An approaching Hurricane is exciting times for a television journalist.  It’s an opportunity to cover something you don’t cover on a daily basis.  An opportunity to see things you don’t usually see or ever see.  It’s an opportunity to venture forth into dangerous conditions and the possibility of being hurt or even worse. There is an adrenaline junky in every one of us.  I know about all of this. I got to cover a hurricane two decades ago.  It was as exciting then as it is now.  

Today, Tuesday morning, photojournalist Jordan Messerole and reporter Kristen Ross headed south to cover what is expected to be Hurricane Dolly.  They are embedded with Task Force1 and will cover search and rescue teams as the spread out through the coastal areas of South Texas.  Dolly is expected to dump 20 inches of rain in the Rio Grande Valley.  Kristen and Jordan are thrilled about the opportunity to cover the approaching storm, as I am for them.  

This brings back vivid memories for me.  It was September 16, 1988.  Hurricane Gilbert was racing through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.  It was a Category 5 hurricane with winds as high as 160 miles per hour.  It had already ravaged Mexico ( more damage was to come.)   Landfall was expected somewhere in between Brownsville and Corpus Christi. (sound familiar?)  Photojournalist Sal Rios (A Bryan native) and I positioned ourselves in Corpus Christi.  We were ready for anything!  As it turned out, nothing.  After a day and night of covering preparations, high tide and high winds, Gilbert turned west. Mexico was the target again.  Gilbert would die out days later in the semi-arid mountainous regions of Mexico. Dumping dozens of inches of rain along the way. 318 people would die in Mexico.  Billions of dollars in damage done.  To this day Gilbert is in the record books as one of most destructive hurricanes to ever hit Mexico.