by Dee Finney

9-14-00 - Twice I had a vision of a black duck against a white 
background which had been preceded by a black and white
pattern which I can't duplicate because of it's complication. I
was told it referred to Florida in 1935.

I didn't know what that meant and I then went into a dream where
I was discussing the drawing with other people.

DREAM - I was attempting to draw the picture of the duck which
was simple enough ...  just a black duck on a white background.
However, every time I put the pen to the paper, the lines took on
a motion of their own and I ended up drawing an alligator with a
mean look in it's eye.

I tried to explain that it was just a plain black duck, and the man
said, "You mean it was a Kachina?"  I said, "No! I think it's more
like Voodoo!"  

I again tried to draw the duck and I ended up with an duck/alligator
with huge wings.  I ripped the wings off the duck like they were
made of thin waffles because that wasn't what I wanted to see.  

NOTE: After I woke up, I went to the internet to search for Florida
and 1935.  I couldn't believe my eyes. The number one page was
about the hurricane of 1935 in Florida.  That made perfect sense.
A duck swims in the water and alligators do too ... and alligators
'eat' ducks.  

It was important to know what a Kachina is.  Here is the definition:

The Kachinas are an important part of the religion of the Hopi Indians
of northern Arizona. They are friendly "spirits," much like the Saints
of the Christian religion. However, there are some evil Kachinas that
punish those who disobey the Hopi laws.

More on what Kachinas are

So what exactly is Voodoo?  

Voodoo (or Voudoun, Vodou, Vaudoun, Vadu) is an religion based on
the beliefs of Africans brought from West Africa to Haiti as slaves.
The religion has mixed or syncretized with western traditions
including Catholicism. "Serving the spirits" has moved from Africa to
Haiti to the USA and beyond.

Voodoo and Santeria are both African-based religions adapted and,
to varying degrees, syncretized with Catholicism. Both religions used
images Catholic saints to represent the African gods, loas, or santos.
Sometimes more than just the images are used and a true meld or
syncretism occurs.

Vodun, like Christianity, is a religion of many traditions. Each group
follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different
pantheon of spirits, called Loa. The word means "mystery" in the
Yoruba language.

VODUN   (and related religions such as: Candomble, Lucumi,
Macumba, Voodoo, Vodoun, and Yoruba)

General Background - Vodun (a.k.a. Vodoun, Voudou, Voodoo,
Sevi Lwa) is commonly called Voodoo by the public. The name is
traceable to an African word for "spirit". Vodun's roots go back to
the West African Yoruba people who lived in 18th and 19th century
Dahomey. That country occupied parts of today's Togo, Benin and
Nigeria. Slaves brought their religion with them when they were
forcibly shipped to Haiti and other islands in the West Indies.

Today over 60 million people practice Vodun worldwide.

Vodun Beliefs

follows a different spiritual path and worships a slightly different
Yoruba language.

Yoruba traditional belief included a chief God Olorun, who is remote
and unknowable. He authorized a lesser God Obatala to create the
earth and all life forms. A battle between the two Gods led to
Obatala's temporary banishment.

There are hundreds of minor spirits. Those which originated from
Dahomey are called Rada; those who were added later are often
deceased leaders in the new world and are called Petro. Some of
these are

Agwe: spirit of the sea
Aida Wedo: rainbow spirit
Ayza: protector
Baka: an evil spirit who takes the form of an animal
Baron Samedi: guardian of the grave
Dambala (or Damballah-wedo): serpent spirit
Erinle: spirit of the forests
Ezili (or Erzulie): female spirit of love
Mawu Lisa: spirit of creation
Ogou Balanjo: spirit of healing
Ogun (or Ogu Bodagris): spirit of war
Osun: spirit of healing streams
Sango (or Shango): spirit of storms
Yemanja: female spirit of waters
Zaka (or Oko): spirit of agriculture

NOTE: Comparing Kachina to Voodoo makes sense in that the spirits
can appear good, yet bring bad gifts and in Voodoo the spirits can
represent animals and vice versa.  In Kachina, some of the spirit
representatives are also scary looking animals. I'm not an expert on
Hopi prophecy, but this dream may be tying the duck/alligator to
Hopi prophecy as well.

Putting all this together can easily represent a hurricane presenting
itself as a small storm and sneaking up on the US continent in a
devastating way.

Though I don't have proof that this vision and dream refer to a
hurricane, when one puts two and two together, one should get
4 ... hopefully not 5.

It appears that Florida should be forewarned.

See below about the history of such hurricanes.

In 1935, a small hurricane, with an eye only eight miles wide, moved toward the Straits of Florida almost stealthlike. Before it arrived in the Keys, the Weather Bureau described the storm as a tropical disturbance with "shifting gales and perhaps winds of hurricane force." The newspapers of Sunday, September 1, barely mentioned the storm, but residents of the Keys began boarding up anyway. The Coast Guard ordered ships into port and airplanes to dropped warnings in pasteboard ice cream boxes on fishing fleet boats along the Keys. Cuban weather officials notified Miami that the storm was getting stronger, but later reports, thirty hours before landfall, it was barely of hurricane strength. By September 2, just one day later, when it struck the Keys, it had turned into one of the most powerful hurricanes in history.

