The List of Texas hurricanes from 1944 to 1979 ecompasses 29 cyclones that have affected the U.S. State of Texas. Among the worst storms include Hurricane Beulah in 1967, Hurricane Carla in 1961 and Tropical Storm Amelia in 1978.
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The second storm of 1945 hit southern Texas, causing no reported damage. The fifth hurricane of the same year made landfall near Port Aransas in central Texas as a 140 mph (230 km/h) Category 4 hurricane. Towns from Freeport to Brownsville were subjected to hurricane force winds, causing around $20 million (1945 US dollars) in damages, and three deaths. [1]
The first storm of 1946 hit near the Texas/Louisiana border, causing no damage.[2]
The third storm of the 1947 season made landfall in the state. [3]
Hurricane 10 of the 1949 season, also known as the Texas Hurricane, made landfall in Texas after crossing in from the Pacific basin. [4]
In 1950, Tropical Storm How hit the Mexican coast 150 miles (240 km) south of Brownsville. Damage was reported as far north as Port Aransas. Corpus Christi had gusts to 39 mph (63 km/h). Tides rose to 4' at Padre Island. Sections of highway on North Padre Island at Gulf Park were washed away. [5]
The first Hurricane Alice of 1954 dissipated over Texas. Heavy rains caused major crop damage to cotton crops, as well as 55 deaths. [6] The next storm, Tropical Storm Barabara made landfall near Sabine Pass, Texas. An October 1954 depression caused rainfall in Texas.[7]
Hurricane Gladys of 1955 struck 140 miles (230 km) south of Brownsville as a category 1 hurricane on the 5th. The rainfall total at Flour Bluff was 17.02". Corpus Christi saw 7.6" of rain in 24 hours. Tides rose to 4.5'. A circulation center rotating around the eastern periphery of the storm moved onshore on the 7th south of Baffin Bay. Locals to the area named it "Glasscock", after the oil platform 15 miles (24 km) east of Port Aransas that recorded winds of 83 mph (134 km/h). Winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) were seen at Flour Bluff. Damage was confined to the coast. [5]
Hurricane Audrey made landfall near Sabine Pass, Texas on June 27, 1957, as a 145 mph (233 km/h) Category 4 hurricane.[8],[9],[10],[11] Audrey's 12-foot (3.7 m) storm surge devastated Cameron, Louisiana and Sabine Pass, TX, causing $150 million in damage. Audrey was responsible for at least 390 deaths, although other sources claim the number could be over 500. Audrey is ranked as the sixth deadliest hurricane to hit the United States mainland. The next storm to hit the United States to cause more fatalities was Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Audrey remains the earliest known category four hurricane to form in the Atlantic Basin. Like 1954, the next storm of the season, Tropical Storm Bertha, made landfall in Texas.
Tropical Storm Alma of 1958 hit northeastern Mexico 70 miles (110 km) south of Brownsville, Texas. It dissipated the following day after causing one indirect death from drowning. [12]
Hurricane Ella of 1958 hit southeastern Texas on the 6th of September, and dissipated later that day. Ella caused a total of $200,000 in damage (1958 dollars) and 37-39 deaths [13] in Cuba and Haiti from drowning. In addition, Galveston received torrential rainfall amounting to 13.6 inches (350 mm). [14]
Hurricane Debra in 1959 hit between Freeport, Texas and Galveston, Texas as a minimal hurricane. It weakened over Texas, and dissipated over western Oklahoma. Debra caused a total of $7 million (1959 dollars) in damage, but no fatalities. [15]
Tropical Storm One of 1960 hit 30 miles (48 km) south of Corpus Christi, Texas as a 45 mph (72 km/h) storm. The storm looped over southern Texas, dumping heavy rain over the area. It moved slowly northward, and eventually dissipated over Illinois. Though weak, the storm caused $3.6 million in damage (1960 dollars) and 15 deaths. [16]
September 11, 1961: Hurricane Carla made landfall near Port Lavaca as a Category 4 hurricane. With an estimated central pressure of 931 mb at landfall, Carla was one of the largest and most intense hurricanes to strike the United States, and the strongest ever to hit Texas. Gusts as high as 170 mph (270 km/h) were estimated at Port Lavaca. Carla killed 31 people in Texas. The low death toll is credited to what was then the largest peacetime evacuation in United States history up until that time. One half million residents headed inland from exposed coastal areas. Carla caused a total of $325 million ($2.03 billion in 2005 USD) in damage.[17][18]
