November/December/January 2004-2005


Feature Articles:

Hurricanes’ Damage: Not Bad—Until ‘Jeanne’

‘Frances’ not bad, but ‘Jeanne’ worse; trees down; some roof/window leaks; lost canopy



This view of the St. John’s River’s west bank fronting Moosehaven clearly shows the amount of shoreline erosion churned up by Hurricane Jeanne on Sept. 26. Several small palmettoes that had survived Charley, Frances and Ivan were lost to Jeanne. Frances had struck Moosehaven with 65-mph winds on Sept. 5-6, but three weeks later, Jeanne’s winds were clocked as high as 75 mph.




This view of an uprooted oak gives an idea of how softened the ground had become in the wake of several hard rains that preceded the visit of Hurricane Frances.


> In the days following Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne early this fall, many members called to ask about damage they did to the Moosehaven campus in Florida’s northeast edge.

The answer, fortunately, is not too much, but certainly enough—though not as bad as Lodge facilities and homes of numerous members in Florida and elsewhere on the Gulf Coast. Other than several large trees felled, major problems from Frances and Jeanne involved moisture being driven under leaks and through dislodged roof and window seals, causing significant interior water damage. On Sept. 26, “Jeanne” caused cracking and shifting in the St. John’s River fishing pier and completely removed the sidewalk canopy from the south side entrance to the Michigan Recreation Building.


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Please click on any photograph below to view a larger image.




Part of a large oak landed on the garage of the Old Dominion Residence—the home of Moosehaven’s director. It caused minor damage to the roof and eave, but Faye Stevens and her husband weren’t forced to vacate the structure.




Jeanne’s 12-foot storm surge caused some shifting and cracking in the campus’ fishing pier, which extends 400 feet into the St. John’s River.




And this, not from any hurricane: a June 26 downburst-type tornado in the Jacksonville area took the top off Moosehaven’s water tower. No one was hurt; no other structure was hit. Hurricane Frances did no further damage to the tower—but did blow off much of its black paint.