Word: fifi
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Honduras' impoverished campesinos took much interest in radio reports on the progress of Hurricane Fifi as it churned on a seemingly aimless course off the Central American coast. Only two weeks before, a far more powerful hurricane, dubbed Carmen by meteorologists, had brushed past without inflicting major damage; Fifi sounded as frivolous as its name...
...name belied reality. As Hurricane Fifi slowly swept along the coast, torrential rains on its periphery dumped 20 in. of water on the high Sierra de Omoa in just 40 hours. Rivers and streams swelled uncontrollably, sending walls of water rolling down into the valleys that produce the country's basic crops of bananas, coffee and beans. Entire towns and villages were washed away in the flashfloods. The government set the death toll at 8,000, and even though other estimates put the figure at 2,000, it was the worst disaster in Honduras' recorded history...
Quick Help. In the Sierra de Omoa, the mountains were gashed with ugly long scars as if Fifi had been a gigantic cat and had clawed out the hillsides and gullies with its nails. Said Farmer Joaquin Ramirez Castro: "Our coffee and beans have all been washed away. Little villages have been swept down the hills with landslides. Some towns have been covered. Others are marooned and need help. I don't know whether my family is living or dead...
...spite of some soft spots on the committee, the investigation attracts massive crowds dotted with some fairly unique specimens. For the first few weeks of the hearings, there was a raucously dressed woman named Fifi seen in the room every day. She would deck herself out in a weird hat, several layers of wild jackets and dresses and an extensive collection of bracelets and other jewelry. And from her perch in the press section, Fifi let those around her know exactly what she thought of each witness...
...Club's Koos extends the same kind of courtesy to all pet owners. A vacationing Englishwoman stopped in recently with a minipoodle and a problem. "I'm taking the train to Le Havre," she said, "but Fifi doesn't like trains. So could you please drive her to Le Havre?" The club obliged...