At the start of WWII the US government had made the decision to censor any and all news reporting that they deemed to be of national security, including the reporting of weather related occurrences. The fear was that the reporting of devastating storms and their destructive force would provide the enemy with valuable information regarding the disruption of wartime manufacturing. One of the government's biggest fears was the enemy learning about the disruption in the production of fuel at the many refineries.
On July 27, 1943 a hurricane hit the gulf coast of Texas resulting in severe damage to the shipyards and oil refineries located there. The government had censored all reports being provided by ships at sea of the impending hurricane. Without knowing that a hurricane was bearing down on the people living along the Louisiana and Texas gulf coasts they were caught completely off guard. This resulted in these coastal communities being unprepared or allowing for evacuation from the area.
The hurricane that hit that July day was the last unnamed hurricane. The devastation to both civilians and wartime industries due to a lack of preparedness the United States government made the determination that weather advisories involving public safety would no longer be censored or go unreported. It concluded that protecting the lives and safety of US citizens outweighed the risk that an enemy could take advantage.
My father experienced the destructive force of this unnamed hurricane as he and others from Camp Wallace were on field maneuvers that day. His experience of that event is detailed in Chapter IX of Limited Duty.
On July 27, 1943 a hurricane hit the gulf coast of Texas resulting in severe damage to the shipyards and oil refineries located there. The government had censored all reports being provided by ships at sea of the impending hurricane. Without knowing that a hurricane was bearing down on the people living along the Louisiana and Texas gulf coasts they were caught completely off guard. This resulted in these coastal communities being unprepared or allowing for evacuation from the area.
The hurricane that hit that July day was the last unnamed hurricane. The devastation to both civilians and wartime industries due to a lack of preparedness the United States government made the determination that weather advisories involving public safety would no longer be censored or go unreported. It concluded that protecting the lives and safety of US citizens outweighed the risk that an enemy could take advantage.
My father experienced the destructive force of this unnamed hurricane as he and others from Camp Wallace were on field maneuvers that day. His experience of that event is detailed in Chapter IX of Limited Duty.