Hurricane Gloria Video Surfaces

If you’re a longtime Connecticut resident you’ll remember Al Terzi anchoring with Janet Peckinpaugh, Diane Smith’s voice is there along with a waterlogged David Henry and some folks I just don’t recognize anymore.

My friend Ryan Hanrahan posted this video to his blog earlier tonight. I didn’t even know it was around. It’s from a special we did on WTNH after Hurricane Gloria.

If you’re a longtime Connecticut resident you’ll remember Al Terzi anchoring with Janet Peckinpaugh. Diane Smith’s voice is also there with a waterlogged David Henry and some folks I just don’t recognize anymore. And, of course, the Action News music!

It was 25 years ago. I look so young!

29 thoughts on “Hurricane Gloria Video Surfaces”

  1. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Geoff. My wife and I were living in West Haven at the time right near the Saw Mill road exit off of I-95. We decided before the storm came to CT to head for my in-laws place in New Hampshire. It was a spooky ride. We did not see power until we not north of the Merrimack valley in Massachusetts. We came back two days later to no power, but it was restored about 30 minutes later. No damage, and only some food that had gone bad during the power outage, but many anxious moments.

  2. The Action News theme is the best!!!

    What I was most impressed with was how good your wx graphics were. Awesome stuff for 1985!!

  3. Ryan –

    When I interviewed for the job, after Mike Sechrist described who he really wanted (not me) I asked if he wanted to see what his computer could do?

    We went to the weather computer on the second floor. I took an 8″ floppy from my briefcase and placed it in the Cromemco Colorgraphics computer. I showed him two maps I’d brought with me.

    When I met Helaine in Stamford after the meeting I told her I wasn’t getting the job. Two days later I got the call and got the job!

    It was the disk. Ask Mike.

  4. I wish they would go back to the old theme music! We went two weeks without power after Gloria. I hate to think we’re probably due for another big one soon…

  5. Wow, that takes me back. I was still living in Maine at the time, having just started my sophomore year in high school, but my sister was in New Haven getting her PhD at Yale so I remember the graphics and the theme music from that era well. 🙂

    Hurricane Gloria hit Maine too — we lived inland, but it was still a memorable experience. That storm changed my family’s life in many ways… my dad ran a public utility and Gloria convinced him it was time to retire. Ironically, the move was to Florida, a.k.a. Hurricane Central — but at least there, he only had to worry about himself and my mom, and not the tens of thousands of people dependent upon a working water system under his watch.

  6. I was living in Norwich when Gloria hit, and I remember it mostly because it hit on the weekend of my birthday! The storm kind of put a crimp in the party plans, considering we didn’t get power back for at least three days. We were watching WTNH’s coverage when the power went out.

    I also remember going up towards our family’s cottage on Pachaug Pond and being amazed at the damage I was seeing along Route 12. The cottage survived, and although there was a tree resting on the roof, it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be repaired.

    Thanks for posting this video. I don’t recall if I watched the special or not, but I do remember the news coverage that it contained.

  7. My lord Mr Foxx
    Give it up myself and 25,000 others think you must,must ,must take some lessons from Brad Field YOUR REALLY BAD

    1. Fox is spelled with one “x” and should be followed by a comma. The proper word is “me” not “myself.” A space should follow a comma, not the other way around. “Your” should be “you’re.”

      I appreciate your eloquently stated opinion.

  8. It’s time to leave WTNH, I guess fox (61) is the closes. I won’t watch you anymore. you have fairfield county, New Haven Country, and some of up the State. But most of up state watches Hartford news. your most biggest problem is that you don’t even realize it’s poor management,(Why is it)you don’t even realizes it !!! because whats on the easternside you have water and most fishes don’t watch NEWS !!!! you people can blame anyone you want because that’s what management does to save it’s own butts !!!! because stupid is what stupid does. it doesn’t matter what you do the fish won’t watch the NEWS ( Stupid ) Location, Location, So blame them all Ann, Al, Jeff, Sid, Smilely in the morning talk about a phony, You got the water dumby’s and fish don’t listen to news and that’s that.

