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by Larry A. Bergeron (Author)
Secret Storm
In 1943 during World War 2, a top secret hurricane formed in the Gulf of Mexico, due South of New Orleans, La. Because U-boats were lurking offshore, the US government would not allow any warnings of the storm to be issued, hoping that the storm would sink the U-boats. It did.
At the same time at Bryan Air Force Base in Texas, Lt. Colonel Joe Duckworth was training British pilots to use his new tactic to fly through heavy cloud cover using only their instruments, "flying blind", he called it.
One night during a card game Colonel Duckworth made a bet with the British airmen that he could fly his trainer, the AT-6 Texan into the eye of the storm and return safely. He won the bet. Thus was the beginning of today's Hurricane Hunters.
Duckworth's system became invaluable to the allies and contributed greatly to us winning the war.
The 1943 storm caused 16 deaths and great destruction in the Houston area, causing a disruption in fuel and ammunitions being delivered to the front.
But due to the heavy cost of life and destruction, the US government never again prevented warnings of such storms from being given to the public.
Today, Lt. Colonel Joe Duckworth is heralded for his assistance in ending the war.
