Of all the natural disasters that wrack our planet, a volcanic eruption seems the most exotic, something I expect in the Andes or Pacific islands (or Pompeii) - but not in the U.S. But on the morning of May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens, a largely inactive volcano straddling the border of Oregon and Washington, erupted. And although it was a frightening occurrence for those living in the Pacific Northwest, I don't think many of us living in the East appreciated how serious the eruption was. One photo etched in my memory showed a young boy who had been asphyxiated lying face-up in the back of a pickup truck covered in ash. In total, more than 60 people died from the eruption.
My memory of the disaster is linked to my first visit to Provincetown, a largely gay resort at the tip of Cape Cod. It was Memorial Day weekend and I drove there with my boyfriend Gordon. We left from Poughkeepsie (he lived there and I took the train up from NYC after work) and drove there on Friday night. This holiday trip was memorable because it was the first time I tried marijuana - and it wasn't a pleasant experience.
Rather than smoke it Gordon put the pot in a Pepperidge Farm chocolate sandwich cookie (which I don't think they make anymore). I became paranoid, which wasn't a nice feeling, especially in unfamiliar surroundings, and I remember thinking that two female friends of Gordon's were witches. (Alas, because of how I reacted I never became a regular user.) The trip back on Monday afternoon was stressful because of heavy traffic on the only road off the Cape. Throughout the weekend the news reported on the effects of the eruption of the volcano.
On February 26, 1993 New York, and the nation, was shaken by the terrorist bombing in a parking garage at the World Trade Center. Two weeks later Mother Nature was preparing her own assault as a monster storm swept up the East Coast. I didn't pay much attention to news of the impending storm until the night before it hit, a Friday. After work I had gone out with friends to Splash, a sprawling new gay bar in Chelsea. Once home I turned on the Weather Channel to hear about the approaching "white hurricane". (And the first day of Spring was just one week away).
The storm's full fury hit NYC Saturday morning (March 13) and continued thru mid-afternoon. (This photo, near my apartment in Greenwich Village, was taken at around noontime.) However, after ten inches of snow had fallen a changeover to sleet and rain began in the late afternoon, keeping the accumulation down. I was outside when the changeover began and the sleet pellets really stung because they were being propelled horizontally by winds gusting between 40-60 mph. The noise the sleet created as it lashed against the windows in my apartment was deafening. I was concerned that my floor to ceiling living room window might blow in so I pulled down the blind.
Happily, I suffered no window damage, but after the storm subsided (at around midnight) that's when my problems started. Hearing a dripping sound I looked up and saw that the ceiling in one corner of my living room was cracking and buckling. It turned out that the snow on the roof (I lived on the top floor) had piled up high enough to cover a drain pipe, so melting snow had nowhere to go and collected in one spot.
I was thankful to be home so I could move my sofa and TV out of harm's way. However, I couldn't get in touch with my building super so I had to make due with a collection of pots and pans to collect the dripping water. However, the steady "ping" of the dripping made sleep nearly impossible. The next morning I got up early and found the super shoveling snow. He was unable to go up on the roof and clear the blockage because snow was drifted against the door so he brought up two large trash bins to my apartment to collect the water which pored out when he poked a few holes in my ceiling.
Compared to other parts of the Eastern U.S. New York was spared paralyzing amounts of snow (a nearby street in my neighborhood is pictured). Elsewhere, however, there were record accumulations not only in the Northeast (Pittsburgh had 26", Syracuse 36") but in the South as well, e.g., Atlanta had 9"; Birmingham 13"; Chattanooga 23". Even Mobile, Alabama on the Gulf Coast reported three inches of snow! The Weather Channel would later rank the storm, which affected nearly half of the U.S. population and left more than 250 dead, as one of the top five weather events of the entire 20th century.
If you'd like to read about other New York City snowstorms I've written a post on my weather blog, NYC Weather Archive, that recaps the snowstorms we've experienced since the winter of 1978/79. To go to it please click here. And on this blog I've written post on four other famous NYC snowstorms:
February 1, 2003 was a gray and chilly Saturday and I was immersed in my winter project, which was a makeover of my apartment. I did it with the help of my ex-boyfriend William. I supplied ideas and the capital and he made it happen, which involved painting the bedroom Arctic Blue, California Gold in the living room and the kitchen Antique White; hanging artwork; assembling a glass TV stand for my new plasma TV and drilling decorative shelving into the living room walls.
