Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 5, 1995 TAG: 9508070100
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PENSACOLA, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
A giant oak crushed the driver's side of the Khorram family's van, just minutes after Khorram had heeded his wife's warning to stay inside and leave the van in the driveway.
``If that tree had fallen that way, it would have killed all of us,'' Khorram said Friday as he surveyed damage in the upscale neighborhood in northeast Pensacola, overlooking Escambia Bay.
The storm blasted through the Panhandle and southern Alabama on Thursday before losing strength as it moved inland and dissipated into rain. When it hit the Pensacola area, it had 94 mph winds and gusts up to 103 mph.
Four deaths were blamed on Erin, and another seven people were reported missing at sea. The Coast Guard was to continue searching for them today.
The barrier island stretching from Pensacola Beach to Navarre Beach absorbed the brunt of the storm as it came ashore for the second time Thursday.
The storm blew trees onto homes, cars and businesses, peeled roofs from buildings, ripped shingles and siding off homes, and blew out windows. The county said 186 structures were damaged.
``I didn't think we'd catch anything with all the tree support, being up on the bluff,'' said Ed Woolam, a retired Navy officer, in northeast Pensacola.
Woolam had moved with his wife five months ago from a Pensacola Beach home, which they had evacuated last year during Tropical Storm Alberto.
Woolam said they had considered their new home hurricane-proof.
``I felt as secure here as I would in a foxhole somewhere, then all of a sudden, `Boom!''' he said.
President Clinton signed an emergency declaration to provide federal assistance to state and local agencies in 19 Florida counties.
Officials projected insured losses as high as $360 million from Erin's two-day trek through Florida.
by CNB