The Storm of 1940.
I was 10 years old. This storm was a BIG one. Back then, we didn’t have all that fancy weather tracking equipment. If the news said it was a big storm, that was because it had already torn up somewhere else first. Well, a big storm was coming, but we had no idea how bad it was going to be.
Pop had bought a new car! It was a 1940 Chevrolet 4 door sedan. We had been to Wilmington, N.C. to see some of Pop’s old friends and we were coming home. While we were there, that storm had hit the coast at Savannah, turned up north and headed for Charleston, S.C. , flooding the whole Low Country. We set out that morning and it was reported that roads were flooded all along the coast. My Pop said he had to get home that night so he could go to work on Monday.
The Charleston police stopped us right on top of the Cooper River Bridge and all night long that bridge rocked and swung back and forth. Mom got in the back seat with me and cried. She thought it might help me sleep if she was holding me. Sleep!! We were holding Prayer Meeting while that old bridge rocked. The rain came down in buckets but it drained off the bridge. As soon as daylight came they let us drive on. Then we found out why they stopped us. There was a big hole about 30 feet across at the bottom. It must have been 4 or 5 feet deep. You couldn’t drive around it. There wasn’t room to turn around either. Some colored men came up from under the bridge somewhere and charged Pop $20 to push that car back to the other side of the bridge. Pop paid, turned the motor off and rolled up the windows.. We got out on the other side. Pop didn't know which way to go, but we wound up at the bus station.
Pop talked to the bus driver, who was headed out to Savannah, and asked if he thought we could make it. He said the roads were underwater, more than 1 foot in some places. Mom and I got on the bus and the driver told me to sit on the back seat and watch and let him know if pop stalled out. He followed us all the way. The highway went right thru Port Wentworth, so the bus driver took us right to the end of our street and let us off.
We walked all around our house and the oak tree in back had blown down on the garage. It was a wooden garage and it was all caved in. My dog Beau was alright and happy to see me. He ran out from under that squashed garage with his tail wagging 90 to nothing. Pop declared it in good shape so we went in. A few shingles had blown off but all in all, it was ok. We were so glad to get home! Mr. Palmer came over and helped Pop and me cut up that tree for firewood and I stacked it. Mr. Palmer drove off with a truck load .Pop later built the new garage out of cement blocks and it is still standing. ( It's still there today, solid as a rock.)
I was 10 years old. This storm was a BIG one. Back then, we didn’t have all that fancy weather tracking equipment. If the news said it was a big storm, that was because it had already torn up somewhere else first. Well, a big storm was coming, but we had no idea how bad it was going to be.
Pop had bought a new car! It was a 1940 Chevrolet 4 door sedan. We had been to Wilmington, N.C. to see some of Pop’s old friends and we were coming home. While we were there, that storm had hit the coast at Savannah, turned up north and headed for Charleston, S.C. , flooding the whole Low Country. We set out that morning and it was reported that roads were flooded all along the coast. My Pop said he had to get home that night so he could go to work on Monday.
The Charleston police stopped us right on top of the Cooper River Bridge and all night long that bridge rocked and swung back and forth. Mom got in the back seat with me and cried. She thought it might help me sleep if she was holding me. Sleep!! We were holding Prayer Meeting while that old bridge rocked. The rain came down in buckets but it drained off the bridge. As soon as daylight came they let us drive on. Then we found out why they stopped us. There was a big hole about 30 feet across at the bottom. It must have been 4 or 5 feet deep. You couldn’t drive around it. There wasn’t room to turn around either. Some colored men came up from under the bridge somewhere and charged Pop $20 to push that car back to the other side of the bridge. Pop paid, turned the motor off and rolled up the windows.. We got out on the other side. Pop didn't know which way to go, but we wound up at the bus station.
Pop talked to the bus driver, who was headed out to Savannah, and asked if he thought we could make it. He said the roads were underwater, more than 1 foot in some places. Mom and I got on the bus and the driver told me to sit on the back seat and watch and let him know if pop stalled out. He followed us all the way. The highway went right thru Port Wentworth, so the bus driver took us right to the end of our street and let us off.
We walked all around our house and the oak tree in back had blown down on the garage. It was a wooden garage and it was all caved in. My dog Beau was alright and happy to see me. He ran out from under that squashed garage with his tail wagging 90 to nothing. Pop declared it in good shape so we went in. A few shingles had blown off but all in all, it was ok. We were so glad to get home! Mr. Palmer came over and helped Pop and me cut up that tree for firewood and I stacked it. Mr. Palmer drove off with a truck load .Pop later built the new garage out of cement blocks and it is still standing. ( It's still there today, solid as a rock.)
The only photo I could find of this hurricane , via Google:
"A storm in 1940 was by far the worst of the three that hit our area in the twentieth century, a little less strong than "Hugo" that hit Charleston in 1989. The storm of 1940 produced at least 105 mph winds in Wright Square in downtown Savannah and produced considerable tree and structural damage thought out the area. Prior to that time, no other hurricane had hit the Savannah area or even the Georgia coast since 1898."
