“Hurricane Dolly tore into South Texas with driving rain and winds near 100 miles per hour...”screamed an Austin newspaper headline. And Batesville's Tim Smith was in the middle of it. He stayed on the air under some mighty trying conditions. A couple of months ago I wrote about Tim and his career as Chief Meteorologist for KRGV-TV News Channel 5 in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. I thought about him when Dolly was threatening mayhem in his part of the country. He was 'on air' for 36 hours non-stop except for 45 minutes.

“If you've never been through the heart of a hurricane,” said Tim, “I can assure you it's something you'll never forget. The word that comes to my mind following the wrath of Dolly is simply 'relentless.'”

He said Dolly made landfall along Padre Island Wednesday afternoon with 100 miles per hour winds. For more than two hours, the reporters on the coast in Port Isabel had to lock themselves in the station's giant 'live' truck and ride out the worst part of the storm. “They were hanging on as the truck was shaking in the wind and being battered by debris. Once the winds dropped below about 80 mph, they were back outside bringing them 'live' reports of the mess. Our reporter in Port Mansfield, about 40 miles up the coast, was hit by a piece of sheet metal while preparing for a live report. It was only a glancing blow- which required three stitches to his cheek - and he's fine today.”

Tim said he was “hunkered down” in the television station reporting the weather conditions from 1 p.m. Tuesday until midnight Wednesday night. “I was "off the air" one time for about 45 minutes while I freshened up, shaved etc - but no sleep. For us, the wind begin to pick up at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. The wind was sustained at over 40 mph - gusting to over 75 mph for about 14 hours straight. The pounding went on and on and on. At 9 p.m., our generator quit working. Our backup generator kicked in - but it only has enough power to run the absolutely essential equipment, cameras, control room, and the weather computer. So, we were on the air - in the dark. The guys pointed a camera at me - then surround me with their little penlights.”

The engineers drove a van into the studio and pointed the headlights at the newsdesk to light it up. Later they were able to tap into the portable generator to turn on a couple of portable TV lights. The generators kicked back on a couple of times - then died. The fans that cool the generators (the size of a truck) blow the cooling air out giant vents on the west side of the building. We had a wind blowing from the west at about 50 miles per hour - which stopped the 'cooling' air from getting out of the building....causing the generators to overheat. Once they figured out the problem - they parked three big trucks next to the building - in front of the vents - to block the wind. That solved the problem - and we were back on the air with all of our equipment.

At 1 a.m. I went out and slept in my car for a little while. We had a room at the Holiday Inn down the street - but they had no power, no water etc. The wind was still blowing 40 mph and rain still coming down in sheets - but that just added to the experience.

The storm is gone now. There was considerable wind damage on South Padre Island. Lots of windows blown out of high rises, many roofs gone. All over the Valley, trees - light poles - signs - awnings are down. Flooding is severe in many areas. So far, the much maligned levees have done their job. But the Valley is so flat, rain water has no place to go - so it just pours into low lying neighborhoods. Many people were evacuated.

The relentless Dolly is gone. Thanks to God - we are all safe and our home survived pretty much unscathed. We're glad she was only a category two.”

Note from Pat: I haven't yet figured out how to take the picture of my foot and the tree tower that I mentioned in the earlier column. I must get that done because our famous tower needs to be on that site. Check out Tim's fun website at www.feetinfamousplaces.com.

I love hearing from readers but am seldom at the Daily News building. Please feel free to email me at patjsmith@verizon.net or send mail to Pat Smith, 122 W. Sheridan, Greensburg, IN, 47240.