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‘We just had to hold on to each other’
By Barbara Brister
Published July 27, 2003
The following is an excerpt from a letter written by my mother, Mrs. Verdia Johnson, during the 1943 storm and the next few days to her mother in Waco. I am the Barbara mentioned in the article, one of five children of Andrew and Verdia Johnson.
Barbara Brister Santa Fe
Dear Mother,
We’re in the thick of a hurricane. Nearly every windowpane is blown out, trees are down, schoolhouse and the M.E. church flat … lots of houses off the blocks … our barns are down, all the tin roof is off our porch.
Three hours of the storm as the path went over this morning then about as hour of dead calm.
Andrew went to Bolivar — found the folks OK.
Just got back in time when wind shifted and path of storm came back — must have had a 132 (mph) wind.
About 5 p.m. now blowing so hard ever since 2:30 p.m. Still going strong. This a.m., wind blew from about 10:30 until 1:30 — hurricane force, but we received the most damage through the return wind.
Myers family came out of their house … blew off blocks … later when Mr. Myers and nephew went back, the second blow caught them and they had to crawl on hands and knees to get back here. About 20 soldiers were caught here between blows.
Things got so bad we just had to hold on to each other. All the children on the divan in the living room and then the divan moved back and forth across the floor — the piano and two men braced against the doors.
We experienced a 132 (mph) wind — and strange to say, our house stood it remarkably well. The petition to your room on the porch blew in; all screens whipped off the windows and porch.
A good many windowpanes all over the house, the new ceiling board in Barbara’s room ripped off … The following buildings are gone. The Methodist church completely gone, the Baptist church off the blocks, Catholic churches gone. (Schoolhouse torn up and blown over the yard.) All barracks at the fort down. O.W. Johnson’s house and our house and perhaps a dozen other houses are the only ones on their blocks.
The worst thing happened though was when the dredge boat went to pieces on the jetties — Andrew and Mr. Myers pulled men out of the water — put them on horseback and brought them in to Mrs. Myers and (me).
They had drifted to our beach.
Mrs. Myers and I had to actually undress them, untie life belts off of them; we gave them coffee, whiskey and soup.
Got eight of them in bed with dry clothes on … They had been in the water since 12:30 the night before and it was then 10 a.m. (Coast Guard came and took them in to Galveston last night) after Andrew went to the fort and reported picking up some of the survivors.
Andrew rode out to the beach between squalls to see if he could see about the cattle when he found the men.
The Gulf water didn’t come up very high. It was the high wind which caused most of the damage (we lost over 150 head of cattle) saved about that many.
Sure glad we had 200 head at Stowell and the registered stock at Butlers in League City. Of all the people on Bolivar, our home is the least hurt.
We’ve fed and taken in 50 or more soldiers, coast guards and dredge-boat men. Andrew butchered a sheep, and I’ve had plenty of help to cook and clean up, etc.
Andrew and John and gang have already salvaged lots of furniture, lumber etc. off of the beach. One ferryboat went on the rocks and the other sank. We heard they had pulled it up this a.m. Bill McCray’s boat brought in bread today, first time since Monday — no mail has come in though.
After the storm blew itself out … Andrew Mr. and Mrs. Myers and I rode out to the beach to see the damage, we scattered out and I walked right up to a dead man before I realized it one of the men from the dredge. Sad sight. Before we left, we found five other bodies — Coast Guard and soldiers notified and came and picked them up.
In all of it, I wasn’t frightened one single minute. I was so busy and felt like we had all been spared to help others.
I do believe God meant for us to help those people — it seems unbelievable that we could stand a wind and storm as fierce as it was and not be hurt ourselves. We did pray, but all the time I had the assurance that God heard us and would take care of us.
I was so calm inside — Mrs. Myers too. We kept the children calm and that was a task with windowpanes blowing out and glass everywhere.
We are safe and have plenty to eat, none of our clothes lost. Plenty of dry ones on a sunshiny day. Just a lot to thank God for, which we are trying to do. Red Cross agencies are to take over tomorrow, we heard, and clean up the debris.
Verdia Johnson
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