Hurricane Cindy in 1963 made landfall on High Island, Texas. Cindy brought heavy rain to southeast Texas as it drifted southwestward over the state. The hurricane dissipated after causing $12.5 million (1963 dollars; $76 million 2005 USD) in damage and three deaths. [19]
Tropical Storm Abby the very next year hit Matagorda, Texas as a 65 mph (105 km/h) tropical storm, dissipating the following day. Abby was a small system; its complete circulation at the surface was less than 100 miles (160 km) in diameter. Because of this, Abby caused only $750,000 (1964 dollars; $30.7 million 2005 USD) in damage, most of it from crop damage. [20]
In 1967, Hurricane Beulah made landfall just north of the mouth of the Rio Grande as a Category 3 storm. highest sustained wind was reported as 136 MPH, recorded in South Padre Island, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Port Isabel. The lower Rio Grande Valley, the four county region that comprises deep south Texas, was inundated with torrential rains and strong winds. Gusts of over 100 MPH were recorded as far inland as the towns of McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, and Pharr, some fifty miles from the gulf coast. Beulah was a record tornado-producer (a record that would stand until 2004) that destroyed homes, commercial property, and inflicted serious damage on the region's agricultural industry. The Rio Grande Valley's citrus industry, based on cultivation of the famous "Ruby Red" grapefruit, was particularly hard hit. Padre Island, just off the Texas gulf coast, suffered significant devastation, and the island's sensitive ecosystem was altered by the storm. Within a 36 hour period it dropped almost 30 inches of rain in Beeville, Texas. Hurricane Beulah caused an estimated $1.1 billion (in 2000 dollars) in damage. Sources report 58-59 deaths from the storm. [21]
In 1968, Tropical Storm Candy moved inland over southeast Texas, causing heavy flooding, crop damage, and tornadoes. [22]
Hurricane Celia of 1970 made landfall in Texas. Celia killed 20 due to extreme gusts, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The storm produced microbursts, which are rare in a tropical cyclone. The windbursts caused heavy damage across the city. In Corpus Christi, Texas, one person was reported dead with over 460 others injured. Damage accumulated was about $1.8 billion dollars (1998 USD). In Port O'Connor, Texas, the storm broke several wind gauges and killed four people. Along the coast, boats were pushed ashore. [23]
Later that year, Tropical Storm Felice made landfall in Texas.
Hurricane Edith caused tides up to 6' in Sabine Pass in 1971, soon Hurricane Fern made landfall between Freeport, Texas and Matagorda, Texas as a tropical storm. Damage was minimal. [24]
Tropical Storm Delia in 1973 made its first landfall on the Southeast Texas coast near Freeport, and after a loop it hit Freeport again a few days later. This became the first known tropical cyclone to hit the same area twice. Six days later, Tropical Depression Six stalled over the Freeport, Texas area from the 10th to the 12th, bringing more rain to coastal areas that had already been saturated by Tropical Storm Delia. The depression caused $15 million more in crop damages. [25]
In 1974, Hurricane Carmen made landfall in Louisiana producing heavy rainfall throughout Eastern Texas. [26]
Hurricane Caroline of 1975 made landfall 100 miles (160 km) south of Brownsville, Texas.
Hurricane Anita of 1977 made medium rainfall throughout the eastern Texas coast. [27]
Tropical Storm Amelia (1978), with flooding rains, led to the deaths of 30 people in Texas in late July 1978. Later that year, Tropical Storm Debra made landfall halfway between Lake Charles, Louisiana and Beaumont, Texas, causing minimal damage. [28]
From July 24-27, 1979, Tropical Storm Claudette produced torrential rains in both Texas and Louisiana when it made landfall. The highest total was reported in Alvin, Texas where 42 inches (1,100 mm) of rain fell. This remains the twenty-four hour rainfall record for any location in the United States. [29]
Later in 1979, Tropical Storm Elena made landfall near Sargent, Texas as a weak tropical storm, rapidly deteriorating as it moved inland. It caused less than $10 million dollars (1979 USD; $28 million 2005 USD) in damage but managed to kill two people in floods.
Again in 1979, Tropical Depression Twenty produced rainfall in Louisiana and Texas after hitting Brownsville. [30]
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