Hurricanes and Their Fury

A major hurricane is rated a category 3, 4, and 5, in which winds range from 111 miles per hour to more than 155 miles per hour. Hurricane Dennis, the first hurricane of the season and the first category four hurricane ever in the month of July, rapidly increased to a category four as it approached the northern Gulf Coast. It weakened to a category three as it made landfall east of Pensacola, Florida on July 9, 2005.

Hurricane Dennis was the second hurricane within about a 10-month period that projected a direct hit to Mobile, Alabama; but made a sudden turn to the East when it was only a few miles away from the city, missing Mobile with a direct hit and once again sparing the city. While Mobillians were saddened by the blow to Pensacola and other cities, they were grateful that God had spared Mobile, once again.

As Dennis forcefully pushed its way toward Mobile, local and state officials feared strong winds would cause many casualties if people remained in their homes. The fear was based on the devastation this hurricane could cause, being that it was a major category four hurricane with sustained winds of 145 miles per hour. Billions of dollars in damages are paid by insurance companies for damages to structures that are not built to withhold hurricane force winds.

The governor of Alabama ordered a mandatory, first time, county-wide evacuation because of Dennis’ projected strength, the possible affect the high winds might have on buildings and problems with the availability and capacity of shelters. It was reported, in a local newspaper, that county officials feared there would be so much damage that emergency services would not be able to reach those who chose to stay at home and ride out the hurricane.

The wall of water a hurricane brings can rise to 20 feet above normal sea level. However, meteorologists have reported that Hurricane Ivan brought with its fury offshore waves of up to 90 feet! Over 6,000 hurricane related deaths associated with Twentieth Century storms resulted from storm surge.

Evacuation can be extremely hard on the elderly and people who are sick. A physician told of three patients under the care of his practice who died because they fled Hurricane Ivan in September of 2004. Two of the patients had lung conditions. One died after being cut off from a treatment unit; the other died when he could not get medicine in a neighboring city in Alabama.  The third patient, who had a weak heart, was taken out of state facing long hours of travel on the road and died.

A retired school teacher at a local elementary school in Baldwin County, right outside of Mobile, decided to stay home on Per dido Key in Florida and watch Hurricane Ivan as it came ashore in September of 2004. Her family said she wanted to ride out the hurricane so that she would have a good story to share with her friends once the storm had ended and lights were restored. She felt that riding out the storm would be an accomplishment. When her husband reported her missing, he received word that someone matching her description was at the morgue in Pensacola, Florida. He and his sons went to the morgue and identified her body. Her body had been found almost half a mile from her house in a parking lot. A medical examiner said the cause of her death was blunt impact to the head. Her death was ruled accidental.

She was one of 29 Florida residents killed as a result of Hurricane Ivan. The strong category three hurricane claimed at least seven more lives in Alabama and was said to be directly responsible for 92 deaths in the United States and the Caribbean.