Irene: I’ve Done This Before. (1985 video)

I know a lot of you remember our coverage that day on Channel 8 with Al Terzi, Diane Smith, Janet Peckinpaugh and some fearless reporters. Here’s a small clip to refresh your memory.

There has only been one hurricane to strike Connecticut during my tenure, Hurricane Gloria. I know a lot of you remember our coverage that day on Channel 8 with Al Terzi, Diane Smith, Janet Peckinpaugh and some fearless reporters. Here’s a small clip to refresh your memory.

Thanks to Brian Lapis for requesting this video!

30 thoughts on “Irene: I’ve Done This Before. (1985 video)”

  1. I lived in West Haven at the time (right off of the Saw Mill Road exit). When my wife and I heard about Gloria’s track, we headed to New Hampshire. As we traveled north and then east, we had sections of interstate (parts of I-90 and I-495) with no power. We did not see steady power until the Lawrence, MA area. When we got to Portsmouth, NH, we hunkered down thinking Gloria might graze that area. There was some wind there, but Gloria passed well west. When we came home to CT on Sunday (had to since my boss at the time said there would be work on Monday – subsequently cancelled due to no power), we had a Coleman stove, lots of easy to prepare food etc. Just as we broke things out to settle in – the lights came on. All of the food in the fridge and freezer had gone bad due to no power, but it was refilled in the coming days.

  2. This thing is making me feel old. Suffice to say I’d been out of 5th grade for a long time when Gloria came to town.

    Guys (and gals) – take some advice from somebody who’s seen a couple of these. Don’t panic. Unless you live right on the shore or in an area that floods in heavy rain, your biggest problem is going to be trees and branches coming down. Yep, you will lose power, but unless you have a medical condition where you need oxygen or something, that’s mostly going to be a nuisance. Just avoid doing stupid stuff (leaving candles unattended, trying to grill indoors, etc) and you’ll be fine. Remember that humans got along for a very long time without electricity (and the Amish are still doing it) – we can put up with this for a few days. 🙂

  3. Geoff, I know you’re not an alarmist, therefore I will heed your warnings. This will probably be a big hurricane. I spoke to my daughter who lives in Hamden telling her to make sure she has ready to eat food in the house for the kids in the event of power outages. I appreciate the fact that you tell us like it is and you don’t blow things up out of proportion. That being said, we’ll be ready for Irene. Thank you for your diligence.

  4. I was pregnant with my son Mike when I stood in Gloria’s eye as it came over Bridgeport. He is now a meteorologist, having earned his Masters of Atmospheric Science less than 2 weeks ago and has returned home to Connecticut. Now there is another Hurricane headed to Bridgeport… Best graduation gift… EVER!

  5. OMG… I remember the intro music for channel 8!! Thanks for the flash back. I remember looking at the broken up eye of the hurricane when it was going over our house and many evenings with my brother playing board games, like battleship, motoply (spelling) and UNO under candle light. 🙂

  6. Hey,GEOFF! Did that video bring back memories! Can’t believe how YOUNG you looked,too bad, there wasn’t more footage!! I’m praying the storm heads out to sea,but, not much we can do,IF, it doesnt. I feel for the people on the immediate coast,i’m sure there will be immense damage, especially in MILFORD,WEST HAVEN, NEW HAVEN,EAST HAVEN,BRANFORD, all the way to NEW LONDON. I’m also sure, there will be enough film footage to last until the next century! UGH,ALWAYS HATED that ACTION NEWS 8 music!!!!!

  7. Geoff–To clarify. Your Resume is up-to-date on your home page, but if you access it from “My Video Audition,” it is not.

  8. Drove home from my New Haven law
    office to Hamden within a half hour of landfall because the judge in charge of New Haven Superior Court did not close the court until the last minute. Storm itself didn’t seem that bad, but the 8 days without power was beyond a nuisance. Not looking forward to doing it again.

  9. Hey Geoff, It’s 6:08 am here, and track from NWS Takes it up trough Ct, Mass, Vermont and along the western side of Maine, if this track holds Would that also really impact the Ct river. all the way up the new England, With all the rain that Irene could put down, it may be something to think about. I am not a Meteorologist but I lived in Middletown for awhile, I know sometimes that river can get quite swelled.

