On this date, August 18, 1983

[unome]

Hurricane Alicia made landfall near Galveston, TX.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/?n=hurrican ... Alicia1983

Alicia was the first hurricane to make landfall on the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Allen hit South Texas in August 1980. The three year and eight day period was the longest since 1886 that the continental United States had gone without a hurricane landfall.

After forming just south of Louisiana on the 15th, the storm drifted westward and intensified quickly into a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall on the west end of Galveston Island in the early morning hours of the 18th The highest winds recorded on land were 96 mph sustained, and gusts were up to 127 mph. The lowest barometric pressure recorded on land was 28.55" at the Alvin weather service office. Rainfall amounts exceeded 5 inches in most places, and the east side of Houston received almost 11 inches. The highest storm surge was a 12' reading at Seabrook on Galveston Bay. On the gulf side of Galveston Island, tides were 7.5', and on the bay they were 8'. Baytown, on the north shore of Galveston Bay, recorded a 10.7' tide which put water on the rooftops in the Brownwood subdivision. Severe freshwater flooding was minimized by Alicia's fast movement inland, and most damage was the result of wind and storm surge or a combination of the two.

23 tornadoes were reported during Alicia. 14 occurred between Galveston and Houston as the storm made landfall, and the other 9 touched down the next day between Houston and Tyler. All but 2 of these were small, with winds between 40-72 mph. The strongest tornado occurred near Tyler, in Northeast Texas, with winds in the 113-157 mph range.

21 persons died as a result of Alicia. 25 others were hospitalized and 3,094 were injured or became ill. The Red Cross provide shelter or food for 63,000 people. A total of 2,297 dwellings were destroyed and another 3,008 suffered major damage. 18,660 families suffered losses from Alicia. The $2 billion in damages made Alicia the costliest hurricane in Texas history.

Some memorable features of Alicia included the final destruction of the Brownwood subdivision, a victim of subsidence, which had experienced almost annual flooding. The hurricane provided the opportunity for FEMA to "buy-out" the homes there and forego future flood insurance and disaster payments.

Also, the loss of trees in the Houston area was staggering. The area had received soaking rains during the previous week and the soil was so saturated that the trees were easily blown down by the high winds. It is estimated that the trees and limbs blown down by the storm would have covered a football field to a height of 1,200'.

In downtown Houston, shards of glass became deadly missiles when hundreds of window panes were broken out of skyscrapers by gravel blown from nearby rooftops. The windows were designed to withstand hurricane winds but not impact from debris. The result was huge piles of broken glass in the streets below.

On Galveston's West Beach, Alicia moved the public beach boundary back an average of 150'. The storm surge scoured up to 5' of sand from the beach and left several homes in front of the natural vegetation line and technically on the public beach. Thus, the homes were in violation of the Texas Open Beaches Act and the Attorney General's office forebade the repair or rebuilding of those home.

The Corps of Engineers estimated that the Galveston seawall prevented $100 million in additional damage. The corp said that without the seawall, Alicia would have created a swath of destruction one to two blocks into the city behind the seawall.

Although Alicia cost Texans $2 billion, it is estimated that a hurricane the size of Carla would have doubled or tripled the damage. Aircraft observations indicated that only a 60 mile section of the coast, extending northeastward from Freeport, experienced hurricane force winds.

Tidbit - Although 30% of Galveston's population evacuated the island when Hurricane Allen (1980) threatened the Texas coast, only 10% of the population living behind the seawall decided to leave when Alicia came ashore.

[Katdaddy]

Thanks for the Alicia information. Alicia was my first hurricane experience just as I was entering my freshman year at Pearland High. I cant believe its been 28 years! I remember watching Alicia during the night looking out the top of my window. The walls shook several times around 3AM as the NE eyewall hammered Pearland which was a little scary. The eye passed several miles W of my location around daybreak. I remember seeing bright skies to the W for a short time.

[tireman4]

Yep. I was a senior in high school in Santa Fe. We were living in a trailer, so we evacuated to my grandma and aunt's houses in Texas City. I just remember the big Oak outside my aunt's house moving completely, almost at the trunk. The whistling of the wind, being so loud. My first chance to ever see The Weather Channel ( oh the graphics...LOL and we did not have cable) and my aunt going out in it around 2 am to see things. My grandmother ( her sister) was screaming at her to come in. Lots of memories