'A very vulnerable position:' Saved weather bulletins show drama of 1964's Hurricane Dora

Matt Soergel, Florida Times-Union
·2 min read

At noon on Sept. 8, 1964, the worried forecasters at Jacksonville's national weather bureau put out this bulletin: "The Jacksonville area is in a very vulnerable position ... Persons in low-lying beaches or other areas which may be swept by high tides or storm waves should evacuate to high ground before dark. Don't run the risk of being marooned ..."

A little more than an hour later they warned Northeast Florida and the world: "The projected path of Hurricane Dora is no comfort to the residents of the Jacksonville Beaches ... "

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A scene of the damage where Neptune and Atlantic beaches meet at the oceanfront, now a collection of upscale restaurants and shops.
A scene of the damage where Neptune and Atlantic beaches meet at the oceanfront, now a collection of upscale restaurants and shops.

Later bulletins proved that to be true.

By 3 p.m. on Sept 9, they tallied some of the damage: "Hurricane Dora is now 70 miles east southeast of St. Augustine moving northwestward at 10 mph ... The seawall has broken at several places at the beach and water is seeping into Fletcher High School. One house at Fernandina Beach has fallen into the ocean and two houses have collapsed at Jacksonville Beach. Fernandina is virtually cut off at this time ..."

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Do you know where this is? The beach in 1964, after Hurricane Dora.
Do you know where this is? The beach in 1964, after Hurricane Dora.

By the early hours of the 10th, after days of damaging wind and seas, Dora came ashore near St. Augustine with winds at about 110 mph, losing strength but dumping vast amounts of rain as it moved inland.

It was the first direct hurricane hit on this area since 1898 and the only one since, though other storms — recent examples include Matthew and Irma — came close and caused much damage. Images of flooded streets from Dora call to mind those storms, as well as the terrible damage from this year's catastrophic Hurricane Ian strike on Southwest Florida.

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Jacksonville's Beaches suffered some of the worst damage from Hurricane Dora in 1964.
Jacksonville's Beaches suffered some of the worst damage from Hurricane Dora in 1964.

On the 50th anniversary of Dora, the National Weather Service bureau in Jacksonville shared the 1964 storm bulletins with the Times-Union. The reports showed the work the forecasters did over several tense days and also gave insight into the lives of those at the bureau.

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A dramatic scene during Hurricane Dora in 1964.
A dramatic scene during Hurricane Dora in 1964.

Consider this one from 10 a.m. on Sept. 10: "We have not tried to keep up with the damage reports, however our forecaster Mr. Hicks called home last night where he found the roof removed."

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Storm surge and rain overran the Beaches during Hurricane Dora in 1964.
Storm surge and rain overran the Beaches during Hurricane Dora in 1964.

And finally at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 10 came this report: "Many of your local weather men are now home in bed or cleaning up the debris around their homes ... After many hours of continuous weather watching, passing out reports and tracking Dora, we have issued again a regular Jacksonville and vicinity forecast. The damaging hurricane winds are past."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: In 1964, Jacksonville endured a rare direct hit by Hurricane Dora

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