Another nail biting day in history – this September 16th in 1988.
With Hurricane Gilbert spinning towards the Texas coast, it was already leaving a trail of death and destruction all the way from the Caribbean. With updated reports giving cautious optimism that the brunt of the hurricane would miss the majority of Texas, hitting the Mexican coast, there were still reports of damage and tornadoes tearing up Brownsville near the Texas/Mexico border. Texas was not out of the woods, with an expected rainfall dump of some 20 inches from Brownsville to Galveston – and wherever landfall was going to take place, it was expected to take place by the evening. The death toll so far was some 26 when Gilbert hit the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and over 30 dead in Jamaica along with some $8 billion in damage.
In other news – Burma’s Socialist government bowed to opposition demands, saying all members of the Military and Civil Service were now free to quit the ruling Socialist Party which was, until this day, a prerequisite for employment. Radio Rangoon said the Council of State acted to ensure that multi-party elections this Fall would be free.
And while campaigning in Ohio, this Presidential Election season, Republican hopeful George Bush made a slip of the tongue when he said he hoped he stood for Anti-Bigotry, Anti-Semitism and Anti-Racism. And three GOP Congressmen tried to tag Democratic Presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis on the anti-Semitism issue by calling on him to remove three Jesse Jackson supporters, he agreed to place on the DNC, who were alleged to be supporters of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Nicholas Brady was sworn in on this day as Treasury Secretary and Sam Johnson, then-current leader of PTL said the organization would be closing homes for unwed mothers and facilities for homeless men, following a severe drop-off in contributions following the Jim Baker scandal.
All that, and much-much more for this September 16, 1988 as reported by CBS Radio.
