Hurricane Alicia

Hurricane Alicia was a small but powerful tropical cyclone that caused significant destruction in the Greater Houston area of Southeast Texas in August 1983. Although Alicia was a relatively small hurricane, its track over the rapidly growing metropolitan area contributed to its $3 billion damage toll, making it the costliest Atlantic hurricane at the time. Alicia spawned from a disturbance that originated from the tail-end of a cold front over the northern Gulf of Mexico in mid-August 1983. The cyclone was named on August 14 when it became a tropical storm, and the combination of weak steering currents and a conducive environment allowed Alicia to quickly intensify as it drifted slowly westward. On August 17, Alicia became a hurricane and continued to strengthen, topping out as a Category 3 major hurricane as it made landfall on the southwestern end of Galveston Island. Alicia's eye passed just west of Downtown Houston as the system accelerated northwestwards across East Texas; Alicia eventually weakened into a remnant area of low pressure over Oklahoma on August 20 before they were last noted on August 21 over eastern Nebraska.

Alicia was the first hurricane to make landfall on the United States since Hurricane Allen struck South Texas in August 1980 over three years prior, ending the longest period of the twentieth century without a landfalling hurricane on the U.S. coast. Alicia's approach precipitated the evacuation of 60–80 thousand people from coastal communities along the coasts of Southeast Texas and Louisiana. Along the coast, a storm tide flooded communities, with the rough surf sinking several ships and resulting in three offshore fatalities. Most of the damage attributed to the storm was caused by strong winds estimated to have peaked at 130 mph (210 km/h) in southwestern Galveston Island. Alicia was the first major hurricane to form in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Anita of 1977.

Widespread damage was wrought in Galveston and Houston, where thousands of homes were destroyed. In Downtown Houston, nearly all skyscrapers saw the loss of approximately half of lower-level windows, littering the urban streets with debris. Widespread power outages and flooding impacted much of Southeast Texas, with observed rainfall totals peaking at . In addition to the strong winds, rough surf, and heavy rain, Alicia also generated 22 tornadoes centered around the Houston–Galveston area; most were rated F0, but the strongest, rated F2, tore through Corsicana further north.

The impacts of Alicia tapered inland past the point of landfall, though the weakening system still produced damaging winds and flooding in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and Oklahoma; light rain associated with Alicia was observed as far north as Michigan. In total, Alicia caused 21 fatalities and 7,288 injuries.

Meteorological history

The origin of Hurricane Alicia can be traced to a frontal boundary that extended from New England to the Gulf of Mexico. On August 14, a small area of low pressure developed on the western end of the front and moved off the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, intensifying as it progressed further into the open gulf waters. Within six hours of developing, the disturbance intensified further into a tropical storm, attaining the name Alicia and becoming the hurricane season's first named storm. Due to Alicia's formation in a region with high environmental pressures, the storm remained relatively small throughout its lifetime. The presence of a ridge of high pressure to Alicia's north steered the nascent tropical cyclone slowly westward in the early part of its development. The ridge eventually drifted eastward, resulting in Alicia slowly curving towards the northwest beginning mid-day on August 16. On August 17, Alicia strengthened into a hurricane with its pressure falling at a steady 1 mbar (hPa; 0.03 inHg) per hour. The hurricane was also the first major hurricane to impact the Greater Houston area since Hurricane Carla in 1961. and degenerated into a tropical depression early on August 19 near the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Despite having remained over land for 36 hours, Alicia remained well-organized while tracking into Oklahoma on August 20. The tapering system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone later that day; these remnants persisted for another day before they were absorbed by a passing trough over eastern Nebraska on August 21.-->

Preparations

Hurricane Alicia marked the first time the National Weather Service provided local interests with landfall probabilities, beginning 60 hours before Alicia's eventual landfall. The first gale warnings and hurricane watches were issued for the United States Gulf Coast between Corpus Christi, Texas and Grand Isle, Louisiana at 16:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. CDT) on August 16. Coastal areas from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana were issued hurricane warnings shortly after Alicia intensified into a hurricane on August 17; these warnings remained until the storm weakened into a tropical storm over East Texas. Initially, however, residents did not take the warnings seriously. Galveston Mayor E. Gus Manuel, against the advice of Texas Governor Mark White, ordered the evacuation of only low-lying areas. As a result, only 10 percent of the population living behind the seawall chose to leave when Alicia came ashore. In contrast, about 30 percent of Galveston's population evacuated the island when Hurricane Allen threatened the eastern Texas coastline in 1980.

Throughout the day, however, as the increasing winds began to cause damage in Galveston, people grew more concerned. The mayor finally ordered a widespread evacuation of the island after midnight on August 18, but by then, the bridges to the mainland were uncrossable. insured losses were estimated at US$700 million by the American Insurance Association.

Texas

Houston and Galveston areas

Alicia produced a storm tide that crested along the interior coast of Galveston Bay near Baytown, Texas. The rough surf eroded as much as of beach in western parts of Galveston Island. A recently constructed levee system protecting Texas City mitigated potential storm surge damage to the city's extensive industrial infrastructure.

A stretch of the Texas coast experienced hurricane-force winds. The strongest gust was reported in Galveston where a 102 mph (164 km/h) gust was recorded near landfall, though stronger gusts likely occurred over more sparsely populated coastal areas; Nearly every structure in Galveston County, Texas sustained varying degrees of damage from torn roofing to total destruction with the most severe damage occurring in western parts of the county. Telecommunications and power on Galveston Island were downed for several days. The walls of some hotels collapsed and numerous windows facing the wind were blown out. the majority were brief and weak F0 tornadoes that caused negligible damage. One F1 tornado in Harris County damage two businesses near the intersection of Interstate 45 and Texas State Highway NASA Road 1.

Elsewhere

Negligible impacts were felt in Louisiana from Alicia's storm surge.

Aftermath

The Red Cross provided food and shelter to 63,000 people in the hurricane's wake, costing about $166 million (1983 USD; $  USD). FEMA gave out $32 million (1983 USD; $  USD) to Alicia's victims and local governments; $23 million (1983 USD; $  USD) of that was for picking up debris spread after the storm.

Retirement

Due to the severe damage caused by the hurricane, the name Alicia was retired in the spring of 1984 by the World Meteorological Organization, and will never be used again for another Atlantic tropical system. It was replaced with Allison for the 1989 season.

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