Hurricane Hilda - October 3, 1964

This was a Stage Four hurricane, and it came thundering into Lafayette, Louisiana with a vengenance. I slept through it.

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I have a good reason. I was working at the Post Office as a 'temporary, indefinite, substitute' clerk, working from midnight to noon, seven days a week.

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Everyone knew that a huge hurricane was coming, and I had to work that night. So, my husband and I sent our fifteen month old daughter to his parent's house with his brother, ninety miles north of where we were to safety.

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At eleven at night, I called the Post Office and found out that 'through sleet and storm' wasn't working that night as the trucks bringing mail weren't traveling.

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So, I went to bed. We lived in 'Vet Village,' which was married housing for students at the University of Southwestern, and it was originally built after WWII for the vets going to school. It wasn't the best housing in the world, there were open walls in some of the rooms, meaning no insulation, and how do you decorate studs? When I swept one bedroom, the dust fell through the cracks in the floor. But for forty dollars a month and free utilities, it was workable.

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I do remember getting up during the night to visit the loo, and noticed that there was water bubbling at the front door, so I placed a towel there. The wind was howling, and I crawled back into bed. What was scary was when the wind stopped and then started up again going the opposite direction.

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The next morning, my hubby and I drove around town to see the damage. Massive oak trees fell across yards and houses. I was amazed to find out that their root system is very shallow, so essentially those huge trees are balanced when they are upright, but a strong enough wind can topple them over.

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So, Hurricane Hilda was my first 'major' Mother Nature attack and she attacks often. This week there were deaths from tornados, flooding, etc. It reminds us that we are never truly 'safe' or secure in our lives.