The Andrea Gail was a fishing boat from a small town on the northeast coast of the United States. In September 1991 she set off for the fishing areas of the North Atlantic with six men on board. On October 27 the captain, Billy Tyne, received a warning about a storm that was moving towards them. The storm grew stronger and stronger. The following evening, as the storm continued to grow, Billy Tyne called the Coast Guard on the Andrea Gail’s radio. All he said was, ‘She’s coming on, boys, and she’s coming on strong’.
2 The Andrea Gail was caught in one of the worst storms of the twentieth century. Between October 26 and October 31 three storms came from different directions and met in the North Atlantic. One of the storms was Hurricane Grace, Which was moving north from Bermuda. Together, the three storms made one huge storm. It was so unusual and so severe that it was named the ‘Perfect Storm’.
3 The Perfect Storm caused waves 9 meters high along the coast. It destroyed 200 homes and caused billions of dollars worth of damage. At sea, winds reached 160 kilometers an hour, and some waves were as high as 30 meters. When the storm was over, boats and planes searched for the Andrea Gail, but she was never seen again. The story of the Andrea Gail, and the power of the Perfect Storm, will never be forgotten.