The eye of the storm passed over Long Key and Lower Matecumbe Key during the evening of September 2 and exhibited the most awesome storm effects imaginable. The eye lasted about fifty-five minutes at Long Key and about forty minutes at Lower Matecumbe. The storm's forward speed was only about 10 mph, but its apparent small eye was surrounded by horrendously superdestructive winds. The winds were higher than survivors could describe. All wind instruments were destroyed, expert engineering analysis of the damage indicated that gusts were in the range of 150-200 mph at storm center. Estimates are that winds could have been as high as 250 mph. Eyewitness reports and observations provide evidence to support the estimates of wind velocity.

The hurricane's intensity was indicated by the extremely low measurements in barometric pressure. Barometers in the Keys recorded readings under 27.00 inches, which seemed impossible to weather experts in other parts of the country. On Upper Matecumbe Key the lowest reading of pressure was 26.55 inches, and at Long Key it reached a low of 26.98 inches at 10:20 p.m., before the barometer was blown away in the storm. During the hurricane, estimates are that in the Keys there was a pressure difference of one inch in only six miles. Pressure gradients of this magnitude are normally exceeded only in tornadoes.

Most people in this area built "hurricane houses," which are small but sturdy, built on high ground to act as safe havens during the storm season. Families took their most important belongings, their pets, and a couple of days' rations to these shelters when hurricanes were predicted to hit. But in 1935, the  storm was like no hurricane ever experienced, and the hurricane houses did not stand up to the winds and tides that came with  it. Many families lost everything they owned in the raging flood when their hurricane shelters buckled in the of 200 mph winds and high water. The roar of the wind and the blackness of the night is said to have been disrupted at times by an eerie illumination ... and winds blew sand granules into the air, creating static electricity causing strange flashes in the sky.

An eighteen-foot memorial, dedicated in 1937, was built on top of a mass crypt that contains the bones and cremated remains of the many people who died on Matecumbe Keys. Inscribed on a bronze plaque on the monument is: "Dedicated to the memory of the civilians and war veterans whose lives were lost in the hurricane of September second, 1935."

These are the 10 deadliesthurricanes in the United States, according to records kept since 1900. Damages are adjusted to 1990 dollars based on U.S. Department of Commerce construction cost indexes.

The National Weather Service began routinely using female names for hurricanes in 1953. In 1979 men's name were added. Category numbers are assigned according to the Saffir/Simpson hurricane scale, based on wind speeds within the storm.


Year Category $ Damages
1. Andrew 1992     4 $25,000,000,000
2. Hugo 1989     4 $7,155,120,000
3. Betsy 1965     3 $6,461,303,000
4. Agnes 1972     1 $6,418,143,000
5. Camille 1969     5 $5,242,380,000
6. Diane 1955     1 $4,199,645,000
7. Hurricane in New England 1938     3 $3,593,853,000
8. Frederic 1979     3 $3,502,942,000
9. Alicia 1983     3 $2,391,854,000
10. Carol 1954     3 $2,370,215,000

The 10 most intense hurricanes in the united States based on recorded pressure at time of landfall, according to records kept since 1900. The lower the pressure, the more intense the hurricane.




Pressure in inches/In millibars

1.   Florida Keys 1935     5 26.35/892
2.   Camille 1969     5 26.84/909
3.   Andrew 1992     4 27.23/922
4.   Florida Keys and S. Texas 1919     4 27.37/927
5.   Lake Okeechobee, Fla. 1928     4 27.43/929
6.   Donna 1960     4 27.46/930
7.   Galveston, Texas 1990     4 27.49/931
7.   Grand Isle, La. 1909     4 27.49/931
7.   New Orleans, La., 1915     4 27.49/931
7.   Carla 1961     4 27.49/931
8.   Hugo 1989     4 27.58/934
9.   Miami, Fla. 1926     4 27.61/935
10. Hazel 1954     4 27.70/938

These are the 10 deadliest hurricanes in the United States listing the numbers of deaths.





1.   Galveston, Texas 1900     4 6,000
2.   Lake Okeechobee, Fla. 1928     4 1,836
3.   Florida Keys and S. Texas 1919     4 600
4.   New England 1938     3 600
5.   Florida Keys 1935     5 408
6.   Audrey 1957     4 390
7.   Northeast Coast 1944     3 390
8.   Grande Isle, La. 1909     4 350
9.   New Orleans, La. 1915     4 275
10. Galveston, Texas 1915     4 275

As hurricane forecasting has improved, fewer human lives have been lost. But property damages keep going up as the economy levels and prices get higher.