 The Mobile District Emergency Operations Office has been watching the weather for the past weeks with great interest. Now the interest turned to alarm. We're going to get hit by a hurricane. Hurricane, a dreaded word to the residents of the Gulf Coast. Hurricane, a swirling mass with embedded tornadoes, howling winds and thundering waves, a storm so powerful that the heat energy of its counterclockwise winds could produce enough electricity in one day to supply the United States with electrical power for almost six months. Just the week before, the eastern seaboard had been struck by Hurricane David after it had ravaged the Caribbean. Now the big concern was Hurricane Frederick. Like most tropical storms which have plagued the eastern and Gulf Coast of the United States, Frederick was born in the warm seas off the western coast of Africa. It drifted westward passing the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Its wind and rain further devastating an area, trying to recover from the onslaught of Hurricane David. By Friday, September the 7th, Frederick, downgraded to a tropical depression, was centered over Cuba and had winds of only 35 miles per hour. But all of this changed by Monday morning. As Frederick knew from western Cuba across the warm shallow gulf, its winds strengthened again as it fed on the energy of the heated waters. The fastest thing is going to hit us real good. We are about 300 miles offshore. Now as Wednesday entered the afternoon, Frederick was 150 miles offshore and had winds of 130 miles per hour. The people of the Gulf Coast made preparations to face a storm the National Weather Service described as one of the most intense hurricanes to threaten the Central Gulf Coast during this century. Ready to go. I guess we'll be talking to you by radio from there on. Right. See you later. Okay, we've done it all by the book. Now comes the hard part, the waiting. This is the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama. A hurricane warning is in effect from Panama City, Florida, westward along the Alabama and Mississippi coast to Grand Isle, Louisiana. Frederick is extremely dangerous, 10 to 15 feet high expected at landfall. All interest in the hurricane warning area should complete all necessary precautions by early afternoon. As the winds of Frederick strengthened, people made their final preparations. Schools did not open and most businesses dismissed their employees by midday. State and local civil defense units, law enforcement agencies and public officials worked together without rest to protect the citizens and properties in the target communities. Alabama Governor Bob James ordered the evacuation of the low-lying coastal areas and then came to the state command post at Spanish Sport to direct the emergency activities through the night and into the next day. More than 250,000 residents evacuated the area. Governor James has good reason to issue his orders. Just 10 years before, on August the 17th, 1969, 256 people were killed when Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi coastline. On September the 8th, 1900, a hurricane killed 6,000 people in Galveston, Texas when high water cut the only evacuation route from the island to the mainland. It is indeed best to leave coastal areas when a hurricane threatens. Mid-afternoon, the gales at the outer freeges of Frederick, off at the coast, were ever greater intended. Funding waves pound the shore, only to be driven out to sea by the winds howling from the northeast. By late evening, the winds of Frederick had reached 60 miles per hour and all but essential personnel and emergency vehicles had vacated the streets. There was little to do now but wait. Wait and hope and pray. When it finally came, it came with a dreadful silence. The people of the Gulf Coast were in shock from their night of terror. It was like being in a dream, a very bad dream. Friends, neighbors and even strangers gathered to express joy over being alive and to look at the damage. And there was damage. Frederick drove more than 90,000 people from their homes and damaged more than 46,000 houses, trailers, apartments and businesses. In Alabama alone, 40,000 families suffered losses in the hurricane. In Mobile County, 75% of all structures and 90% of all commercial buildings suffered significant damage. While only 2% of the city's famous old oak trees were seriously damaged, the Mobile City Parks lost an estimated 15,000 trees and these parks would take 20 years or more to regain their pre-storm beauty. Southern Island, south of Mobile, lost its only bridge to the mainland and suffered severe damage in Frederick's 145 miles per hour winds and 12 foot tides. Beautiful Gulf shores, long a choice Alabama vacation spot because of its white sands and emerald green waters lay in ruins. This stretch of coast was hit hard by the dreaded northeast quadrant of the hurricane which carries the storm's greatest winds and the highest tides. In addition, this area and some of the Gulf islands received the full brunt of the hurricane storm surge, an enormous slow moving dome of water which combines with the high tide and waves to endate low lying coastal areas. Frederick left 167,000 people without electrical power. 