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‘We suspected a hurricane’
By Bob Browning
Published July 27, 2003
In July 1943 my wife, Mary, and I, married in 1942, were living on the north shore in San Leon, about 15 miles by road from our jobs in Texas City.
The morning of the 27th dawned squally but not threatening, so we boarded our 1941 Ford two-door and proceeded to our jobs.
She let me off west of town at the Pan American Refinery, where I worked in design engineering, and went on east to the dock area, where she worked for the contractor who was converting an old sugar refinery into the plant where Monsanto was to make synthetic rubber.
The weather grew progressively worse during the day, and when the roof blew off the brick garage next door we suspected a hurricane, which seemed to peak in late afternoon. We were released to go home, though it was known that streets in Texas City were flooded.
I tried to contact my wife, but the phones were out. Knowing that she worked in a substantial brick building, probably safely marooned by high water, I prepared to spend the night stretched out on a drafting table.
But just as it was getting dark I got a call from the guard at the front gate. My wife had driven up, he said, somewhat hysterical.
That’s fine, I said, send her in, we’ll be safe in here, and we’ll leave in the morning.
I can’t do that, he said. There’s a war on and she doesn’t have a gate pass.
So I went out and got in the car. We knew it was useless to try for San Leon — there were several low areas on the way that would be flooded.
So we made our way to the present Highway 3, through water up to a foot deep, and headed for League City, where we had friends who would take us in. About half way there we caught up with the storm again, and fought wind and driving rain into town.
In League City, high water prevented us reaching our refuge of choice, but we were able to reach an alternate, and there we stayed for two days, until the water subsided on the route to San Leon.
There we found our house wet but still standing. We lived there until moving to Dickinson in 1960.
Bob Browning Dickinson
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