July 22, 2009 - the 6th anniversary of "Hurricane Elvis"

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the infamous "Hurricane Elvis" storm which swept across the metro Memphis area on July 22, 2003 at about 7am CDT. The aftermath of that derecho, with its 100-mph wind, was incredible as more than 750,000 people lost power (some for more than 3 weeks), structural and infrastructure damage was widespread (75% of the traffic signals were out and the airport closed), and seven people lost their lives.

Though the Memphis area has seen a couple of other strong derechos since that storm (most recently "Little Elvis" on June 12, 2009), I am hopeful that we never have to experience another system of this magnitude.

Here are some links on Hurricane Elvis:

• Wikipedia's page on the summer storm of 2003


• A write-up by the Storm Prediction Center on the event


• NWS-Memphis analysis of the event (PDF)


• Memphis/Shelby County EMA's photo gallery

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