Hurricane Carla

**Hurricane Carla**
Category 5 hurricane (SSHS)
	; Satellite image of Hurricane Carla on September 10.
Formed	September 3, 1961
Dissipated	September 16, 1961
	175 mph (280 km/h) (1-minute sustained)
Lowest pressure	931 mbar (hPa; 27.49 inHg)
Fatalities	43 direct
Damage	$325 million (1961 USD); $2.37 billion (2009 USD)
Areas; affected	Yucatán Peninsula, Texas, parts of the Central United States
	Part of the; 1961 Atlantic hurricane season

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This article is about the Atlantic hurricane of 1961; there was also a Tropical Storm Carla during the 1956 Atlantic hurricane season.

Hurricane Carla was one of two Category 5 tropical cyclones during the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season. It struck the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, becoming one of the most powerful storms to ever strike the United States. Hurricane Carla was the second most intense storm to ever strike the Texas coast.^[1] The storm caused over $2 billion (2005 US dollars) in damages, but due to the evacuation of over 500,000 residents the death toll was only 43. ^[2]

[edit] Meteorological history

Storm path

A tropical depression developed in the western Caribbean Sea on September 3 from a disturbance in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. It moved northwestward, becoming Tropical Storm Carla on the 5th and Hurricane Carla on the 6th. After skimming the Yucatán Peninsula as a weak hurricane, Carla entered the Gulf of Mexico and headed for the U.S. Gulf Coast.

As it moved slowly across the Gulf of Mexico, Carla steadily strengthened to its peak of 175 mph (280 km/h) winds (Category 5 intensity) on September 11. Just before landfall, it weakened, but Carla was still a very strong and unusually large Category 4 hurricane at its landfall between Port O'Connor and Port Lavaca, Texas, on the 11th. At the time, Carla became the largest hurricane on record in the Atlantic basin.^[3] Along the entire Texas coast, hurricane warnings were put into effect, causing a large evacuation of low-lying areas.

[edit] Impact

**Most intense landfalling Atlantic hurricanes in the United States**
based on size and intensity for total points on the Hurricane Severity Index
Rank	Hurricane	Year	Intensity	Size	Total
1	Carla	1961	17	25	42
2	Hugo	1989	16	24	40
2	Betsy	1965	15	25	40
4	Ike	2008	12	25	37
5	Camille	1969	22	14	36
	Katrina	2005	13	23	36
	Opal	1995	11	25	36
8	Miami	1926	15	19	34
9	Audrey	1957	17	16	33
	Fran	1996	11	22	33
	Wilma	2005	12	21	33
Source: Hurricane Severity Index

Storm surge was measured at 22 feet (6.6 m) near the heads of bays, in some places penetrating 10 miles inland. Because of its large size, the entire Texas coast was affected, and damage was reported as far inland as Dallas. Sustained winds were reported to be 115 mph in Matagorda, 110 mph in Victoria and 88 mph in Galveston. Wind gusts as high as 170 mph were recorded at Port Lavaca. Pressure at landfall was measured at 931 mb (hPa), making it the eighth most intense hurricane to strike the United States in the 20th century. Then little-known newsman Dan Rather reported live from the Galveston Seawall during the storm, an act that would be imitated by later reporters. This marked the first live television broadcast of a hurricane.

Rainfall map

Much of the damage was done well away from the landfall site, as Carla spawned one of the largest hurricane-related tornado outbreaks on record at the time, when 26 tornadoes touched down within its circulation.^[4] One F4 tornado ripped through downtown Galveston, killing several (sources differ on the exact number, varying from 6 to 12). Outside the protection of the Galveston Seawall, structures on the island were severely damaged by storm surge. Damage was reported as far east as the Mississippi River delta.

Radar image of Carla

As Carla weakened, it dropped heavy rain in the Midwest , causing some flooding.

Carla killed 43 people, 31 of them in Texas. The low death toll is credited to what was then the largest peacetime evacuation in US history. One half million residents headed inland from exposed coastal areas. Carla caused a total of $325 million (1961 USD, $2.03 billion 2005 USD) in damage, not much considering Carla's strength at landfall. .

[edit] Retirement

Owing to the intensity of and destruction by the storm, the name Carla was retired, and will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. It was replaced by Carol in the 1965 season.