Hurricane Hazel Personal Accounts

I was 4 years old at the time. The winds picked up here in Detroit while my mother was getting on with making supper. Dad came home from work and, the phone rang. One of the neighbors of his parents cottage told my dad. "your dock is on our lawn." After supper we all gathered up in a three car convoy to Algonac. At New Baltimore we had to go north on County Line Road from M-29. The police mentioned that there were boats washed up on the highway. Ended up coming in on the back roads to their place. I remember seeing waves in front of the house and, the water was roughly a foot (30 cm) high.

As a 4 year old I thought of it as being funny. However, it stuck to my mind till this very day even though it seems vague. After my dad's father passed in 1981, some co-workers mentioned that I should have bought their place. However, being in the Coast Guard from 1970 - 1974, I read up on major great lakes atorms. Two before Hazel in 1954 were the Great Storm of 1913, and the Hurricane of 1869. Take the time span of 1869 to 1913 being 44 years, and 1913 to Hazel of 1954 being 41 years. It's now 2005 and we are way over due (51 years) for another storm God forbid. I have a lot of respect for Mother Nature and, the Good Lord above.

Arthur John Boyko
Detroit, Michigan USA

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