by: Glynn Mann

We have just witnessed one of the worst storms in history to hit the eastern U.S. (Sandy). The American Red Cross is asking for a ten dollar ($10) donation to help in the devastation. I think that is a good idea as the “Red Cross” is really there in a crisis.

Years ago I was a line and cable foreman for Western Union Telegraph Co. We worked nine states out of Atlanta, Ga. We worked a lot in Florida. At that time most hurricanes were hitting the state of Florida, going up the east coast. My crew and I plus others, would follow the path of the storms from Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas to Virginia. We would put the damaged telegraph wires and railroad signal wires back in temporary working order and later permanent working order. Western Union lines follow the railroads.

If you have never seen a hurricane, you can’t imagine the damage they do to homes, trees, beaches, etc. Many lives are usually lost. The American Red Cross is usually there to help.

Some of the storms I remember following were named “Edith,” “Diane,” “Connie,” “Donna” and “Hazel.” We followed “Hazel” from Jacksonville to Wilmington, N.C. I got a call to take my crew to Jacksonville from Atlanta. Before we got there we hit the outskirts of Hurricane Hazel. We had to dodge trees, etc. in the road. It blew my wipers and arms off the truck I was driving. We had two large trucks, one drowned out before we got there.

Men were pushing cars and trucks out of low places in the city of Jacksonville on the main roads for one dollar each when they drowned out.

People would come from the beaches and low lying areas to the city. All large hotels were full. My crew finally found cots in a large hotel for the night. When the tide was in that’s when the storms did the most damage.

Recently my sister and her husband, Norma and Lynn Crockett’s large barn burned at Rineyville, Ky. It was full of hay and farm equipment. Several fire trucks along with the American Red Cross stayed all night to keep it from spreading.

Think about it. Time and tide waits for no man.