By By Bryan Murphy
September 27, 2004
When a hurricane forms out in the Atlantic I usually don't pay much attention. When it gets all the way into the Gulf of Mexico I raise an eyebrow. Well, Ivan certainly got everyone's attention after it wreaked havoc throughout the South and the East.
On Sept. 16, Ivan jolted Meridian and Lauderdale County. Wind was predicted, the massive destruction was not. It was weird, we're 160 miles from the Gulf and we were not within 50 miles of the so-called "weak" west side of the storm. It's hard to fathom what would've happened if it had jogged further west.
I have traveled extensively in central Mississippi for the last week and have found Lauderdale County and Meridian by far the most damaged. This was, and some may say still is, a shattered county. Local residents I have spoken with have all agreed that it has been the worst natural disaster that they have ever experienced.
Being a weather hound I had given the storm the nickname Ivan the Red Storm. Little did I know the fury to come.
Backing up somewhat, how many of you remember the sunset on Wednesday, Sept. 15? A strange, eerie glow filtered through our living room blinds, so my wife and I went outside to take a look. We both at that instant knew bad weather was en route. It just had a mysterious yet classic storm look, vivid color.
Just as vivid the next day late in the evening was a glorious rainbow. I had gone to bed late and, after seeing that the storm had taken its last-minute eastern jog toward Pensacola, things were looking up, so I thought.
My dad, who lives six miles south-southeast of Meridian had already lost power well before midnight. We were to lose our power later at 5:20 a.m. Thursday.
Morning broke with power lines being snapped, trees being toppled by powerful winds. After hearing radio reports I had to venture out to feel first-hand the effects. I returned soaked to the bone.
Things I will not forget: Seeing one of my neighbor's hurricane flag flapping like it was to rip into shreds; unbelievably it didn't; trees bending over defying gravity and then finally succumbing; rain blowing in horizontal sheets and looking down from our hill at Meridian and wondering how the city was faring.
As it turns out Meridian did not fare well. Neither did most of us in the county. What I wonder about is not whether the area was a federal disaster or not. Certainly it was, but who else knew what had hit east Mississippi.
You heard about the Gulf area and south central Alabama and, yes, residents there had it horrible no doubt. But how has this been played out through Mississippi and elsewhere? At mid-week, Lauderdale and Clarke counties had been added to the federal disaster area.
Hats off to all of the personnel from the power companies who spent endless hours getting us back on our feet. Having experienced Hurricanes Camille, Frederick and Andrew, to some extent Ivan is right up there with them. Ivan was a terrible red storm.
Bryan Murphy is an advertising representative for The Newton Record. Contact him at (601) 683-2001.