List of Texas hurricanes (1950–1979) facts for kids

From 1950 to 1979, Texas was hit by at least 34 tropical storms and hurricanes. A tropical storm is a big swirling system of clouds and thunderstorms that forms over warm ocean waters. When these storms get really strong, with winds over 74 miles per hour, they become hurricanes!

Imagine a hurricane hitting the Texas coast about three times every four years. And for any 50-mile stretch of the coast, a hurricane might hit about once every six years.

The busiest month for these storms in Texas was September, with 12 storms during this time. No storms were recorded from November through May. The strongest hurricanes were Hurricane Carla in 1961 and Hurricane Beulah in 1967. Carla caused the most damage and sadly, 46 deaths, with damages around $325 million.

The first storm in this period was Tropical Storm How in October 1950. The last was Tropical Depression Twenty in September 1979. Hurricane Carla also had the strongest winds, like a Category 4 hurricane, which means winds were super powerful!

In the 1950s, five hurricanes hit Texas. After 1955, if a hurricane caused a lot of damage, its name would be "retired" so it couldn't be used again. Hurricane Audrey was the first Texas hurricane to have its name retired. The 1960s saw six tropical storms hit Texas, including the very powerful Hurricane Carla and Hurricane Beulah. Both of these huge storms were retired. In the 1970s, five hurricanes affected Texas. Hurricane Celia hit in 1970 and caused a massive $1.8 billion in damages.

Storms from 1950 to 1954

Rainfall totals of Hurricane Alice

• October 4, 1950 – Tropical Storm How hit the Mexican coast, about 150 miles south of Brownsville. Even so far away, it caused damage in Texas, like high tides and washed-out roads on North Padre Island.
• June 25, 1954 – The first Hurricane Alice of 1954 made landfall south of Brownsville. It didn't cause much damage on the coast. But the heavy rain from Alice caused huge floods, which were considered a "1 in 2000 year event." One spot near Del Rio got 24 inches of rain! A bridge on the Pecos River even collapsed. In Ozona, floods caused $2 million in damages.
• July 29, 1954 – Tropical Storm Barbara hit Louisiana and then moved into Texas as a weaker storm, bringing rain and strong winds.
• October 3, 1954 – An unnamed tropical storm hit the Brownsville area, causing rough seas and 6 inches of rain. What's cool is that on October 5, a rocket launched by the U.S. Navy took the first large-scale photo of a tropical storm from space!

Storms from 1955 to 1959

Radar image of Hurricane Audrey

• August 2, 1955 – Tropical Storm Brenda hit Louisiana and then moved into eastern Texas. Warnings were sent out for the entire Gulf Coast.
• September 6, 1955 – Hurricane Gladys hit south of Brownsville as a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds. People on Padre Island had to leave. One area got over 17 inches of rain! The storm caused about $400,000 in damages in South Texas.
• June 13, 1956 – An unnamed tropical storm hit Louisiana, bringing heavy rains to eastern Texas. Huntsville got over 3 inches of rain.
• June 27, 1957 – Hurricane Audrey hit near Sabine Pass as a very strong Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds. Most of its impact was in Louisiana, but eastern Texas still felt strong winds. Port Arthur had wind gusts of 85 mph, which knocked down power lines and trees. Port Arthur also got over 7.5 inches of rain. The storm caused high tides along the coast. Nine people in Texas died because of Audrey, mostly from a fishing boat sinking. Damages in Texas were about $8 million.
• August 10, 1957 – Tropical Storm Bertha hit near the Texas–Louisiana border. It brought heavy rain, especially in the Piney Woods area, where one spot got almost 11 inches of rain. In Livingston, the rains were the worst since 1929, closing highways and causing water damage.
• June 15, 1958 – Tropical Storm Alma hit Mexico, but still affected South Texas. Tides were high on South Padre Island, and one ranch got over 9.5 inches of rain. The heavy rains caused a lot of damage to crops and buildings. Sadly, one person drowned near Galveston.
• September 6, 1958 – Hurricane Ella hit southern Texas near Corpus Christi. Before the storm, many planes were moved to safety, and three small towns were evacuated. Tides were high, and one airport got over 13 inches of rain. Only one death happened offshore.
• July 24, 1959 – Hurricane Debra hit between Galveston and Freeport with 85 mph winds. One area got almost 16 inches of rain. No deaths were reported, but one person went missing. Tides were very high, reaching almost 8 feet above normal in some areas. Homes and buildings in Texas City were damaged. Crop damage in Brazoria County was at least $100,000. Overall, Debra caused about $6.7 million in damages.

