In the Words of Bob Dylan...

A headline in the New York Tribune following the
hurricane of 1906 that slammed Mobile, Alabama.

In the words of Bob Dylan, "This is the story of a hurricane".

So much for the drought here on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Cristobel dropped nearly 6” of rain according to my gauge. Lots of gusty wind but not much else so we’re thankful for that. 

Mobile has seen its share of devastating hurricanes in the past. Many Mobilians don’t realize that the city was select to be one of the first 22 National Weather Service offices established in the country back in 1870. The office was housed in the old Customs building downtown. In September 1893, without the benefit of radar and satellite imagery, the meteorologists there knew something was brewing as they watched the barometer fall. Immediately, they hoisted a simple red flag atop the building warning residents of an incoming storm.

The weathermen and townspeople had no clue as to what was coming their way. An unnamed storm – later dubbed the Cheniere Caminada in honor of the Louisiana town that lost half its population that day – turned east and slammed Mobile. News accounts across the country painted a grim picture: “On the marsh, the loss of life is appalling. Whole families have been swept out of existence and the actual number of the lost will never be known.”

In the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, one family told of their frightening night: “We all remained in the house until 2 o’clock when the wind kept increasing and blew out and carried away the doors and windows. I was standing in water up to my armpits and the waves were continuously washing over my head. The women and children were almost strangled by the salt water.”

The Cheniere Caminada hurricane caused over $5 million in damages and took over 2,000 lives making it the fourth deadliest storm in U.S. history.

Read more about the storms that ravaged Mobile and the Alabama Gulf Coast in my book, “Hidden History of Mobile”.