100,000 people did not have telephone service. Major damage range from Pensacola, Florida to Pascagoula, Mississippi. At the Alabama State Docks in Mobile, the ruins of Frederick destroyed new loading cranes and did nearly $14 million worth of damage. Most businesses and Frederick's path suffered damages and lost time. Some would never reopen. Agriculture was hit hard. Mobile and Baldwin counties lost over 13,500 acres of pecan trees. Area nursery suffered $26 million in losses, more than $478 million worth of timber was destroyed. The seafood industry suffered greatly when Frederick sank boats and damaged processing facilities. The areas tourist and convention industry came to an abrupt halt as the hurricane destroyed hotels and motels and damaged places of great beauty. Not even churches were spared the storm's fury. Some would take years to rebuild. Schools were hard hit. Weeks would pass before classes would resume. Recreation, boating, fishing, swimming, bowling, golf, tennis. All these would be little more than fond memories until the damage was cleared away. Third hurricane is derived from Huracan, the Mayan god of nature. A peaceman of the angry Huracan required human sacrifice. In this respect, Hurricane Frederick was no different than the Mayan god. In the worst loss of the storm, the ruins of Frederick took the lives of five people. One was a four-year-old child. In the coming days, weeks and months, a handful of others would follow them losing their lives in fires and disaster cleanup accidents. Many more may have died if the eye of Frederick had not spread out when it hit the shoreline. The eye elongated until it was 50 miles long and 40 miles wide, one of the largest ever recorded in modern weather history. This resulted in the strongest winds blowing from the north, which in effect blew the water out of Mobile Bay and greatly reduced the destructive potential of the 12-foot storm surge. Another factor limiting the loss of life was the lack of heavy rainfall. In Huracan, rainfall exceeding 20 or more inches is typical, causing serious inland flooding. Little more than 8 inches of rain fell during Frederick. Early on the morning of September the 13th, as soon as Frederick's winds subsided, the Army Corps of Engineers went into action. Personnel from the Mobile District's Montgomery installation and the Panama City Area Office donned the red jackets and white heart hats of the Emergency Operations Team and joined with others from all over the district to begin recovery efforts. Many had left their families the night before and traveled to Mobile during the storm in order to begin work as soon as possible. Acting to prevent loss of life and property under the provision of Public Law 84-99, Corps personnel began clearing access routes so vehicles could move throughout the earth. Okay, Pat, we need to get those generators on out there as per introduction we gave. In addition, Mobile District's Emergency Operations Center began distribution of generators and pumps to cities and towns that needed them. Simultaneously, 12 free-position damaged survey teams assessed the damage and reported back to the Emergency Operations Center. As soon as they could get underway, the crew and survey teams of the Corps Survey vessel Gatlin began checking federal navigation channels for damage. Many harbors and channels, like the one at Mobile, were closed to shipping until the shelling and debris could be removed. Meanwhile, residents of the storm-stricken area joined in to help county and municipal cleanup crews. The stoneness of the aftermath was broken by the roaring work song of the chainsaws. Although many inexperienced operators did suffer injury, the chainsaw was such a valuable tool for disaster cleanup that one newspaper editorial seriously proposed that a monument be erected in its honor. Recovery had begun, and it looked like the worst was over. But was it? People were homeless. Most water supplies were contaminated. Without electricity, fresh food was spoiling and canned food was being used up quickly. Much help was needed. This was a job for the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, and they were there. They had been there since before the hurricane, providing food and shelter and loving care. Now, they intensified their efforts to ease pain and suffering along the Gulf Coast. Surviving broadcast facilities like WKRG Television in Mobile and neighboring stations like WWL Radio in New Orleans had broadcast throughout the terrifying night of Frederick because of their broadcasts. The people of America were told of Frederick's destruction and their response was overwhelmed. There was food from Detroit, ice from Jackson, and clothing from Houston. The Red Cross and Salvation Army were soon joined by volunteers, bringing supplies and aid from all over the United States. Disaster relief units from religious organizations moved in to feed and close storm victims. Recovery from Frederick would be a lot more bearable thanks to all these people. The National Guard on duty before the storm was busy now keeping law and order and forcing a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew and preventing looting. Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard units, both active and reserved, sheltered a heavy load during Frederick and its aftermath. In addition to their official storm work, many gave their off-duty time to help people who could not help themselves. The damage area was now secure. On Friday, September the 14th, one day after the storm, President Jimmy Carter viewed the damage caused by Hurricane Frederick and declared 30 counties in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida disaster areas, making their one-and-one-half million residents eligible for various federal disaster recovery programs. The same day, Director of Civil Works, Major General E.R. Heiber, from the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Major General Joseph Bratton, South Atlantic Division Engineer, and other core officials toured the stricken area and were briefed by Mobile District Engineer Colonel Robert H. Ryan. Immediately after the Presidential Declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency assumed management of the hurricane recovery effort and assigned the Mobile District several emergency support missions. These included conducting damage survey reports, shipping in ice, inspecting schools for safety, supplying generators for emergency power, and removing barges and debris from navigation channels. By the end of the first week of recovery efforts, the people of the Gulf Coast had overcome their initial shock and were doing okay, but life was still hard. Dining in restaurants, going to movies, shopping in air-conditioned malls, television, water, phone calls, cooked food, fresh vegetables, a cold drink with crushed ice, a hot cup of coffee. All these things that had been taken for granted were blown away by Hurricane Frederick. Most people do not realize how fragile our society is until disaster strikes. Fortunately, America is blessed with people and organizations who care enough to help. The relief work went on. The Small Business Administration, in an all-out effort to get the economy of the area on its feet, made millions of dollars of low-interest loans available to businesses and individuals who needed financial help. In the first week after Frederick, the Alabama Department of Pensions and Securities issued $2.4 million in food stamps. The Salvation Army made 275,000 sandwiches to feed the hungry. The Red Cross continued to feed and shelter the homeless, and hundreds of relief workers representing churches, civic organizations and businesses strived to help the people of the Gulf Coast get back on their feet. As if matters weren't bad enough, law enforcement officers had to deal with the stormtroopers, the unscrupulous entrepreneurs, who invaded disaster area offering the victims everything from ice to gasoline generators at greatly inflated prices. Even so, the people kept their sense of humor as they struggled to recover. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA as it is called, assigned the Corps of Engineers the task of removing the storm debris in Baldwin and Mobile Counties in Alabama. This was the biggest job of all, because the winds of Frederick had left debris everywhere. Tree limbs, shingles, broken glass, odd bits of metal, all things that once were a part of life before the storm were now piles of useless debris. Millions of cubic yards of debris. It was unreal. And there was another problem. With each passing day without rain, the debris grew drier and drier, and soon it became the worst fire danger ever to threaten the area. In order to move quickly and efficiently in handling the debris cleanup mission, the Mobile District rented the second floor of an insurance building and opened a disaster area office. Here, the cleanup operation could be managed efficiently, with cleanup activities broken down by area and mission. Corps personnel quickly established a radio communications network in the disaster cleanup area. 24 regional offices were established to accept and process right-of-entry permits from property owners who wish to have the Corps remove their storm debris. Each applicant received a tag with a ribbon that he posted on property which the Corps would clean. The bulk of the debris to be removed fell into three areas, trees on houses, buildings, and other structures, debris on streets and rights-of-way, and dangerous trees in debris near homes and other structures. Corps personnel and contractor crews working under purchase orders began to remove trees from structures. For debris removal from rights-of-way and private property, the Corps divided Mobile and Baldwin counties into sections. Contractors were invited to bid for the job of removing the debris in each section. 19 dump sites were established and contractors were paid by the number of cubic yards of debris they delivered to the dumps. Unusually large tree stumps were paid for separately because they required special equipment and extra effort in order to be moved to the dump site. To ensure that the debris was removed properly, Corps of Engineering inspectors were assigned an area where contractors were working. Corps personnel from engineered districts across the nation volunteered to be inspectors even though it meant long hours of hard work in a devastated area. The Corps made every effort to inform the public and the news media about the Hurricane Cleanup program and its progress. As the days following Frederick turned into weeks, people began to recover from their shock and help each other clean up and rebuild. Even so, it was hard for many to fight off the acute depression that follows the trauma of senior-owned community ravaged by nature. As slow as things seemed to be going, progress towards recovery was being made. More delivery resumed as roads and sidewalks became passable. The water was safe to drink again. On September the 24th, the curfew was lifted in Mobile and the Alabama National Guard was withdrawn. Most schoolers were back in session within two weeks, even though some facilities were damaged beyond practical use. Garbage pickup in the storm area resumed by the end of September. Since Frederick, most residents had to carry their garbage to specified collection points and the plastic garbage bag had become a way of life. Telephones were returning too. In the Mobile area, south-central bell replaced 2,621 poles, 48,000 feet of drop wire, 605 miles