Storms from 1960 to 1964

Radar image of Hurricane Carla

• June 23, 1960 – The first tropical storm of 1960 hit 30 miles south of Corpus Christi. It moved slowly over southern Texas, dumping lots of rain. Even though it was a weaker storm, it caused $3.6 million in damage and sadly, 15 deaths.
• September 11, 1961 – Hurricane Carla was one of the biggest and strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States, and the strongest for Texas! It made landfall near Port Lavaca as a Category 4 hurricane. Wind gusts were estimated to be as high as 170 mph! Carla caused 31 deaths in Texas. The low number of deaths was thanks to what was then the largest peacetime evacuation in U.S. history, with half a million people moving inland from the coast. Carla caused a huge $325 million in damage.
• September 17, 1963 – Tropical Storm Cindy hit High Island, Texas. Cindy brought heavy rain to southeast Texas and caused $12.5 million in damage and three deaths.
• August 7, 1964 – Tropical Storm Abby hit Matagorda, Texas as a 65 mph tropical storm. It was a small storm, so it only caused about $750,000 in damage, mostly to crops.

Storms from 1965 to 1969

Satellite image of Hurricane Beulah

• September 20, 1967 – In 1967, Hurricane Beulah hit just north of the Rio Grande river mouth as a Category 3 storm. Winds of 136 mph were recorded on South Padre Island. The lower Rio Grande Valley was flooded with heavy rains and strong winds. Winds over 100 mph were felt as far inland as McAllen, 50 miles from the coast! Beulah also caused a record number of tornadoes. It destroyed homes, businesses, and badly damaged farms, especially the famous "Ruby Red" grapefruit crops. Padre Island was severely damaged, and its natural environment changed by the storm. In just 36 hours, Beeville, Texas, got almost 30 inches of rain! Hurricane Beulah caused an estimated $1.1 billion in damage and sadly, 58–59 deaths.
• July 23, 1968 – In 1968, Tropical Storm Candy moved into southeast Texas, causing heavy flooding, crop damage, and tornadoes.

Storms from 1970 to 1974

Satellite image of Hurricane Celia

• August 3, 1970 – Hurricane Celia hit Texas. Celia caused 20 deaths due to extremely strong wind gusts, and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The storm created rare "microbursts," which are small, powerful downdrafts of air that cause intense damage. In Corpus Christi, one person died and over 460 were injured. Total damage was about $1.8 billion. In Port O'Connor, the storm broke wind gauges and killed four people. Boats along the coast were pushed ashore.
• September 16, 1970 – Later that year, Tropical Storm Felice made landfall in Texas.
• September 15, 1971 – Hurricane Edith caused tides up to 6 feet in Sabine Pass in 1971. Soon after, Hurricane Fern hit between Freeport, Texas and Matagorda, Texas, as a tropical storm, causing minimal damage.
• September 4, 1973 – Tropical Storm Delia hit the Southeast Texas coast near Freeport. After looping around, it hit Freeport again a few days later! Six days later, Tropical Depression Six stayed over the Freeport area, bringing even more rain to areas already soaked by Delia. This depression caused another $15 million in crop damages.
• September 9, 1974 – In 1974, Hurricane Carmen hit Louisiana but brought heavy rainfall throughout Eastern Texas.

Storms from 1975 to 1979

Satellite image of Tropical Storm Amelia

• August 31, 1975 – Hurricane Caroline hit about 100 miles south of Brownsville.
• September 22, 1977 – Hurricane Anita brought medium rainfall throughout the eastern Texas coast.
• August 1, 1978 – Tropical Storm Amelia (1978) caused deadly floods, leading to the deaths of 30 people in Texas. Later that year, Tropical Storm Debra hit between Lake Charles, Louisiana and Beaumont, Texas, causing only a little damage.
• July 24, 1979 – From July 24–27, 1979, Tropical Storm Claudette caused incredibly heavy rains in both Texas and Louisiana. The highest amount was recorded in Alvin, Texas, where an amazing 54 inches of rain fell! This is still the record for the most rain in 24 hours anywhere in the United States.
• September 1, 1979 – Later in 1979, Tropical Storm Elena hit near Sargent, Texas as a weak tropical storm. It quickly weakened inland, causing less than $10 million in damage but sadly killing two people in floods.
• September 20, 1979 – Again in 1979, Tropical Depression Twenty brought rain to Louisiana and Texas after hitting Brownsville.

Storms by Month

This graph shows how many storms affected Texas each month during this period.

Deadly Storms in Texas

Here is a list of hurricanes and tropical storms that caused deaths in Texas during this time.

See also

• List of Texas hurricanes (pre-1900)
• List of Texas hurricanes (1980–present)
• List of wettest known tropical cyclones affecting Texas