    John

  9. Geoff- My wife and I are having a debate. We were both kids when Hurricane Gloria hit and I don’t remember it being all that bad. I lived in Fairfield and say we lost power for maybe a day. She was in West Hartford and claims that they didn’t have power for a week. I remember being outside the afternoon it hit and being very disappointed that we would have to go back to school right away!

    The debate is arising because I am not at all concerned about the pending storm and she thinks we need to prepare to live like cavemen for the next month.

    Thanks.

    1. Gloria’s power was almost entirely east of the center. So you probably got little in Fairfield. West Hartford got a little more. The heaviest impact was on the shoreline east of New Haven.

      There are no tropical systems worth worrying about right now.

  10. This was the night I was having my third child!!! My water broke when I took a walk to the drug store. His father luckily just got out of work and picked me up. A fast trip to Portsmouth regional hospital,turned out to be a waste of time! I got sent home and was told to come back in when my contractions got worse. The storm was howling outside our apartment.Even with this noise I was able to sleep for a little while.Around 11:30 pm,my son decides he wants to take a trip back to the hospital.I was in labor for only four,hours,while Gloria shook the hospital walls.I as content because I was watching Miami Vice. Just as it was about to get over,all the lights in the hospital went out!! After what seemed an eternity,the back up generator kicked on.No television,or radio,just enough light to deliver my child.
    His name is Reginald Jamal Cooley. He has a little bit of Gloria in him,by his hyperactive few on life and everything in it.Happy Birthday son.Momma loves ya!

  11. I traveled to Mansfield form Milford to get a generator. good thing i had it. we were without power for 3 days. My neighbor an additional 3 days cuz he was the only one on the block without power due to the service entrance coming down. I still have that generator and another friend used it for 5 days during the last one.

  12. I was living in an apartment complex near Foran High in Milford. My neighbor was away, so I removed the stuff from his balcony. I took all my stuff and put it away, and helped some other neighbors with the same thing. By the time I was done moving everything and taping windows, I ended up sleeping through the entire storm!

    I do remember being without power for 5 or 6 days. We all took turns emptying the fridge and freezer and cooking up the goodies on the charcoal grills we had. A feast every night and then boiling water in large pots on the grill to wash the dishes and for a quick bath.

    I’m just glad I didn’t have to go through that again this time!

  13. Boy does that bring back memories…I was at 8 when Gloria hit–a crazy few days for sure! Not to mention my dad losing power and coming over with his wife (a one time weather watcher for you Geoff) for dinner and showers for a week.

  14. the funniest thing is that one t.v. station in the Pocono’s still uses the same Action News theme 25 years after WTNH used it. I was in the Pocono’s a couple of weeks ago and was amused by this. I haven’t this music since WTNH stopped using it. I remember the commercials when WTNH decided to change the format and dump the theme song.

  15. The music you refer to is called Move Closer to Your World which even I remember hearing on Action News 8 back in the day.

    There are 3 stations I know of that use that theme or something sounding like it.

    WPVI…the station most noted for using that song since the mid 70’s uses a different instrumentation of it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvGLEIsNxXM&feature=channel_video_title

    WNEP…the Poconos station uses a techno version of song

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asGzK9zcYug&feature=related

    WKBW…The Buffalo station that bought back that song in 2008

  16. My oh my, Geoff, does your voice sound young and you look young!! Was this your first job as a weather forecaster? And, wow, that WTNH-8 music brings back so many memories

  17. I remember that hurricane and the Action News Theme. I really liked that one. After just the few opening notes, I could hum the whole thing. Geoff, you did look so young in that video, the same as when I was interning there 4 years later.

  18. I was living in a 3 family house with 5 kids among us. We had taken all the suggested preparations, even taping the windows. We still could hear and see trees falling. Everyone around us lost power but we did not. We joked it was because God knew we had all those young children. We spent the next few days having friends/relatives over to shower, get a cooked meal and store some perishable groceries. It was fun to watch this video!

  19. Thank you for the video- yes it does bring back memories. I lived in Milford in a condo close to the beach that time and lost power for 5 days. i was fortunate i had a gas stove and hot water heater so i could cook and take showers. i remember the eye going over head- with the instant clearing of the sky- that was so cool..

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