia. (bike or board??)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/Rip76/scan0037.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/Rip76/Mongoose.jpg

I put together a huge book about Hurricane Alicia

[galvestontx13]

I remember Alicia. I was 7. We were from Illinois and had just moved there in 80. so to say the least we knew nothing about what was about to happen. We lived an hour north of galveston on 59 in Humble. That week my parents had gone on vacation for the week and left me and my two sisters home alone. I was 7 and my sisters were 16 or 17. We had no idea what to do. We saw on tv that everyone was taping up there windows. So we decide we will to. We look in the garage and all we had was duct tape. hahahah dont ever put duct tape on windows. So we taped up all the windows realll good. lol my dad still talks about the X's on the windows from the duct tape. And being the smart kids we were we also left out all the iron patio furniture. We are from illinois,, duh how could a big thunderstorm move heavy iron furniture???? lol. we were so dumb. needless to say we only found the iron table and 2 of the chairs afterwards.

We sat on the front porch through most of the storm. watching all the trees snap and the wind and rain. I vividly remember the smell of fresh cut pine trees. At one point the rain/wind stopped and blue skies came out. We figured it was all done. So we start to clean up the yard from all the carnage and the neighbor across the street starts yelling at us telling us to go inside, he was talking about some sort of eye and the weather was going to get bad again. we had no idea what he was talking about because duh we were from Illinois. so sure enough we were in the eye and the weather got worse again.

First, the fence went down, then 2 trees, at that point we were scared to say the least. we ran inside and stayed there for the durration of the storm. Pretty scary for a kid who is 7 and his sisters who were 16 and 17.

After the storm I remember a few things. 1 is all the piles of trees and brush that everyone put at the curbside to be picked up. these piles were huge and everyone had one. And 2 my sisters complaining they didnt have electricity to blow dry there hair. This was big hair time in texas so they were really upset about that. Also riding around the neighborhood with all the other kids on there bikes to check out all the damage.

My parents got the first flight back they could find to houston. I think it was like 2 or 3 days later. I remember both my parents break down in tears when they got home and saw what we had been through. one of only 2 times I have seen my father cry.

[marcus B]

I remember hurricane Alica. I was 19 and just moved to Houston from Michigan and didn’t even know what a hurricane was. I was staying with my sister in the Richmond/Chimney rock area. We had no supply's at all, not even a radio. The wind really started to get strong around 1:00am. We moved a mattress in to the hallway and camped out there because the windows were shaking so bad. I’ll never forget the howling sound the wind was making,it went on for hours. We could hear the trees snap and debris hit the house. At daybreak when things calmed down we went to the store not knowing it was just the eye of the storm. Trees were every ware,and people were driving on the wrong side of the road. The grocery store we went to had a giant hole in its roof and it was raining inside the store. We managed to find some lunch meat and bread and make it back before the second half of the storm hit. When the winds picked up it seemed like the winds were even stronger than before with more trees coming down in the front yard. I know Alica wasn’t the strongest storm, and I’ve even heard some people say it wasn’t even a Hurricane time it got to Houston. I just hope I never have to go though anything stronger. If I do though, I’ll definitely be more prepared.