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The Calm Before the Storm JULY / 2008 ISSUE 14 The calm before the storm... Afterwards The Indian Rocks Beach Fishing Pier, as it was before Hurricane Elena. By Robert Griffin, Publisher REMEMBERING ELENA Everyone living in Indian Rocks Beach or even The St. Pete Times noted, "In Pinellas, Pinellas County during 1985 remembers approximately 300,000 people were ousted from Hurricane Elena. A Category 3 hurricane, she their homes. 160,000 of them went to nearby threatened Pinellas County's coast for two days shelters. People in low lying areas, who did not during the Labor Day weekend. evacuate, found themselves trapped in their Elena developed near Cuba and quickly homes by the rising water. In Indian Rocks strengthened, reaching Category 3 status with Beach, tides were as high as 10 feet above winds of 125 miles per hour. Elena became a normal that Saturday night." named storm on August 28th, moving to Elena destroyed the near-famous Indian Rocks hurricane status the next day. By September 1st, Beach Pier. By noon on Saturday it had it had reached its peak wind speeds. collapsed. Much of the sand from the Indian Elena is remembered partly for its unusual route. Rocks beaches washed away and it would be It stalled off the Pinellas Coast for a full day, years before it was replenished. moved north, then looped back to the south, After two days of sitting off the Pinellas Coast, before turning again and heading towards Biloxi, Elena moved toward the Panhandle eventually Mississippi. coming ashore in Biloxi, Mississippi with 115 During the Labor Day week-end, Elena sat 80 mile per hour winds. Though the Florida miles off the Indian Rocks coast drifting slowly Panhandle was spared a direct hit, there was still northward. While it never made landfall in significant damage from the 10 foot tidal surge. Pinellas, it produced winds of 80 miles per hour The storm created $125 million in damage and constant rainfall. When the storm looped caused mostly by the 6-7 foot storm surge that around and began heading south, hurricane hammered the Pinellas coast. Most of the watchers thought it would eventually head reported damage was in Indian Rocks Beach. towards Tampa Bay. PRESOR Four deaths are attributed to Elena, but they Clearwa Permit No. U S POST Over 300,000 people in the Tampa Bay Region P were unrelated to the actual storm. The name A I D were forced to evacuate. Parts of the Florida Elena was retired due to the massive nationwide TED STD ter Panhandle and Louisiana also evacuated. At the damage. Elena is the only storm name to be AGE , 39 FL time, it was one of the largest evacuations and retired without causing any direct casualties. shelter operations in US history. INDIAN ROCKS BEACH NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSLETTER CREDITS CITY NUMBERS EMERGENCIES: . 9-1-1 SHERIFF NON-EMERGENCIES 582-6200 CITY HALL. 595-2517 SHERIFF DISPATCH . 582-6177 1507 Bay Palm Blvd www.Indian-Rocks-Beach.com IRB FIRE STATION . 595-1117 PINELLAS COUNTY INFO . 464-3000 CITY MANAGER - Vacant LITTLE LEAGUE . 434-0511 MAYOR/CITY COMMISSION . 517-0204 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MAYOR - R.B. Johnson Gulf Beaches . 360-6957 This newsletter is published by COMMISSIONERS — Clearwater Beach . 447-7600 Terry Wollin-Hamilton Vice Mayor • Cookie GRIFFIN PRODUCTIONS, Inc. WELCOME CENTER . 595-4575 Kennedy • Daniel Torres • Bert Valery ELECTRICITY. 443-2641 and is mailed to every occupied City Manager, . 595-2517 residence and business in Indian PHONE (Residential) . 800-483-4000 Building Department: . 517-0404 PHONE (Business). 800-483-5000 Rocks Beach We are not officially John Mortellite, Dir WATER . 464-4000 associated with the City of Indian Planning & Zoning: . 517-0404 CABLE (Bright House) . 329-5020 Danny Taylor, Dir Rocks Beach. Public Services: . 595-6889 SEWER / IRB . 595-6889 Dean Scharmen, Dir. TRASH / IRB / Pick Up . 595-6889 PUBLISHER ------------------------------------------------- IRB LIBRARY . 596-1822 Bob & Becky Griffin COUNTY INFORMATION . 464-3000 Residents of Indian Rocks Beach Next to City Hall M-F 10A-4P; Tu-Th 7P-8:30P, Sat 10A-1PM; COMMISSION OFFICES. 464-3377 Closed Sunday Karen Seel . 464-3278 ART DIRECTION STATE: Becky Griffin IRB HISTORICAL MUSEUM . 593-3861 Senator Dennis Jones . 727-549-6411 Across from the Post Office Republican, District 13 SALES IRB HOMEOWNER ASSOC.. 517-0525 8940 Seminole Blvd, Seminole 33772 727-517-1997 Phil Wrobel, President - IRBHome.com [email protected] Representative Jim Frishe . 727-518-3902 CONTACT INFO BEACH ART CENTER . 596-4331 Republican, District 54 P.O. BOX 1314 Next to City Hall, 1515 Bay Palm Blvd 125 Indian Rocks Rd, Belleair Bluffs Indian Rocks Beach, FL 33785 M-Th 8:30A-4PM, Fri 9AM-Noon. [email protected] Governor Charlie Crist 517-1997 ~ 517-1998 FAX POST OFFICE / IRB. 596-2894 [email protected] IRBNewsletter.com 204 4th Avenue 33785, Near Crabby Bill’s FLORIDA UNITED STATES SENATORS: Mon-Fri 8:30A-4:30P; Sat 9A-12:00P Mel Martinez . 