Hurricane Alice (June 1954)
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| Category 1 hurricane (SSHS) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Formed | June 24, 1954 | |
| Dissipated | June 26, 1954 | |
| Highest winds |
|
|
| Lowest pressure | Unknown | |
| Fatalities | 55– 153 | |
| Damage | Unknown | |
| Areas affected |
Mexico, Texas | |
| Part of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season |
||
Hurricane Alice was a Category 1 hurricane that struck extreme northern Mexico and southern Texas in June 1954, causing at least 55 deaths. Alice is most remembered as causing the worst flooding ever seen along the Rio Grande,[1] destroying bridges and dikes and flooding many cities along the inner reaches of the river. It was one of two storms named Alice that year.
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[edit] Storm history
Alice is estimated to have formed as a tropical storm on June 24 in the Gulf of Mexico, where it quickly strengthened. By the morning of June 25, it had reached hurricane strength and approached the coastline at the Rio Grande on the United States–Mexico border. Shortly thereafter, it made landfall just south of the border in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The storm approximately followed the Rio Grande after moving inland, passing over Laredo, Texas late on June 25 as it weakened. The storm dissipated early on June 26 over southern Texas.[2]
[edit] Impact
Damages along the coastline at the point of landfall were relatively light. Only one death was reported in Brownsville, Texas, just north of the site of landfall.[2] A few shrimp fishing boats were driven ashore by heavy winds.[3]
Most of the damage resulting from Alice was caused by heavy rain in the inland areas of Texas, Tamaulipas and Coahuila; damage was exacerbated in these areas by previous drought conditions that rendered the soil especially vulnerable to erosion. Estimates of peak rainfall within 12 hours vary from 22 inches (56 cm)[3] to 26 inches (132 cm),[4] and a total of 35 inches (89 cm) of rain fell in 24 hours, approaching the world record that had been set by an unnamed hurricane in Texas in 1921.[5] Heavy rain fell across all of southern Texas and northern Mexico as a result of Alice, causing flash floods in inland areas. In Ozona, Texas, 15 people were killed in the early morning of June 25 by a "wall of water" as high as 30 feet (9.2 m) that poured out of a dry gully and overwhelmed most of the town. Other towns, including Lamesa, Texas and Laredo, Texas, were also badly damaged by flash floods.[3]
Later in the day, the Rio Grande rose well above flood level at the cities of Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila. While the city of Eagle Pass was evacuated, Piedras Negras was not. Both cities were completely flooded, and the dike intended to protect Piedras Negras from floods was washed away. At least 38 people (some sources say 39) were killed in Piedras Negras after the dike collapsed.[2][3] The river crested at Laredo, Texas, where waters reached a peak of 62.2 feet (19 m), at least 10 feet (3 m) above the previous record flood. International Bridge, connecting Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, was swept away.[3] Another bridge over the Pecos River was swept away by water rising as high as 86 feet (26 m). Over 10,000 people were evacuated from nearby Ciudad Acuña following the flood.[6]
Estimates for total death toll range from 55[2] to 153.[3] Death toll estimates for Texas range from 16[2] to 38,[4] while estimates of deaths in Mexico, where records are less complete, vary more widely. Monetary damage figures are not available, but it is known that flooding from Alice caused considerable damage to crops, primarily cotton.[2]
The disastrous flooding caused by Hurricane Alice along the Rio Grande accelerated the joint US-Mexico Amistad dam project, a series of flood control dams designed to prevent similar catstrophes in the future. The project, in the planning stages for decades before the storm, was finally begun in 1960.[6]
The name Alice was not retired as a result of this storm; though the storm caused many deaths, damages were light. It was used again later in the 1954 season and again in the 1973 season. It has not been used since and is not on a current naming list.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Texas - Climate. city-data.com (2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
- ^ a b c d e f Davis, Walter R. (December 1954). Hurricanes of 1954 (PDF). Monthly Weather Review 370. United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
- ^ a b c d e f Evil Alice. TIME Magazine. Time, Inc. (July 1954). Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
- ^ a b Freeman, John C. (2007). Texas Tropical Storms and Hurricanes (HTML). Weather Research Center. Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
- ^ Metz, John (2006). Weather Outlook for Texas, 2006 (PDF). National Weather Service (NWS). Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
- ^ a b The Great Acuña Flood of 1954. Del Rio Chamber of Commerce (2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
