Here鈥檚 a historic look at tropical systems that have struck Texas, according to the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Carla, 1961Carla became a tropical storm off the coast of Honduras on Sept. 5 and quickly gained hurricane strength as it moved northwest and strengthened to a large major hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 7, with winds of 175 mph early Sept. 11.
It weakened slightly as it made a loop off the coast of Port O鈥機onnor, but made landfall that afternoon on the northeast part of Matagorda Island with sustained winds of 145 mph.
Carla鈥檚 eye moved across Port O鈥機onnor and Port Lavaca, then inland east of 足交视频. Carla weakened to a tropical storm on the morning of Sept. 12 just east of Austin.
Carla was a large hurricane with devastating effects from the winds and storm surge. The highest sustained wind speeds reported were 115 mph at Matagorda, 110 mph at 足交视频 and 88 mph at Galveston. Extreme peak gusts were estimated to be near 170 mph at Port Lavaca as the wind equipment blew away after reading 153 mph. Wind gusts were estimated to be around 150 mph at 足交视频, Port Aransas, and Edna.
Carla鈥檚 storm surge devastated the Texas coast, rising to 10 feet above normal along a 300 mile swath from Port Aransas to Sabine Pass. Tides of 15 to 17 feet above mean sea level inundated Port O鈥機onnor, Indianola, Palacios and Matagorda. The extreme tides inundated downtown Port Lavaca with 2 feet of flood water and displaced fishing boats and tug boats on SH 35. The hurricane pushed a storm surge of 22 feet above mean seal level at the head of Lavaca Bay in Port Lavaca. This was the highest storm surge in Texas hurricane history.
Total damage in Texas exceeded $2.36 billion in 2010 dollar value. In Texas, 1,915 homes and 983 businesses, farm buildings, and other buildings were completely destroyed. Major damage occurred to 7,398 homes and 2,601 businesses, farm buildings, and other buildings. Minor damage was reported to 43,325 homes and 13,506 businesses, farm buildings and other buildings.
Hurricane Alicia, 1983Alicia formed over the north central Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 15. It drifted slowly westward and northwestward while steadily strengthening on the Aug. 16 and 17.
This motion brought Alicia over the western end of Galveston Island as a Category 3 hurricane on Aug. 18. It then weakened as it moved to the northwest.
The Coast Guard cutter Buttonwood, moored at Galveston, reported sustained winds of 96 mph with gusts to 125 mph. Hobby Airport at Houston reported 94 mph sustained winds with gusts to 107 mph. Wind gusts of hurricane force in downtown Houston littered the streets with broken glass as windows broke in the high-rise buildings.
Additionally, 23 tornadoes were reported from Alicia, which was responsible for 21 deaths and $2 billion in damage in the United States.
Tropical Storm Allison, 2001Allison鈥檚 long and complex trek began on June 5 as an area of disturbed weather over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, where it developed into a tropical storm. The storm made landfall near Freeport later that day.
Allison weakened to a depression on the June 6, while drifting northward, then it made a slow loop over southeastern Texas from June 7 to 9. The cyclone moved into the Gulf of Mexico on June 10 and acquired subtropical characteristics.
But it then moved east-northeastward over southeastern Louisiana on June 11, re-intensifying into a subtropical storm. Allison weakened back to a subtropical depression on June 12 while continuing east-northeastward. The system dissipated southeast of Nova Scotia on June 19.
Allison brought tropical-storm-force winds and above normal tides to portions of the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Its greatest legacy was the widespread heavy rains and resulting floods along the entire path of the cyclone. Houston was the worst affected area, as the Port of Houston reported 36.99 inches and several other locations reported over 30 inches. The storm also spawned 23 tornadoes.
Allison was responsible for 41 deaths and at least $5 billion in damage in the United States, making it the deadliest and costliest U.S. tropical storm of record at the time.
Hurricane Ike, 2008
Ike was a long-lived major Cape Verde hurricane that caused extensive damage and many deaths across portions of the Caribbean and along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana.
Ike became a hurricane on Sept. 3, and reached an estimated peak intensity of 145 mph on Sept. 4, when it was located 550 miles northeast of the Leeward Islands. After weakening briefly, Ike regained Category 4 on Sept. 7, but then weakened over the Bahamas.
It turned westward and made landfall along the northeast coast of Cuba in the province of Holguin early on Sept. 8 as a Category 4 storm. It eventually crossed the Gulf of Mexico and intensified heading toward the Texas coast. Ike made landfall over the north end of Galveston Island in the early morning hours of Sept. 13 as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. The hurricane weakened as it moved inland across eastern Texas and Arkansas and became extratropical over the middle Mississippi Valley on Sept. 14.
Storm surges of 15-20 feet above normal tide levels occurred along the Bolivar Peninsula of Texas and in much of the Galveston Bay area, with surges of up to 10 feet above normal occurring as far east as south central Louisiana. Rainfall from Ike totaled as much as 19 inches in southeastern Texas.
It is estimated flooding and mud slides killed dozens as it crossed nations and headed toward Texas. Storm surge devastated the Bolivar Peninsula. Twenty people were killed in these areas and 34 others went missing. Property damage from Ike as a hurricane is estimated at $19.3 billion.
Hurricane Harvey, 2017Hurricane Harvey started as a tropical wave off the African coast on Aug. 13 and moved westward across the Atlantic. On Aug. 17, it become a tropical storm as it entered the Caribbean Sea.
It became disorganized and was downgraded to a tropical wave, which entered the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 22. The next morning, Harvey was upgraded again to tropical depression, warmed by waters in the Bay of Campeche and the Western Gulf of Mexico. Over the next 48 hours Harvey rapidly intensified from a tropical depression to a Category 4 hurricane.
Harvey made landfall along the Texas coast near Port Aransas around 10 p.m. on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 storm and brought devastating impacts.
As the storm moved inland, its forward motion slowed to near 5 mph after landfall and then meandered just north of 足交视频 by Aug. 26.
Rain bands on the eastern side of Harvey moved into southeast Texas on the morning of Aug. 25 and continued through much of the night and into Aug. 26.
A strong rain band developed over Fort Bend and Brazoria counties the evening of Aug. 26 and spread into Harris County and slowed. This resulted in a rapid development of flash flooding between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. as tremendous rainfall rates occurred across much of Harris County.
The morning of Aug. 27 saw additional rain bands develop and produce additional excessive rainfall amounts. The center of Harvey slowly moved east-southeast and back offshore, with heavy rainfall continuing through much of Aug. 29 and 30. This exacerbated the widespread and devastating flooding.
Only around 10% of the river forecast points in southeast Texas remained below flood stage, and approximately 46 percent of the river forecast points reached new record levels.
Harvey maintained tropical storm intensity the entire time inland over the Texas Coastal Bend and southeast Texas.
After moving offshore, Harvey made a third landfall just west of Cameron, Louisiana, on the morning of Aug. 30 and brought more heavy rainfall to the northern Gulf communities.
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