The year....

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1996

It was the first year my dad, Robert and I headed out for some serious adjusting! Our first storm was a windstorm in San Jose, CA. Robert and I left San Angelo, TX in December with three cats in tow. We had to leave Velcro home because she was constantly attacking Luke and Leia. So in our Hundai Sonata we traveled cross country to go live with my parents for the duration of this storm.

When we got to California, Robert and I asked my mom to shave Q-Tip because his hair had been driving both Robert and I insane for the entire drive from Texas. So Q-Tip's first experience with grandma was this evil woman who threw him into a tub and got him wet and then shaved all his hair off! Poor kitty!

My parents had already had plans to spend the holidays back East with my aunt. So Robert and I had the house to ourselves for that Christmas. Unfortunately, the cat I had gotten when I graduated from kindergarten picked that time to degrade seriously and at 18 I had to take him into the vet and have him put down. It was a time for passages.

Our next storm was flooding in the Tacoma, WA area. We were there from February thru late April. We stayed in Puyallup, WA and in Everett, WA. After that storm was completed, it looked like we were going to get a bit of a break, so Robert and I headed back to San Angelo. That trip home was unique in that on Robert's birthday the 28th of April, we hit a blizzard in Wyoming that was bad enough that it closed Interstate 80. Thankfully by that time we were driving a Subaru and didn't notice a thing.

We made it home for a whole day or something before dad called to tell us they wanted us in St. Louis for a hail storm. Robert and I turned around and headed out for St. Louis. That was the first and only time I worked for State Farm and I swore then I would never do it again, and I haven't! We lived in Creve Coeur but most of my claims were in Florissant, MO. We were there thru July 4th as we saw a spectacular fireworks show from under the Arch. The trip home was a nightmare as we were stuck in wall to wall people for more than 90 minutes waiting for the metro to shuttle us all home.

During this storm Robert, took off to visit a woman he had met online and on the trip home crashed the Subaru somewhere outside of Indianapolis. While he was on that trip Dad and I were summoned to North Carolina for Hurricane Bertha. So we headed off to Wilmington, NC.

After we completed this storm with a visit from Robert's dad and step-mom to visit the USS Carolina as well as other sites of note in North Caroline we headed to Phoenix to deal with a wind/lightning storm. There is really nothing worse than climbing on roofs in the heat of the summer in Phoenix, AZ. We had to be off the roof's by 8am or we would run the risk of the soles of our shoes sticking to the roofs. Thankfully that was a very short storm. We were once more summoned to North Carolina this time due to Hurricane Fran.

We lived in Greensboro, NC that time around. And it was during this time that Robert and I had an old friend from Virigina who was stationed at Ft. Bragg come for a visit. Unfortunately he was witness to one of the last major fights of our marriage. At the end of October we were all ready to call it quits for a while. We had been working for 10 months solid with barely a day off in all that time. My mom flew out and she and my dad drove across country together driving around the Appalacian trail taking in the autumn colors.

Robert and I drove home to Texas. However, we had to detour through Indianapolis to pick up the Subaru which was finally out of the shop and ready to be picked up. Less than a week later he asked for a divorce because he had found a woman on the internet. It was a rough time, but looking back on it, it was the greatest gift he could have given me. Because I had the capital to stop working and put myself through school. I wavered back and forth between going to school in CA or in Texas. In the end CA won out because I wanted to be close to my parents.

Hurricane Bertha

1996 July 13: When Bertha made landfall between Wrightsville Beach and Topsail Beach, North Carolina, it brought a storm surge of 8-10 ft (2.4-3 m) with it. Several fishing piers and marinas were destroyed along with numerous boats. In Onslow County, 199 structures were destroyed, of which 117 were mobile homes. In New Hanover County, 1,750 buildings sustained damage. In Kure Beach, near were Bertha made landfall, three homes had their roofs blown off and all structures in the area were damaged. Damages in New Hanover were estimated at $19 million. In Pender County, 40 homes were undermined by beach erosion and four were destroyed. Damages in the county were estimated at $14.5 million. Agricultural damages in Wayne, Wilson, and Johnston counties were estimated at $21 million.

Bertha was one of only 10 major hurricanes recorded before August on record in the Atlantic basin, and was one of just six in July, as well as the first major hurricane in July since the 1926 season. At the time, it was the second strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. in July on record, behind a Storm in 1916. It was since pushed down to 4th place, behind Dennis in 2005 and Dolly in 2008. Due to only moderate damage through Virgin Islands and eastern North Carolina, the name Bertha was not retired and was re-used in the 2002 season. It was re-used again during the 2008 season.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Bertha_(1996)

Hurricane Fran

1996 September 6: Hurricane Fran made landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina and weakened to a depression while moving through Virginia. Fran dropped up to 16 inches of rain (see rainfall map) in Big Meadows causing Record River flooding on the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River. Old Town Alexandria was partially evacuated as the river rose, flooding streets with more than three feet of water. The Shenandoah National Park remained closed for two weeks due to wind and flood damage. Rockingham County reported 40 homes destroyed and 105 homes with major damage. In Warren County, 250 homes were flooded with 50 sustaining major damage. Waynesboro also saw major damage to its downtown area. Across Virginia, flooding from Fran caused $350 million in damages and killed 6 people. Over 100 people were rescued from flood waters. 560 thousand people in Virginia experienced power outages. Wind gusts as high as 79 MPH were experienced at Big Meadows. Scattered tree damage occurred throughout much of the state of VA from the combination of strong winds and saturated soils. Tidal flooding was also a problem on both the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. A surge of 5.1 feet created moderate flooding along the Washington Harbor. Some areas in lower Georgetown and along the marina reported flooding.

From: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/Historic_Events/hurricane_history/index.htm

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