PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1150 AM CDT MON MAY 22 2006

...A BRIEF HISTORY OF HURRICANES ALONG THE TEXAS COAST...

HURRICANES HAVE BEEN PART OF TEXAS COASTAL HISTORY AS LONG AS THE
STATE HAS BEEN INHABITED.

THE GREAT GALVESTON HURRICANE OF SEPTEMBER 8...1900...REMAINS THE
WORST NATURAL DISASTER IN THE UNITED STATES IN NUMBERS OF LIVES LOST.
THE DEATHS CAN ONLY BE GUESSED...BUT 8000 IS THE ESTIMATE MOST
FREQUENTLY USED. IN 1900 THE POPULATION OF GALVESTON WAS SLIGHTLY OVER
20000. DRIVEN BY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 125 MPH...THE RAGING GULF
WATERS COVERED THE ISLAND TO A DEPTH UP TO 15 FEET. BUILDINGS MADE OF
WOOD FLOATED OFF PILINGS AND SMASHED INTO ONE ANOTHER. AS BUILDINGS
COLLAPSED AND DISINTEGRATED...THEIR OCCUPANTS WERE THRUST INTO THE
WATER TO DROWN. THE LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE HAD SOUNDED THE ALARM ON THE
PREVIOUS DAY...AND OVER 10000 PEOPLE FLED INLAND...AN ACTION
THAT NO DOUBT SAVED THEIR LIVES. OF THE 10000 WHO DID NOT
EVACUATE...FEWER THAN 2000 SURVIVED.

IN ITS EARLY HISTORY...THE COASTAL BEND AREA FELT A FALSE SENSE OF
SECURITY AGAINST HURRICANES. CORPUS CHRISTI...WITH ITS HIGH BLUFF AND
THE PROTECTIVE BARRIER ISLAND...FELT PARTICULARLY SAFE. LOCAL
NEWSPAPERS AS EARLY AS 1886 REFERRED TO CORPUS CHRISTI AS THE ONLY
REALLY SAFE PLACE ON THE TEXAS COAST. THIS FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY
PROVED TO BE DISASTROUS. THE GREAT HURRICANE OF SEPTEMBER 14...1919...
MOVED INLAND SOME 25 MILES SOUTH OF CORPUS CHRISTI...PUTTING THE CITY
IN THE DREADED RIGHT FRONT QUADRANT WHERE THE STRONGEST WINDS AND
HIGHEST STORM SURGES NORMALLY OCCUR. WHEN THE EVENT HAD ENDED...THE
BEACHES WERE LITTERED WITH DEBRIS AND BODIES. NEARLY 300 PERSONS DIED
AND DAMAGE EXCEEDED 20 MILLION DOLLARS.

NO LIST COULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT CARLA...WHICH MADE LANDFALL NEAR
PORT LAVACA ON SEPTEMBER 11...1961. CARLA WAS AMONG THE LARGEST
HURRICANES OF HISTORICAL RECORD...WITH ALL OF THE DAMAGING HURRICANE
ELEMENTS. IT PRODUCED MANY TORNADOES...PEAK WINDS ESTIMATED TO 175
MPH...TORRENTIAL RAINS...AND A STORM SURGE OF 19 FEET AT PORT LAVACA.
THE DEATH TOLL OF ONLY 46 PERSONS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED IN PART TO WHAT AT
THE TIME WAS THE LARGEST PEACE TIME EVACUATION OF AN AREA IN THE
HISTORY OF THE WORLD. A QUARTER MILLION PEOPLE LEFT THE MIDDLE AND
UPPER TEXAS COASTS FOR SAFETY.

RECENT DECADES HAVE SEEN DRAMATIC SHIFTS IN THE NUMBERS AND INTENSITY
OF HURRICANES. AFTER THE DEVASTATING EVENTS OF THE 1960S...INCLUDING
HURRICANES CARLA...CINDY...AND BEULAH...THE 1970S BROUGHT ONLY TWO
HURRICANES. BUT ONE OF THOSE WAS CELIA...WHOSE DEVASTATING WINDS CUT A
WIDE PATH OF DESTRUCTION FROM CORPUS CHRISTI WESTWARD INTO THE
MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO. THE 1980S BROUGHT WITH THEM FIVE MORE
HURRICANES...A LARGE NUMBER FOR ANY TEN YEAR PERIOD. AMONG THOSE WAS
GIGANTIC HURRICANE ALLEN...WHICH NEARLY COVERED THE GULF AS IT TRACKED
TOWARD THE TEXAS COAST. ONLY A MIRACULOUS DECREASE IN INTENSITY AS IT
MOVED ONSHORE BETWEEN CORPUS CHRISTI AND BROWNSVILLE PREVENTED A GREAT
LOSS OF LIFE.

WE TEXANS WERE FORTUNATE IN THE DECADE OF THE 1990S. ONLY ONE
HURRICANE...BRET...CROSSED THE STATE COASTLINE DURING THE TEN YEAR
STRETCH. LIKE ALLEN...THIS MAJOR HURRICANE ALSO WEAKENED AS IT CROSSED
THE COAST SOUTH OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

SO FAR IN THIS NEW DECADE...HURRICANES CLAUDETTE AND RITA HAVE STRUCK
THE STATE. RITA STRUCK THE EXTREME UPPER TEXAS COAST ON SEPTEMBER 24...
2005. RITA WAS A CATEGORY 3 UPON MAKING LANDFALL BETWEEN SABINE
PASS...TEXAS...AND JOHNSONS BAYOU...LOUISIANA. THE STORM SURGE CAUSED
EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS COAST AND
COMPLETELY DESTROYED SEVERAL COASTAL COMMUNITIES. AN ENORMOUS NUMBER
OF HOMES AND BUSINESSES SUFFERED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE FROM WIND AND
FALLING TREES AND SOME AREAS WERE WITHOUT POWER FOR SIX WEEKS. A
LESSON LEARNED FROM HURRICANE RITA IS THAT IN ORDER TO EVACUATE
QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY...EVACUATION ROUTES AND PLANS MUST BE STRICTLY
FOLLOWED.

OF COURSE...IT DOES NOT TAKE A HURRICANE TO CAUSE DAMAGE OR COST
LIVES. AND THE EFFECT OF A STORM IS NOT RESTRICTED TO THE COAST. TEXAS
HISTORY IS FILLED WITH RECORD RAINFALLS FROM TROPICAL STORMS THAT
NEVER REACHED HURRICANE STRENGTH. IN 1978...TROPICAL STORM AMELIA
MOVED INTO THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND DROPPED 48 INCHES OF RAIN IN
JUST OVER TWO DAYS. THE FOLLOWING YEAR...TROPICAL STORM CLAUDETTE
STRUCK THE HOUSTON/GALVESTON AREA WITH AN UNBELIEVABLE 43 INCHES OF
RAIN IN JUST 24 HOURS. IN 1998...TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY CAUSED MANY
DEATHS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF DESTRUCTION AS IT PRODUCED 18 INCHES
OF RAIN IN JUST OVER 4 HOURS. AND THE LATEST RECORD BREAKER WAS
TROPICAL STORM ALLISON IN 2001 WHICH BROUGHT 32 INCHES OF RAIN AND
OVER 5 BILLION DOLLARS OF DAMAGE TO SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

SINCE WE CANNOT PREVENT HURRICANES...THE NEXT BEST THING IS TO KNOW
THE DESTRUCTION THEY CAN BRING AND BE PREPARED. REMEMBER THAT THOSE
WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING HURRICANES OR HURRICANE
PREPAREDNESS...PLEASE VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT
WWW.SRH.WEATHER.GOV OR CONTACT YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.