3/30/2023 0 Comments Hurricane carla![]() ![]() He said he even saw a buoy with a red light on top. Robert told me that he thought he was miles out in the Gulf of Mexico - because he was surrounded by water. When the house finally came to rest on land, he walked out. Robert Dunn was on the roof of his floating home for three days. "The last time I saw my parents, mother and dad were holding hands and she was crying." But something seemed to pull them away from me. "The wind was blowing really hard then and I tried to reach down and help two of the children up. There was a big wave that came then and we all started to get on the roof. We stayed there until the worst part of the storm hit. "I think it was early Sunday morning that we got into the attic. "All the food we had was a loaf of bread." My share was two slices, but two of the younger children were crying because they were so hungry and I divided my share among them. "What must have been a tidal wave suddenly covered everything, including the car, and we couldn't leave. "My aunt and uncle lived close to us and when it got pretty bad they came to our house." The article quoted Robert's description of the event: "He said if it got too bad we would leave," Robert said. In the AP story, Robert Dunn said that his father felt that he had been through storms before and Hurricane Carla would be no worse than the others. That was the last attempt to rescue the Dunns. His selection was wrong and several soldiers nearly drowned. He had to pick one side or the other, hoping to pick the one with the bridge underneath. ![]() ![]() The driver told me that when they reached a bridge, only one guardrail was sticking out of the water. On the third try, they lost a two and a half ton truck in Bastrop Bayou. The guardsmen said they made three attempts to get the Dunn family out. When I returned to my National Guard unit in Angleton, several months after the storm, I talked with several of my buddies who were sent out to try to rescue the Dunns. He was asked let his children come out - again he refused. Local authorities begged him to leave because his home on Bastrop Bayou was in grave danger. ![]() (Shorty) Dunn, felt as if he had been through several storms before and he really wasn't too concerned about this one. This number included members of his uncle John Drvar's family. Eleven of those who perished were from Robert Dunn's family. This early evacuation greatly reduced the number of lives that were lost - records show that 46 died in the storm. It was reported that over half a million coastal residents fled the storm. On that day a mass evacuation was ordered. Robert Dunn and his family lived south of Angleton, along the banks of Bastrop Bayou.Īccording to old weather records, Carla had grown so large by September 9, that it enveloped the entire Gulf of Mexico - winds near the center were estimated at 150 mph. When Hurricane Carla crashed ashore on the Texas coast on September 10-11,1961, I was in the Texas Army National Guard and was going to the Army's armor training school at Ft. The young boy's name was Robert Dunn and his life was indeed a tragic story. "In a little while, the water got higher than the attic." As I recall, he and my sister were classmates and The story was from the Associated Press (AP) wire service and it was titled: "15-Year-Old Boy Describes Loss Of Family In Storm." And what triggered the bad memory for me was.I knew that boy. However, an old Inquirer from September 14, 1961, reminded me of one of the bad memories - one I had forgotten until now. I really don't know why I picked that year - maybe because that was when I graduated from high school - and most of the memories from that time are good ones. Sometimes I just decide to pick a year, and then go through every issue from that time period. I received this in an email and thought I'd share it too.ĭeadly hurricane kills all but one in the Dunn Family.īack when I was still working full time for The Gonzales Inquirer newspaper, I would often spend my weekends going through the archives and researching some of the old papers. I remember always being so fascinated with those stories, and the power of mother nature. He said the water had receded, but had left behind a couple feet of mud, and all kinds of critters like snakes etc were everywhere. He lived on 1st Street in Freeport at the time, and had around 6-8 feet of water in his house. I remember him saying when he came back from evacuating, there were cows hanging from the power lines between Jones Creek and Freeport, which was an indicator of how high the storm surge was. I wasn't born yet, but I remember my Dad telling me what it was like back in 1961 when Hurricane Carla hit here. ![]()
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