  10. Who was that young meteorologist in the video? 🙂 I remember we secured our horses in a friend’s barn which an old Nike site barracks converted into a barn. Nothing was going to budge that concrete/cinderblock building.

  11. Geoff – I was at work in Milford. We listened to the radio (TVs weren’t in work places back in 1985 as they are today) and they played the song ‘Gloria’ all day long! We left work at the normal time, only to find out Friday evening the work office lost power and it lasted the week in Milford. It was an interesting week … needless to say!

  12. I do remember Gloria and watching Geoff’s reports during the whole storm. I lived in Bristol and we never lost power or cable TV. What I can’t understand is why I have read several times this week that the last hurricane to hit CT was Gloria in the 80’s when we had Bob in the 90’s. With hurricane Bob I had moved to East Lyme and lived right at the shoreline and I was without power for a week. I don’t understand why hurricane Bob doesn’t qualify as the last hurricane to hit??

  13. As a teenager living on the shoreline, I will never forget Hurricane Gloria. I had never seen something like it before and I knew that there was real concern when I saw all of the preparations my father was making–someone who always said that “It’s not going to be any big deal.” It was this storm that introduced me to Geoff Fox. I had never paid close attention before, but I remember my mom being so impressed with your forecasting, coverage, and honesty about the entire situation. There was something strange about reading your comparison of Irene with Gloria the other day; I’m preparing.

  14. What nostalgia!! Just hearing the old Channel 8 theme music perked up my ears. What a storm. We were glued to the battery-powered radio. Does anyone remember those annoying DJ’s who kept playing Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” over and over and over again?

  15. I love how news or weather clowns build up a story and panic everyone. Like when we get one inch of snow and it’s the storm of the century. Being prepared is one thing, but acting like panicked morons is another.

  16. Thanks for that video! Soooo 80’s- I love it.
    I was 3 years old during Hurricane Gloria, so I only have fragmented memories of it. But I pretty much had no idea what was going on besides the fact that it was really windy and we had no power for a few days. I remember my mom having to carry one of those gas lamps with her to put me and my brother to bed.

  17. Wow…that clip brought back memories! I was 23 and living in Noank, CT during Gloria. I was watching WTNH when we lost power and shortly after that we were in the basement listening to the radio. A strange feeling. I’ll never forget that our tiny little town made the National news that weekend! I actually have many photos of the 38 hurricane that were left to me in b&w negative form. I had them put on contact sheets but need to find the proper way to share these! Love the updates,

    Roberta Rosa

  18. We lived in Mansfield Center and had a huge, old spruce tree on the south side of the house. Gloria dropped it down on the house and ripped out our power lines. We were without power for 10 days. We knew power crews from Quebec were helping restore power and at one point got so desperate that my wife took a large piece of cardboard, and wrote on one side, “Still no power.” On the other side she wrote, “S’il vous plait notre electricite ne marche pas!” (Without the help of a French-speaking aunt.) It didn’t help.

  19. What I remember most is being live on the air when the news director came into the studio to tell me that the marina in Milford had been washed away. Our brand new sailboat along with dozens of other boats ended up in the backyards of the people who lived nearby. A helicopter had to take some of the boats out of those yards!

  20. Wow! what a blast from the past. Even though I was only 5, I still remember that day! Hey Geoff…how does “Irene” compare to “Gloria” or even “Bob”????

  21. Thanks for clip. Bought back memories as I remember Gloria. I was starting off grade school back then and we lost power for a week.

  22. Who was that hawt young meteorologist? *grin*
    I remember not having power for a couple weeks with Hurricane Gloria. Hope its not like that this time around!

  23. Love the video! Is there a place to watch the video in it’s entirety? I would love to see it. We were all so young back then…..sigh……

  24. Got married the day after the storm – no power in the church, no power in the reception hall, no power for a week! A wedding to remember, for sure! Hopefully, Irene will miss us this time…

  25. I drove from west haven to man field CT to buy a generator. Still have it. It’s my insurance and I’m happy to see it still runs. That will keep us going until the power is restored. I remember carol too. Blew the roof off our house back in the 50s.

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