of cable, 11,475 distribution terminals, and spent $23.1 million to restore service. Using a modified Miami plan, which gets the most power to the most people as soon as possible, crews from the Alabama Power Company joined by crews from the Georgia Gulf, Mississippi, and Florida power companies began what amounted to a complete rewire of the area. They brought more than 1,150 tons of supplies, replaced 20 of 21 transmission lines, installed 15,580 transformers, replaced 6,500 broken power poles, spent more than $2 million a day at times, and finished this almost impossible job in 20 days. Life was struggling to return to normal. As the debris cleanup was continuing, the Mobile District received additional hurricane recovery assignments. The Corps managed temporary housing for displaced farm victims in Mississippi, dredged a navigation channel to Dauphin Island so the island could have a ferry service, raised and removed barges blocking slips at the Alabama State Docks, surveyed beach erosion damage, and removed pecan trees for more than 14,000 acres of land so it could be farmed again. The Mobile District also managed the demolition of badly damaged houses, the clearing of drainage ditches, and refloated an Air Force target ship. In clearing the storm debris, all sorts of equipment was used by Corps contractors. But perhaps the most effective and unusual tool was the civilian version of the Army's old M1A1 mule. Mules could snake heavy logs from the lawns of residences without leaving ruts, breaking driveways, or crushing septic tanks. And they were definitely fuel efficient. The Office of the Chief Engineer in Washington closely monitored the Army's recovery efforts. Corps officials made many trips to the damaged Gulf Coast during the cleanup activities. Since timber, pulpwood and paper making are vital industries along this section of the Gulf Coast. And since the equipment was available, an all-out attempt was made to salvage the storm damaged timber. More than 82 million feet of saw timber and 840,000 cords of pulpwood were saved. This represented about 50% of the damaged timber. An unusual natural event happened after Frederick. Many species of flowers, shrubs, and trees bloomed a second time. This happened in Charleston, too, after the hurricane of 1807. With life along the Gulf returning to about normal, the year began to move faster. It was fair season, and people took the opportunity to have fun for the first time since the storm. Christmas came, and it was the best in years. Shortly after the birth of 1980 King Mardi Gras, a traditional celebration along the Gulf Coast. But still, the cleanup was not over, and core personnel doggedly kept pushing the effort. Though not without its mishaps, the debris removal program rolled along in an orderly manner. By springtime, the area was beginning to recover. The area's $50 million a year tourist industry found new life, and visitors again flocked to the coast. A $42 million bridge was approved for Dolphin Island. It would take more than two years to build. The cleanup continued, and so did the relief efforts. Dr. Jimmy Buffett came home to Mobile, and held a benefit concert to aid the victims of Hurricane Frederick. By late spring, statisticians estimated that actual damages done by Hurricane Frederick were $2.2 billion. With more than $2 billion in damages, plus the loss of life resulting from this storm seemed bad. Then consider this, Frederick rated only Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, and this is the lowest rating of a major storm. In comparison to other areas which could have been hit, the Pascagoula Pensacola Strip is not densely populated. What if a Category 5 storm which winds greater than 155 miles per hour, hit Miami, New Orleans, or Tampa? What if the only escape routes were blocked by rising water, and hundreds of thousands of people were trapped in the path of a merciless raging hurricane? It is a nightmare waiting to happen. 40 million people live in hurricane-prone areas, and the number grows with each passing year. The Mobile District's Disaster Debris Renewable Program for the Federal Emergency Management Agency ended on June 1, 1980. All in all, more than 10 million cubic yards of debris had been removed at a cost of more than $100 million. They filled up a train of fox cars, 548 miles long, and it would stretch from Mobile to Charlotte, North Carolina. The end of the Frederick cleanup was a happy occasion for the core people. They had done 101 different things to help the people of the Gulf Coast recover from hurricane Frederick. Now they could go back to their homes and families. June 1 was also the first day of the 1980 hurricane. I'm afraid so. But for many along the Gulf Coast, June 1 was the beginning of a nice summer. A summer that could be spent playing in the white sands of the beach and swimming in the warm ocean. And even as residents and tourists took time to relax and enjoy the beaches of the Gulf, hundreds of people in emergency operation centers and divisions and districts across the nation were analyzing data from Frederick in order to be even better prepared next time. And there will be a next time. It might be this year. It might be next. It might be years from now. But another hurricane will strike the United States. When that dreadful time comes, the emergency operations people in the red jackets and the white hard hats will be ready and once more will act quickly to protect life and property. And when it's over, the people of the United States Army Corps of Engineers will be there to help by picking up the pieces.