Think of Hurricane Bob, and the thoughts of many turn to the devastation on the Upper Cape, particularly around Buzzards Bay, during this week a quarter of a century ago.
But it was no picnic here on the Outer Cape either. After the Category 2 cyclone ripped through here on the afternoon of Aug. 19, 1991, dozens of boats were ripped off their moorings and cast ashore, countless trees were uprooted, and more than a few buildings lost their roofs.
Some of the stories bordered on unbelievable.
According to The Cape Codder, a Truro woman on Higgins Hollow Road “told Civil Defense Director Francis Silva that she saw a 100-year-old tree in her yard go straight up in the air, then topple over.”
The Aug. 20, 1991 edition of The Codder noted that “Hurricane Bob was a feast for the senses when people began to emerge from their houses. The air was filled with the scent of pine and oak from the many shorn and uprooted trees. Area waters were whipped into a mass of frothy white foam and mist, and the sound of massive gusts howling through telephone wires was eerie.
“Even the feel of the atmosphere as the barometer plunged was unique.”