We had just returned from breakfast when we heard the news on the radio about the disintegration of space shuttle Columbia. It happened over the skies of Dallas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere - just 15 minutes before it was scheduled to land in Florida. All seven astronauts on board were killed. By eerie coincidence NASA's two previous fatal space accidents also occurred in the dead of winter: On Jan. 27, 1967 a fire on board Apollo 1 as it sat on the launching pad killed the three astronauts on board (pictured), and on Jan. 28, 1986 the Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all seven crew members.
January 28, 1986 was a cold Tuesday morning in New York following a surprise 1.5" snowfall overnight. I was back at work (ad agency Young & Rubicam) after having been out sick on Monday and the previous Friday. Shortly before noon my secretary, Voula, came clomping into my office to deliver the day's mail and blurted out that the space shuttle had exploded. Then she made a snide comment about the teacher, Christa McCauliffe, who was on board, let out a little cackle, and walked out.
I left my office and walked over to the office of a broadcast buyer to watch the unending replay of the shuttle's disintegration against the clear blue Florida sky. What was chilling was the crowd reaction at the launch site because at first they didn't understand what they had just witnessed but as the realization came over them their excited gasps of wonder turned to sobs of distress.
This date also sticks in mind because after coming home from work I went to electronics store Crazy Eddie near my apartment in Greenwich Village and bought my first color TV - a 14" Sharp. I paid $329 for it, at the time the largest single purchase I'd ever made. I was really looking forward to watching that evening's episode of Moonlighting in color.
It was shortly after 3:30 on January 15, 2009, a bone chilling Thursday afternoon when I heard about the accident. I had just returned home from the gym where I had done a weight routine for backand shoulders (I was out of work at the time). Checking my e-mails I saw a New York Times News Alert reporting that a plane had "landed" in the Hudson River. I assumed it was a small private plane; however, after reading that it was a passenger jet I wondered how many had died (it brought to mind a plane that crashed into Jamaica Bay upon takeoff from LaGuardia in March 1992 that resulted in the drowning of 27 passengers).
I immediately tuned to New York's cable news channel NY1 for further details and was shocked to see an intact USAirways plane surrounded by boats and hear the remarkable news that there were no fatalities! If I hadn't had a massage scheduled for 4:30 I might have walked over to the river to see the plane float by.
In speaking with friends over the next few days I attributed the miraculous landing to the aura of positive energy created by Barack Obama's upcoming inauguration. I joked that if this accident had happened the year before while George Bush (and his eight years of bad karma) was still in office the plane would have gone directly to the bottom of the river. I thought it fitting that this "miracle on the Hudson" dominated the news cycle, pushing from the headlines Bush's televised farewell address to Congress that evening.
January 1982 was very cold and snowy in the Eastern half of the U.S. On January 13 a snowstorm paralyzed the Southeast and then moved into the mid-Atlantic states. The storm proved deadly for passengers of a Ft. Lauderdale bound Air Florida jet flying out of Washington, D.C in the middle of the afternoon.
Not properly de-iced, the plane was unable to gain sufficient altitude and crashed into the Potomac River after taking off from National Airport, its tail wing clipping a nearby bridge just a few miles from the White House. Dramatic TV footage showed rescuers desperately trying to reach some passengers in the icy waters. Unfortunately, unlike the "Miracle on the Hudson" 27 years later, very few passengers survived since this was a crash and not a water landing. Only five passeners survived - 78 others (and four motorists on the bridge) were killed.
Although my office (ad agency Young & Rubicam) had closed early because of the snow (which began during lunchtime in NYC) I was still in my office when I heard the radio bulletin reporting on the crash late that afternoon.
Because I briefly worked on the Eastern Airlines account at Y&R I knew the repercussions a plane crash had for media planners working on any airline account. All media outlets carrying airline advertising had to be contacted to make sure all ads were pulled. (Although most outlets knew to do this without being contacted, the calls still had be made). However, this time no one at Y&R had to scramble because the agency had lost the Eastern account four months earlier (after 17 years).
It was early Saturday afternoon when I brought in the afternoon paper (Pittsburgh Press) from the front porch and saw the headline about a bridge disaster the previous night in nearby Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The Silver Bridge fell into the Ohio River during evening rush hour, killing 46. It still ranks as the nation's deadliest bridge collapse.
