Thread: 10 years ago tonight...

Major hurricane 'Ivan' came ashore along the Baldwin County coast.



Widespread devastation ensued and many lives were lost.
To view check out the link to post storm aerial imagery @
National Weather Service Forecast Office - Mobile/Pensacola - Hurricane Ivan

A 15' storm surge pushed over into Lake Shelby and drained out next to the Gulf State Park Pier,
and the 25'+ waves plus surge and + 100 mph (sustained) winds took out most of the pier...


It would be 58 months (two months less than 5 years) before the new pier was built 200' to the east and opened.

Thank God we haven't had to deal with that this year (so far ;-)

Ivan was my first experience with a major hurricane, we rode it out here in Mobile, it is one of those Life Experiences that I will never forget.

Damage to our home/property
50% or better of the shingles gone
25% of the tar paper
Water damage in the house
Vinyl siding removed from one side of the house
All fences down
2 large Live Oaks & One Pine down
Power out for a few days

Katrina hit us even harder, had to replace the roof after she tore through.

Unforgettable night, and not in a good way. I had evacuated well inland, to Clarke County---never knew pine trees could bend over that far and still recover, though a lot didn't.

A friend and coworker lost his wife that night just over the Florida line at Grande Lagoon.
I was in Montgomery that night and it got pretty rough up there too.
After riding out Fredrick back in '79, I swore, never again.

We were in Mobile for Ivan. At my girlfriend's (now wife) house in Springhill, we havd 3 trees down and one leaning. None hit the house, the leaning one would have taken out the living room if it came all the way down. Ended up having the tree cutters take out two more large trees that were damaged.
One house in our neighborhood had the canopy of an 80' live oak inside the house. Not on the house, inside the whole house. Damage was worse as you went east and south.
My house in Loxley, which was under construction, little damage except the doors. The roof was not shingled yet and windows were not in, but the front and back doors were installed with no locks. The doors opened & slammed in the wind & blew the door jams to pieces. Contractor was supposed to have the house ready by October 31st, I didn't close until December 27th because they couldn't get subs, they were all tied up with emergency repairs.
Overall, we were lucky, a lot of people lost all. After the storm, I spent 2 weeks helping out with environmental issues down on the beach, got to see the whole scale destruction up-close. It was not pretty.

I will be on the Ch 5 news this evening. He stopped me as I was loading my truck up today at the pier and asked me some questions on film.

Originally Posted by Rockinchef88

I will be on the Ch 5 news this evening. He stopped me as I was loading my truck up today at the pier and asked me some questions on film.

Oh NO we are in trouble now, they'll close the pier for sure after that interview ....wish I got channel 5 here....may try and find it on the net

The wife and I spent the night with my mom in her house in Midtown Mobile (where we weathered Camille and Frederick) with no power from late afternoon.
It was not quite as bad as Frederick, but more damage than Camille.
The top half of a 70' sweetgum tree (next door) fell between the houses but miraculously didn't even scratch the paint on her house.
We spent the whole next day (with bro, sis, my son-in-law and several neighbors) cutting it up and piling it along the street curb.
There must've been 3 to 4 cords of wood in that 1/2 tree.
Thank God there was no structural damage besides a few loose shingles.
It was 3 days and miserable nights with no electricity or AC.
We would sit in the car with the motor and ac running for 20-30 minutes to cool off ;-)

Post Ivan GSPPier pics by 'Lovely Lizards Photography' aka Roger Reetz.

I learned the value of a good generator then. Now, I have four---backups to the backups.