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Weather warden Leesburg Navy veteran was one of the first hurricane trackers

The Daily Commercial - 7/16/2017

LEESBURG - As a high school senior in 1949, Alvin Berry threw a no hitter, and after graduating, he hoped to continue his athletic career in college. But in 1951, the Korean War was in full swing and the U.S. Navy had different ideas for him.

"I immediately went to take the physical required and joined the Navy," said Berry, of Leesburg. "I ended up in the Great Lakes for boot camp and sent to weather school in Brunswick, Maine."

In 1953, Berry was chosen for a special Navy project to track hurricanes using a seismograph, which required him to move to Miami.

"This was all before we had satellites," Berry said. "Prior to this, the only way ships knew there was a hurricane is if they sailed into one."

Although the seismograph was invented 2,000 years prior and mainly used to record earthquakes, it became instrumental in making weather maps and warning ships of storms.

Many stations were set up around the Caribbean with two to three men each recording weather activity and drawing up weather maps. It was Berry's job to read and record all temperatures and pressure systems to let the ships know where to go.

Berry said he remembers "seeing some weather patterns over Cuba one time, so we sent a plane down there to warn them, and sure enough, it was the beginning of a hurricane. We were able to warn the people and help them stay safe."

In 1955, Berry was discharged and began working for General Electric under his mentor, Dr. Dan Fox. There, he received a patient for plastic processing.

Berry said he never forgets his time in the Navy, and in order to preserve history, he has placed memorabilia, maps and information in various locations across the country, including at the U.S.S. Hornet in Alameda, California, Leesburg, Apopka and the Tavares Historical Museum.

"Now that we can get satellite images, people don't remember what it was like before that. Thankfully, people are preserving the history," Berry said.