Hurricane Hilda

Hurricane Hilda was a powerful tropical cyclone that ravaged areas of the United States Gulf Coast, particularly Louisiana. In addition to its damage inland, the hurricane greatly disrupted offshore oil production, and at its time was the costliest tropical cyclone for Louisiana's offshore oil production. Due in part to flights made by the National Hurricane Research Laboratory, Hilda became one of the most well-documented storms meteorologically in the Atlantic. However, a loosely defined mass of clouds east of the Lesser Antilles on September 23 was potentially associated with the formation of Hilda. Tracking westward, the area of convection gradually intensified, with hints at a well-defined circulation as the system tracked over Haiti on September 27. By 1200 UTC on September 28, the disturbance had become sufficiently defined to be classified as a tropical depression south of Cuba. Tracking generally westward,|group="nb" Twelve hours later, the hurricane reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of based on reconnaissance flights.

thumb|[[TIROS VIII image of Hilda near Louisiana on October 2|alt=Black and white image of a slightly elongated tropical cyclone with a faintly visible eye at its center. Clouds appear white, while landmasses and bodies of water appear in darker shades of gray.]]

Following peak intensity, further strengthening was inhibited due to the emergence of a high pressure area over the United States Gulf Coast. The presence of this system injected dry air into Hilda, gradually weakening the hurricane. The once prominent eye of the storm clouded over as a result of this advection. During the evening hours of October 3, Rapid weakening followed landfall as a result of the surrounding cold air; On October 3, the Weather Bureau upgraded the watch to a hurricane warning, and expanded it to include the entire Texas Coastal Bend eastward to Mobile, Alabama. By the afternoon of October 4, hurricane warnings were lowered but gale warnings remained in place.

Evacuation of offshore oil platforms began as early as September 29. The majority of the 2,000 oil workers were evacuated on September 30 and October 1. Along the United States Gulf Coast, approximately 150,000 people evacuated. Re-purposed boxcars were used to move 3,400 evacuees northward from New Orleans and Franklin, Louisiana. Morgan City and Cameron, Louisiana were sites of mass exodus with Hilda approaching the coast. Evacuation out of Cameron was disrupted by the lack of a bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway, and thus had to be conducted via ferry. In Grand Isle, Louisiana, approximately 80% of the population evacuated. Schools along the coast of Louisiana including Nicholls State University and Tulane were suspended in anticipation of the hurricane. The United States Navy scrammed planes from its air stations in Meridian, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana in anticipation of Hilda. As Hilda tracked northward through the Gulf of Mexico, the storm threatened an estimated $350 million worth of offshore oil drilling facilities. Hilda would become the most destructive tropical cyclone to Louisiana's offshore oil industry at the time of its impact, accruing losses over $100 million. Strong winds and heavy surf destroyed thirteen oil platforms and damaged five beyond repair. All but one of the lost oil rigs were built to withstand a "25-year storm", with the other constructed to withstand a "100-year storm". Oil spills resulting from the affected rigs released 11,869 barrels of crude oil into the gulf. Despite widespread evacuation of offshore drilling platforms, the 14 crewmembers of the Ocean Driller managed to ride out the storm, at times withstanding winds as high as .

United States

Gulf Coast

Louisiana

The majority of deaths associated with Hilda in Louisiana were a result of tornadoes spawned by the hurricane in its outer peripheral rainbands and squall lines, which began tracking across the region on October 3. The same tornadoes also knocked down power lines, knocking out power in localized areas. KLEB was knocked off the air as a result of these outages.

Data from the hardest hit areas along the central Louisiana coast remains sparse due to the small population density of the area. Storm surge unofficially peaked at at the Point Au Fer Reef Light. At the mouth of the Mississippi River, tides reached as high as above mean sea level. The strongest wind report was from Franklin, Louisiana, where a station clocked sustained winds of . Near the coast in Erath, a high water tower succumbed to Hilda's strong winds and collapsed onto an adjacent town hall where civil defense personnel were operating. Elsewhere in southeastern Louisiana, strong winds stripped pecans and other nuts off of trees.

! scope="row" | Maryland

| Crisfield and<br />SW of Leonardtown

| Damage was limited to the portions of the coast which were hit by a minor storm surge peaking at above mean sea level at Freeport. Some piers and arterial beach roads adjacent to the coast were damaged. Portions of Texas State Highway 87 on the Bolivar Peninsula were inundated by floodwater. Minor property damage occurred, and no persons were injured in Texas. Hilda and later its remnants brought torrential rainfall to central and southern portions of the state. The heavy rains resulted in record rainfall totals for the month of October in several locations and flash floods. However, the majority of damage in the state was a result of strong northerly winds, which caused power outages and was destructive to the state's pecan and corn crops, which had been nearing harvest. Cotton crops that were harvested prior to the passage of Hilda were largely damaged. Power outages knocked out 460 telephone circuits and over 30,000 individual telephones. Strong winds also uprooted and felled trees and their limbs in addition to as well as a tall radio mast near Moss Point, Mississippi. As a result of Hilda, 20 people were injured and damage exceeded $50,000. Three of those injuries were a result of a tornado which struck areas of Pearl River County, destroying a home, two barns, and a pumping station. The precipitation produced localized flooding in the Tallahassee area. The squalls also produced strong winds, at times gusting to near Pensacola. A station at Naval Air Station Pensacola clocked a gust. These winds caused minor damage limited to uprooted trees and broken limbs. Extremely torrential rains fell over Georgia, The largest precipitation totals occurred in the state's northeastern extremities, where widespread totals of or higher were reported. The rains resulted in flash flooding, causing extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure across Georgia. In addition to infrastructure damage, thousands of acres of farmland were inundated. Two cars in mountainous regions were swept into inundated areas during the floods, resulting in one death. Several tornadoes in six counties were also reported, injuring two. In mountainous regions, runoff from precipitation caused the Keowee, Saluda, and tributaries of the Broad River to swell, inundated and causing substantial damage to adjacent agricultural land and roads, in addition to breaching several small dams. The flooding triggered landslides, killing one person. Counties in the coastal plains of South Carolina also experienced farmland, road, and residential damage due to the heavy rains. It was replaced with Hannah for the 1968 season.

Hurricane Hilda

United States

Gulf Coast

Louisiana

See also

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