Although I was just 10 at the time the tragedy resonated for two reasons: 1) It was incongruous to my young brain that such a tragedy could occur at Christmastime and 2) Because of its famed three rivers Pittsburgh was a city of bridges and every Sunday we traveled over one (the Wind Gap Bridge) to pick up my grandmother for church. For some time after the Silver Bridge disaster I'd become nervous whenever we'd be stopped on the bridge because of traffic.
All disasters are unfortunate but those that occur during the Christmas season are particularly tragic. Some of the more high profile in the past 50 years include: 1960 - On 12/16 two planes collided over Staten Island killing 134; 1975 - A bomb exploded in a locker at LaGuardia Airport on 12/29 killing 11 and injuring 75; 1988 - Pan Am flight 103 bound for NYC exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on 12/21 killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground; 2004 - The great Indian Ocean tsunami (pictured) killed 230,000+ the day after Christmas. And another tragedy was added to this grim list yesterday in Newtown, Connecticut where 28 persons were shot to death at an elementary school, 20 of whom were children between the age of 5 and 10.
It was a particularly pleasant evening in Western Pennsylvania when USAir Flight 427 from Chicago crashed minutes before it was to land at Pittsburgh's new airport (it opened two years earlier). All 132 passengers and crew on board were killed, making it the deadliest U.S. plane crash in seven years. It was also the first air disaster to occur in Pittsburgh. I heard the news shortly after I arrived home from work from my job at New York ad agency NWAyer.
Although every deadly plane crash is distressing what made this one particularly troubling for me was the fact that Pittsburgh is my hometown. (I tried to reach my mother that night but the phone lines were tied up for well over an hour.) The field where Flight 427 crashed was in Hopewell Township, where my godparents lived. I'd flown USAir numerous times to visit my parents - and I'd be flying there a few weeks later to visit my mother. (She lives in the town of McKees Rocks, 20 mies south of the airport.)
What was also sobering was the fact that Flight 471 crashed in good weather with no warning of trouble. And although I try not to, it's difficult for me not to think about that every time I fly to Pittsburgh in good weather - even though I now fly there on Jet Blue.
Previous posts I've written about Hurricanes Agnes and Gloria have generated some of this blog's highest readership. And although I have memories of other hurricanes they aren't rich enough to turn them into full-blown posts. Instead, I've written a few sentences about ten of them and put them all in this one post.
Alicia (Aug. 18, 1983) - This category 3 hurricane struck Galveston and Houston the day before I left for vacation in Provincetown. I was supposed to go with my boyfriend Rick but we had hit a rough patch (just a few months after moving in together) so I went there alone. I overslept by two hours and barely made my flight (on the now defunct People's Express).
Gilbert (Sept. 14-16, 1988) - Hurricane Gilbert was the most intense hurricane to ever enter the Gulf and it devastated Jamaica and Cancun but spared Texas (after earlier dire predictions). It coincided with my first time on jury duty. I was picked for a burglary case (that occurred on the Upper Eastside) and we ended up being sequestered for one night. Fortunately, I shared the motel room (near the Lincoln Tunnel) with a friend of my roommate. During the same week my boss resigned. (By the way, we, the jury, found the defendant guilty.)
Hugo (Sept. 22, 1989) - I stayed up into the wee hours on a Thursday night watching coverage on The Weather Channel as Hugo made landfall in Charleston, SC. It was the strongest hurricane (category 4) to strike the Southeast in 35 years. The NYC area was under a tropical storm watch with 5-10" of rain predicted, but after Hugo made landfall he changed course and we weren't impacted (which was a relief since four inches of rain had fallen a few days earlier). A cousin in Charlotte, NC got married that weekend and had to contend with no power and downed trees after Hugo roared through. Also on this day Irving Berlin died at the age of 101 (he wasn't a hurricane casualty).
Bob (Aug. 19, 1991) - Like Hurricane Gloria six years earlier, Bob stayed to our east, but we still got a good deal of rain which was mostly over by noon on that Monday. My roommate Todd was on vacation out in Montauk and went without power for a few days. And my friend Tom was vacationing in Provincetown and had to contend with some inconveniences as well. He recalls a number of drag queens walking around town with signs that said "I got blown by Bob". I was relieved the storm was a quick mover because I had tickets for the Broadway show Grand Hotel that evening. (Yes, that's The Weather Channel's one and only Jim Cantore - when he still had hair!)
