Hurricane Ivan - Damage to Greater Pensacola Area, Set C
Text and Photos Copyright ©2004 by Carolyne Butler
(Posted 23 October 2004)
Hurricane Ivan arrived in the Pensacola, Florida, area during Wednesday night and Thursday morning on September 15/16, 2004. All except one of the following pictures of hurricane damage were taken three weeks after the storm.
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"We will be back" is going to take a long time for many Pensacolians. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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Can you guess what is strange about this picture? It was taken in downtown Pensacola, and no storm damage is visible. However, what is strange is that the tulip tree is in bloom. These small trees, along with red maples, are harbingers of spring and normally bloom here in February. But this is October. Hurricane Ivan has shocked several varieties of spring-blooming trees into a second bloom this year. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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This section of buildings on South Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola received a great deal of damage. Much of this area was underwater from the storm surge. The building with the missing front housed Sarah's Dress Shop. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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Most likely this trashed clothing came from Sarah's Dress Shop nearby. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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This double-decker bus advertising McGuire's Irish Pub was in much better shape prior to Ivan's playing kickball with it. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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This piece of land along Bayfront Parkway is not where this sailboat is supposed to be docked. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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One of the classic older homes in East Hill lost its porch and sports a new blue roof, courtesy of FEMA. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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A Bradford Pear tree, normally a spring bloomer, blooms again, in contrast to other foliage that has died due to wind and salt damage. The trash along the side of Scenic Highway is from a water-damaged apartment complex (not in this picture) that was now sporting a multitude of blue roofs. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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Pensacola's Scenic Highway, which winds along the bluffs on the western shore of Escambia Bay, is normally a lovely drive. Now it's looking worse than winter, because wind and salt damage has turned the leaves on the remaining trees brown. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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We had been hearing on the radio about the I-10 bridge damage and this truck that fell off the bridge, but because we were without electricity for nine days after the storm we couldn't see pictures of it on TV or online. Our neighbor loaned us his Sunday newspaper and it had these pictures of the damaged bridge and severed truck. (Sunday, 19 September 2004)
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We drove to an area near the Interstate 10 bridge that's high on the bluff where we could get a good view of the bridge damage. The driver of the truck that fell into the water had driven around the safety barriers that had been put up to close the bridge. His mistake cost him his life. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)
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This is one of the sections of the I-10 bridge that was damaged. The eastbound lane (the lane on the south) sustained the most damage. Estimates are that it will take three months to repair that lane, but the westbound lane was repaired not long after this picture was taken and is open for two-lane traffic. (Sunday, 3 October 2004)