Hurricane Diana blasted into the Carolinas with 110-mph winds and tides 10 feet above normal. The area was suffering “very great damage”, one official declared, adding he had no idea whatever about injuries and losses of life. At least one man had died from a heart attack.

A prediction by the local building inspector that people would “swallow” rising interest rates and build homes in Lawrence in 1984 had come true. Building permits in August showed a marked jump in single-family home construction and a good pace was seen for the rest of the year by Gene Shaughnessy, the building inspector. The average valuation of the new houses was $48,034. The interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortage was currently at a staggering 14.5 percent, still, many were “moving ahead.

A program to help Stokely-Van Camp workers re-enter the job market was to begin with a $48,000 grant from the dislocated workers section of the government. Some 100 were due to be out of jobs due to the plant closure.