August 18th, 1983 was...

[Roxy]

Hi Neighbor. Don't worry I am still learning too, but I get the feeling many here are quite patient.

What a story you shared! Alicia was a bear wasn't she? Our family was really lucky, we were only about 3 or 4 miles from the condo you are discussing. It's amazing how one area was under water and another had no water at all!

Yeah, we rode out the storm in a subdivision close to El Camino Real and Bay Area Blvd. No major problem there, other than the fact that the walls of the house were "breathing" during the storm and it appeared the fireplace might collapse. But the Seabrook area (perhaps 5-7 miles away) just got leveled.

We were quite close to eachother, I was at Space Center and El Dorado. It's really quite amazing, I wish I could remember it more.

Oh and BTW, our dog did come back. Animals are smart like that.

[eyesurvivor]

I was 33 at the time and living in a little place called Freddieville which is a part of hitchcock. We went to stay at my brother's house a few miles up the road close to the old Blimp Base. It was a good move in that we were on higher ground and only got about 4 inches of water in the yard. My house in Freddieville had 3 feet of water inside. The move to my brother's house was bad because we went through the eye there. It was my first, and I hope my last experience of that kind. We also had a small tornado pass close by and cause the front door to bulge in a few inces. It was the first time I had ever been scared during a storm. KGBC radio held our hand through the whole thing and that was a comfort.

eyesurvivor

[Johnny]

Roxy, nice to meet you. Have you always lived in the Clear Lake area?

B-Bear, thanks for sharing your experience with us. By the looks of it, you lost a great deal in that storm and saw the worst of it. Nice to meet ya.

AFM, that's pretty darn funny. I'm sure you picturing your dad hunkered down in the dark with all heck breaking loose makes you laugh out loud. If that was my dad, I'd be in tears over it...after the fact of course. Thanks for the story.

[ROCK]

Saw this post and couldnt resist. First hello to all my neighbors in Clear Lake. I live in Pearland, not so far away.

Im new to the board and pretty new to tropical weather for that matter but I did ride out Alicia in '83. I was 12yrs old living in Pasadena (formerly home of Gilleys) and talk about a wild ride. The evening before landfall, as the outer bands started to approach us kids were throwing the frisbie in 30+ winds. Being a young kid that was way cool. Alot of excitment though my parents werent too excited. I remember the power going out around 2am and a tree crashing through my bedroom window. Of course my parent woke me up from my sleep to get me out of the room. (funny how when you get older you dont sleep sounder as a kid would). Anyway, tremendous tree damage all through the neighborhood, no power, no phones, and hotter than hell for the days that followed. We went from friends house to friends house just so we could sleep for two weeks. It was a nightmare. I will never be without a generator again. For a Cat3 to do that amount of damage in Pasadena, which aint even on the coast, I can only imagine what a Cat4 would do ......

[Roxy]

Roxy, nice to meet you. Have you always lived in the Clear Lake area?

B-Bear, thanks for sharing your experience with us. By the looks of it, you lost a great deal in that storm and saw the worst of it. Nice to meet ya.

AFM, that's pretty darn funny. I'm sure you picturing your dad hunkered down in the dark with all heck breaking loose makes you laugh out loud. If that was my dad, I'd be in tears over it...after the fact of course. Thanks for the story.

Well yes, I've gone, but always come back.

I just love the weather!

[KatDaddy]

Hurricane Alicia.......ah yes. I still remember it like yesterday. It was a week before I was a freshman at Pearland High. I remember watching TWC the day before landfall. We were jumping on a trampoline all afternoon during gusty 30MPH winds and watching fast moving scud clouds out of the NE. It was an amazing and scary when I realized wow this is really it. After watching and waiting to experience a hurricane for years this is the one. I remember watching the side of the Flagship Hotel blow away in 50-60MPH that afternoon. Next thing I remember was watching Channel 2 news at 10PM and seeing the eye approach the coast. At 10PM all news stations began 24 hour news. I was still in disbelief until about 11:30 or 12 Midnight. Winds really began to increase around 40-45MPH. Around 12:30 winds were gusting to 50MPH. This is when reality set in for me. As I looked to the NE I saw lightening and knew squalls were rapidly approaching AND if the winds are gusting to 50MPH there is going to be some serious winds in the squalls. By 1:20AM Alicia was kicking but and did not stop until 8:30AM. During the night as the NE eyewall passed winds were 80G100MPH. I watched the winds change direction from the NE - ENE - E - SE -S -SSW - SW The house and wall shook several times and the power flashed off and on several times. We were very lucky. We did not loose any power....one of the few. We lost a few trees and some shingles but that was it. However it was an amazing experience to hear 100MPH winds roaring through our giant Oak trees. I became very respectful of hurricanes that night. The next day I wonder how people can go through a 130, 140, or 160MPH hurricane. Alicia was truely an amazing and almost scary event that I have and never will forget.

[JenBayles]

This is a kind of funny/sad story. My uncle was your typical traveling salesman and certainly liked his grog. The day before Alicia blew through, he checked himself into rehab in Alvin, TX. He had the raving DTs while a cat 3 hurricane roared over his head. Well, that did it. He swore off rehab forever, checked himself out and went back home to his wife and bottle where he lived quite happily for many more years.

[wxman57]

I also noticed that Alicia was too far west in that satellite pic. For the record, those of you who think you rode out a hurricane in Houston (I went right through what was left of Alicia's eye in SW Houston, myself), I don't believe that Alicia produced any sustained hurricane-force winds in Harris County. It was just barely a Cat 3 hurricane at landfall, and even Galveston didn't record Cat 3 winds. The last real hurricane to move across Harris County was 1949, and again in 1943.

So for the most part, Alicia was a strong TS across Houston - and look what it did! I remember piles of debris on every median 10-15 feet high for months.

[HouTXmetro]

I was 4 or 5 at the time. All I remember was a lot of relatives came over and we weathered to storm together. I lived in the Sunnyside area at the time. Highway 288 was literally in my back yard. We managed to escape with no damage. It did flood, but our house was elevevated on bricks about 2 feet above the ground so no water got in. The following morning my older brother pushed me in a flooded ditch full of crawfish

[Roxy]

I was 4 or 5 at the time. All I remember was a lot of relatives came over and we weathered to storm together. I lived in the Sunnyside area at the time. Highway 288 was literally in my back yard. We managed to escape with no damage. It did flood, but our house was elevevated on bricks about 2 feet above the ground so no water got in. The following morning my older brother pushed me in a flooded ditch full of crawfish

mmmm, crawfish. Grab a net and boil the water!