The Answer My Friend...

Tommy Towery

LHS'64

In the late summer of 1965, I had just finished my summer job at the YMCA camp at Pickwick Lake and was waiting to start my sophomore year at Memphis State. I took advantage of the few weeks I had available and made a trip to Huntsville to visit my friends and my grandmother. While there I got in touch with Bob Walker, LHS ’64, who was living in Gulfport, Mississippi, and he talked me into coming down and visiting him before I went back to Memphis. I bought a round-trip ticket on the train from Huntsville to Gulfport and away I went.

I was 19 years old and had never made such a trip alone, but at that age, I was without fear of anything. I especially did not make note of the weather at my destination. It was only a day after I arrived that Bob and I learned we were in a direct path of an ensuing hurricane.

Hurricane Betsy entered the Gulf of Mexico on September 8, 1965, and re-strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane on September 10. It reached a secondary peak with winds of 130 mph. However, further intensification was halted after Betsy made landfall in Grand Isle, Louisiana, around 0400 UTC. In Louisiana, strong winds and rough seas caused extensive damage. Storm surge inundated the levees in New Orleans, flooding much of the city. Throughout the state, more than 22,000 homes were either damaged or destroyed, and 168,000 people were left without electricity. The storm caused more than 17,000 injuries and resulted in 58 deaths. The impact in other states ranged from minor to moderate. Overall, Betsy caused about $1.43 billion in damage and 76 fatalities. Betsy was the first hurricane in the United States to cause at least $1 billion in damage.[

A little further east, in Gulfport, Bob and I were holed up in his parent’s small house. We spent the first part of the evening playing cards with them while we listened to the radio tell of the storm. When we heard how big the storm surges were, we decided we wanted to see them for ourselves. His parent’s house was only about three blocks from the coast, so we put on our jackets and headed out on foot to witness the power of the storm. As we made our way we saw powerlines snapping and fish-tailing as they hit the streets in front of us, but we kept going, obvious to the dangers we were facing. Bob was a smoker at the time and he took great delight in flicking his cigarette butt up into the fierce winds and watching it fly almost a block away before it disappeared into the darkness. 

We stood on the beach’s edge and watched the giant waves crashing onto the street in front of us and were awed by the power we were witnessing. As the eye of the storm neared us and things started to settle down we casually walked back to his house and went to bed as if it was a normal night. 

Even though the house was only a few blocks from the beach it suffered no damage that night. The next morning we ventured out to see the boats sitting in grocery store parking lots, streets buried in sand, and the piers which were then only bare posts sticking up out of the water.

The destroyed piers posed a personal problem to me, because the train track from Mobile to Gulfport ran over wooden trestles similar to the piers, and they were all wiped out. I could no longer catch the train back to Huntsville from where I was.

Finally, we found the only solution was for Bob’s brother to drive me to Mobile where the train tracks were still functional and I was able to complete my voyage home. Looking back I still am amazed at the stupidity of young minds who think that walking to the beach in the middle of a hurricane was a great idea. God watches over fools I guess.

Why People Did Not Attend the Reunion...

We had 56 responses to last week's questions. Below are the answers given.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my survey about why the reunion was not attended. This was the largest response to any survey I have every conducted via The Traveller. I have shared it with the reunion committee and we will work with the responses to see how we can make future reunions better.

On a different note, if you were involved in the latest hurricane would you please share your experiences with your fellow classmates? I am sure they would love to hear your personal story. You can send it to my email address and I will publish it.

This Week's Questions, Answers, Comments

Floyd "Ricky" Simmons, LHS ‘64, "I very much enjoyed the reunion and look forward to the 2024 event.  I read Lee's Traveller every week."

Barbara Hood Diamond, LHS ‘66, "So sorry I missed it. We have been in Italy since September 7th. I will add the date to the calendar and hope to be alive & kicking in 2024.Thank you Tommy for all you have done to keep our community connected. I read and enjoy your newsletter every week."

Linda Taylor, LHS ‘64, "The Song at the End was Perfect for those of us still enjoying the moment...Auld Lang  Syne .... Thank You for such a Great "Until Next Time" moment!"

Chris Grant McMahon, LHS ‘66, "My bags were packed & I was so anticipating seeing friends I had not seen for many years.  Unfortunately, at the last minute, unforeseen events kept me from attending the reunion.  From the pictures it is obvious the planning committee did an excellent job, as always.  I so look forward to the next reunion and hope circumstances do not get in my way so I can see old friends and make new ones.  A big thank you to Tommy for keeping The Traveller going and memories alive."

A Song by The Hurricanes

Down Yonder -  Johnny & the Hurricanes

I am not trying to make light of the destruction of the hurricane which just hit Florida, but when I was trying to come up with a fitting song, this one came to me. It was still popular and an often-played favorite for the Two-Step skate at Carter's Skateland when I had my encounter with the hurricane.