202-224-3041 Is there something you would like IRB ROTARY www.Martinez.Senate.gov to see included in this newsletter? www.Indian-Rocks-Rotary.org Bill Nelson . 202-224-5274 Please send all comments to Meets at Jimmy Guana's every Wed. 7:15AM www.BillNelson.Senate.gov David Kline, Past President . 593-2605 AREA UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: Rep Bill Young . 727-394-6950 [email protected] ACTION 2000 9210 113th St, Seminole, FL 33772 John Todia. 595-2369 www.house.gov/young © 2008 Griffin Productions, Inc. Meets 2nd Monday Each Month Beach Art Ctr 2008 CALENDAR OF LOCAL EVENTS NEXT ISSUE SEPTEMBER JULY: OCTOBER: Children’s Creative Art & Clay Camp City Occupational Licenses Due 1 This newsletter is printed every Independence Day (Friday) 4 Blessing of the Animals 4 other month and survives on Morton Plant Mease Triathlon 13 Homeowners Happy Hour 9 Homeowners Happy Hour 10 Commitment Excellence Awards 11 local advertising. Please Columbus Day 13 Blood Mobile Post Office 25 support the people advertising Stone Crab Season Starts 15 AUGUST: Clearwater Jazz Festival 16-19 here. If you are an IRB Little League, Fall Sign Up TBA OctoberFest 18 resident wanting to advertise, Bucs 1st preseason game- Miami 9 Coastal CleanUp 18 Trim Notices Mailed 11 Blood Mobile at Calvary Episcopal 19 you get a discount. We also Homeowners Happy Hour 14 Country Jubilee Heritage Village 25 offer discounts for advertising Public School Begins 19 John's Pass Seafood Festival 24-26 Community Clean Up Week 18-20 Haunted House/Pumpkin Carving 25 in our other issues, Madeira Halloween 31 Beach, Belleair Area and Homeowners Quarterly Meeting 20 Primary Election 26 NOVEMBER: Downtown St. Petersburg. Property Tax Bills Mailed 1 SEPTEMBER: Historical Society Fall Luncheon 1 Call me for the next issue. For Labor Day (Monday) 1 Daylight Savings Time Ends 2 Household Cleanup (in Largo) 6 Homeowners Quarterly Meeting 3 more information, or to read Bucs First Real Game (Sunday) 7 Election Day 4 our other issues online, visit Grandparents Day (Sunday) 7 Taste of IRB 8 Homeowners Happy Hour 11 BeachNewsletters.com Veterans Boat Parade (Madeira) 9 Patriot Day (US) 11 Veteran’s Day 11 HOA Poker Run 20 Homeowners Happy Hour 13 INDIAN ROCKS BEACH NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSLETTER ELENA DESTROYS THE PIER by R.B Johnson, Mayor When Hurricane Elena came howling up the gulf at the end of the summer of 1985, I was living in my family's cottage right next to the Big Indian Rocks Fishing Pier. Built in 1959 by my grandfather, Carl H. Moseley, and his partner, Louis R. Snelling, Jr., it was the longest pier (1041 feet) in Florida at the time of its construction, and I never knew a time when it did not dominate my family's life on the beach. Everything would change that fateful Labor Day week-end. The surfers were out in force all day Friday, but Elena stalled to the north of the Tampa Bay area, and by sunset the beach, never wide to begin with, had disappeared entirely, the huge waves now crashing directly on the seawall. That caught my attention, along with the fact that one of the pier pilings close to shore was swinging like a long, loose tooth - an ominous sign. The authorities soon ordered an evacuation of the barrier islands, but I dawdled, reluctant to leave most of my personal possessions behind, including a FOO TBALL SCHEDULE large number of books. Like usual the pier was lit up by its lights that evening but for the first time that I could recall TAMPA BAY nobody was fishing. Around midnight I walked out to the snack bar/bait house to tell the fellow working there that it BUCCANEERS might be a good idea to close up shop. On my way I notice that the tops of the waves passed below me only a foot or two from the decking I was walking on, an unsettling PRESEASON observation as they would normally be about ten feet down. FRI 8/09 at Miami Dolphins 7:30 PM I think we were both relieved to get back to shore, because SUN 8/17 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 8:00 PM the structure was starting to sway more dramatically as the SAT 8/23 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 7:30 PM night wore on. As far as I know we were the last two Thur 8/28 at Houston Texans 8:00 PM people to walk on the pier. Soon after a police officer came REGULAR SEASON by asking everyone to leave the island, and I drove over to SUN 9/07 New Orleans Saint 1:00 PM Tampa to stay with my parents. SUN 9/14 ATLANTA FALCONS 4:05 PM The next morning we receive news that our pier had almost SUN 9/21 at Chicago Bears 1:00 PM SUN 9/28 GREEN BAY PACKERS 1:00 PM completely washed away in the middle of the night.
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