June 11, 2006
Americus - - Alberto is a name many people who live in Americus have chosen to forget. But, he's back. And residents remember the devastation that the tropical storm of 1994 caused.
This is what Barbara Goodman does best. Gardening gives her a sense of peace - even in the midst of chaos.
"I told my husband, oh lord...Alberto again."
It's a name she's chosen to forget since 1994. She remembers it like it was yesterday.
"We were down at the river on July 4th and it started raining on July 4th and it was like really really raining. We came home that night and it was still raining, it just never let up."
It only got worse.
Tropical Storm Alberto impacted a community. Left major destruction here. Killed people - 15 in one night.
James McGee was graduating from high school when Alberto swept through Americus.
"We were told that it was a bad storm coming but we didn't never think it would come and get this far," McGee says.
12 years later, look where he is now. This year's first named tropical storm has Florida's west coast on a tropical storm watch as Alberto heads north. Folks in southwest Gerogia want him to stay put - but they're bracing for the possibility he won't.
"It's something to think about. This time it could be worse," McGee says.
Goodman doesn't want to re-live it. So she keeps planting her flowers and crossing her fingers they will grow to live... without the threat of another disaster.
"Even though we need rain, I almost don't want it coming in this direction."
A senior forecaster at the National Hurricane Center says Alberto is not likely to become a hurricane. But you may remember, when Alberto hit in 1994, it wasn't a hurricane either.
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