Andrew (Aug. 24, 1992) - It may be hard to believe, but nothing memorable was going on in my life at the time. Ironically, the National Hurricane Center in Miami was largely destroyed by Andrew as was the ad agency that had the Burger King account. It was amazing how few were killed by this incredibly powerful storm (at one point there were rumors that hundreds of migrant farm workers had died).
Opal (Oct. 4, 1995) - As Opal approached the Florida panhandle it strengthened just before landfall and became the second most damaging hurricane to strike Florida (after Andrew). However, this story was almost completely lost to the coverage of the not-gulty verdict in the OJ Simpson trial the day before. And the pope arrived for his second visit to the New York area.
Edouard (Aug. 31 - Sept 1, 1996) - For a brief time Edouard caused concern in NYC and on Long Island. It was Labor Day weekend and I was out at Fire Island (it was my first summer in the Pines) when word spread on Saturday that Edouard might strike and evacuations might begin that night. Fortunately, the storm took a turn to the northeast and no evacuations were needed. One other memory from that weekend - while cleaning the table after Sunday dinner a housemate's guest asked me if anyone had ever mentioned that I looked like "Smithers" from The Simpsons.
Floyd (Sept. 16, 1999) - Powerful Floyd's approach resulted in the evacuation of 2.6 million residents between Florida and North Carolina. After striking North Carolina earlier in the a.m. he quickly moved towards NYC. Downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached us, Floyd was still a huge rainmaker - 5 inches fell, the greatest one-day total in more than 20 years (even greater amounts flooded Philadelphia and Newark). For a while many subway lines were shut down for much of the afternoon because of track flooding and some downed trees. My office at ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding closed at 1:00 (Macy's too) but I stayed until 5:45. When I got home I intended to go to the gym but it was so windy and rainy that I turned back after walking one block.
Katrina (Aug. 29, 2005) - I was visiting my mother in Pittsburgh for the weekend when Katrina made its initial landfall in south Florida and then struck Louisiana and Mississippi on the day I returned to NYC (Sunday). At one point on Sunday it was a category 5 with winds of 175 mph - incredible. At first some meteorologists on TWC talked of how New Orleans had "dodged a bullet" when Katrina veered east and instead struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast head-on.
However, after the storm moved on the levees surrounding the city broke - and the rest is history. The number of deaths was shocking (more than 1,800), especially since stronger hurricanes such as Andrew and Hugo caused fewer than 100 fatalities. It took months before the final tally was determined. It was also, by far, the most damaging natural disaster in U.S. history ($75 billion+).
Ike (Sept. 13, 2008) - I watched TWC's coverage during the wee hours of Saturday morning as it struck Galveston and Houston (25 years after Alicia). One of its reporters, Mike Bettes, got knocked around by the high winds even though he was in a somewhat protected hotel entranceway. Later that night I watched SNL's 1st episode of the new season and it opened with Tina Fey's portrayal of Sarah Palin. Two days later the financial markets were rocked by Lehman Bros. filing Chapter 11, followed on the same day by word that Merrill Lynch had been purchased by Bank of America to avoid Lehman's fate.
The reason I was aware of Woodstock was because of Hurricane Camille. I had become interested in meteorology a year earlier while doing a 5th Grade science project so I was eagerly following reports about the hurricane. As I watched Sunday's evening news with rapt attention (no 24/7 coverage on The Weather Channel back then!) I was made aware of an outdoor music event on a farm south of Woodstock, NY. Camille was generating considerable interest because of how ferocious it had become as it approached Mississippi's Gulf Coast. Indeed, when it made landfall late tonight it was one of the most intense hurricanes to ever strike the U.S. (Interestingly, veteran WNBC-NY news anchor Chuck Scarborough was a young local anchor in Biloxi, MS in 1969.)
Camille's approach was very exciting for me, but Woodstock not so much. I was a bit too young (12 years old) to be enamored with "hippie rock" nor had I yet to develop any musical preferences (that would have to wait until Captain & Tenille came on the scene). Woodstock was more of an event for my sister & brother who were 18 and 16 at the time. My recollection was seeing aereal photos of the traffic jam leading out of the festival and naked concert goers covered in mud. For me Woodstock was just another news story that evening - along with the Tate/Labianca (aka Manson) murders in L.A. that occurred the previous week. Camille was the main event (as it probably was for much of the nation at the time).
