Sabine Pass was inundated with storm surge, and 3 to 4 feet of water flooded portions of Port Arthur, TX. Structures along the beach not elevated high enough were destroyed. In Jefferson County, Texas, severe beach erosion was observed and Highway 87 along the coast was destroyed. Over a quarter-million persons were reported evacuated from coastal and low-lying areas.Ĭarla’s storm surge and wave action caused major damage to the coastal locations of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Loss of life was held to a minimum by prompt evacuations. There were 43 deaths, approximately half attributable to tornadoes and floods accompanying the hurricane and property damage estimated at over $300 million. Click here for an interactive track of Hurricane Carla.Ĭarla was considered one of the largest major Gulf hurricanes in the 20th century. Rapidly moving northeastward, Carla's remnants reached the Labrador Sea, Canada and dissipated on September 17, 1961. Carla transitioned into an extratropical cyclone by daybreak on September 13th, while centered over southern Oklahoma. Hurricane Carla made landfall as a category 4 hurricane near Port O'Connor, Texas around 2 PM CST with an intensity of 145 mph (125 knots) with a minimum central pressure of 931 millibars (27.49 inches).Ĭarla slowly weakened while heading inland across Central Texas, but was still a minimal hurricane southeast of Austin early on September 12 th, and a weakening tropical storm by the time it reached Forth Worth, Texas later that evening. The WSR-57 radar in Galveston, TX captured this image while the hurricane was approaching the Central Texas coast at 2:50 PM CST on September 10th. This early TIROS 3 visible satellite photo at 3:22 PM CST September 10th shows the cloud cover covering most of the Gulf of Mexico.Ĭarla continued to intensify, and by the early morning hours of September 11th, reached a peak intensity of 145 mph (125 knots) with a minimum central pressure of 927 millibars (27.37 inches). Hurricane Carla continued to intensify and grow in size in the Gulf of Mexico. It was noted by several surface observations and aircraft reconnaissance flights that Carla was becoming an unusually large hurricane, as well as increasing in strength. Carla moved through the Yucatán Channel during the day on September 7 th and entered the Gulf of Mexico later that afternoon and became a major hurricane by that evening. Carla was upgraded to a hurricane early on September 6 th, then moved northward toward the Yucatán Channel. It strengthened slowly while heading northwestward, and by daybreak September 5th, the system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Carla. Above: Galveston, TX WSR-57 radar image of Hurricane Carla at 2:50 PM CST on September 10, 1961.Ĭarla developed in the southwestern Caribbean Sea around daybreak on September 3 rd as a tropical depression.
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