Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-12
What Is a Hurricane Like, Anyway.

is about as low as q plane can
get without actually sanding in
the water. We couldn't see any
thing and we didn't feel so good
so close to the ocean.
II pulled the yoke back so far
it sank in my belly. We had to
get up.
"'Ye're at 80 feet Davis cit.
Harry Davis, aerologist) shouted.
If any one had told me you
could have full control Of ele-
vators at 80 feet with no re-
Spouse, I wouldn't have believed
1t. I was sweating. The perspi-
ration was fused with rainwater.
I was clammy. The pressure was
low, the humidity high and the
air stagnant. Miraculously the
controls responded and we nosed
upward.
Shoulder Straps Locked.
"It was violent inside. If I
hadn't had my shoulder straps
locked, my head would have hit
the ceiling. Now we were at 800
feet. Then we dropped again.
Were $50 feet above the
water Davis barked. He was on
instruments since he couldn't see.
MY only reaction was to want
up again. I nudged the controls
back and we began to climb"
1t. Bell said the big bomber,
especially stressed for hurricane
work, went up and down peril
ously between $50 feet and 800
feet about so times in 10 min
utes. Then the plane broke into
the relative quiet of the storms
calm central eye.
Around the eye, the winds
ragged at a velocity Of $50 miles
an hour. An hour and a half
later. back again in the clear.
the pilot found his plane had
been blown 100 miles of course.
Taking Business Elsewhere.
Hurricanes have long been as
ISOLATED with Florida in the pub
lie mind, but actually their heavy
frequency here is of recent vim
tage. Miami for example, had a
hurricane in 1906 and none other
until 1926. and there are indica-
tons that they now may be TAX
ing their business elsewhere.
Since 1888, when a violent
storm funneled up Narragansett
Bay, more and more of them
have been heading into New En-
gland.
Do hurricanes go in cycles?
Grady Norton, chief forecaster
in the Miami Weather Bureaus
storm warning service, has found
some indications that they do.
Records don't extend back far
enough to tell us definitely
whether there actually is hur-
ricane cycle" Mr.. Norton said.
"Some day we will know the
story.
Called 'Equinoxial Storms.
eve do know that a little over
100 years ago the South Carolina
coast was visited often by big
blows called "Equinoxial storms"
They were tropical hurricanes.
pure and simple. They came
in the hurricane season, they
brought torrential downpours,
piled up the seas in storm tides.
blew down homes and trees.
They did everything hurricanes
do because they were tropical
hurricanes.
But the South Carolina cycle
ended. The coast there is visited
occasionally by a big blow, but
they became an exception rather
than a rule.
"The next cycle appears to
have moved to the Gulf Coast
The Galveston storm of 1900 was
the most disastrous ever to strike
the United States. It's combined
storm wave and wind force took
the appalling toll Of 5000 lives
in Louisiana and Texas, with
5000 dead in Galveston alone. A
similar storm struck in 1915, but
protective measures held down
the toll.
Great Storm of 1926.
"Then came Florida's cycle. In
1926 a great hurricane battered
Miami, bringing an 11-foot storm
tide which inundated Miami
Beach. More than 100 deaths
resulted from wind and water in
the Miami area and damage in
the city reached $76 million. The
property loss for all of Florida
surpassed 500 million.