August 3, 2021 ((Tuesday)
Today’s date, August 3rd, always rings a bell in my head. It was the day in 1970 when Hurricane Celia came to see us. Her visit was only about 4 hours on a Monday, but she left her mark with her powerful winds. Some say the wind blew 200 mph between Rockport and Aransas Pass. Not as bad as the 1919 storm, it was remembered when Hurricane Harvey became our uninvited guest August 25, 2017. The aftermath of Harvey made Rockport look like it had been bombed. (Recovery is still incomplete). He stalled near Victoria then backed his way to the Gulf before hitting other areas of Texas over and over with floods, making it the most costly Texas hurricane ever. As devastating as they were, they were not as bad as the 1919 storm. Its eye came in over Baffin Bay, killing 40 people in Rockport, most of them in one house. It killed so many in Corpus Christi that bodies were stacked like cord wood beside the old Federal Courthouse. The storm killed 287 people in all. It brought ashore a storm surge of sixteen feet. Bodies from North Beach were found in Calallen! Small wonder people still talk about that terrible storm 102 years ago.
Willie Nelson’s song, “You Are Always on My Mind,” could well have been written about hurricanes during the peak months of the hurricane season.
The August anniversaries of Celia and Harvey, and records of so many more through the years, remind us to take seriously our preparations and plans for the arrival of new storms.
Read the National Hurricane Center’s histories of individual hurricanes.
Read the list of hurricanes hitting the Texas coast 1950-1979.
Read the Wikipedia list of hurricanes hitting the Texas coast 1980-present.
We have had many storms and shall have many more. Be prepared. The coming of another storm to our area grows more likely with each new hurricane season.
TILL THE STORM PASSES BY
(Mosie Lister)
Recorded by:
Bill Gaither; Vestal Goodman; Greater Vision;
Inspirations; Ron Jarman; Ben Speer.
In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face,
While the storm howls above me,
And there’s no hiding place.
‘Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more,
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.
Many times Satan whispered, “There is no need to try,
For there’s no end of sorrow, there’s no hope by and by”
But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I’ll rise
Where the storms never darken the skies.
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more,
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.
When the long night has ended
And the storms come no more,
Let me stand in Thy presence on the bright peaceful shore;
In that land where the tempest, never comes, Lord, may I
Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by.
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more,
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.