Tropical Events 1970s

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

1979 - Hurricane Frederic
Hurricane Frederic made landfall on September 13 at Dauphin Island, AL, and then crossed the coastline again near the Mississippi-Alabama border about an hour later. Frederic brought tides of 8 to 12 feet above normal from Mississippi to the Florida panhandle. Preliminary estimates of U.S. damage from Hurricane Frederic exceeded $2 billion, and 11 storm-related deaths have been attributed to Frederic.


1972 - Hurricane Agnes
Agnes made landfall June 19 near Cape San Blas on the Florida panhandle as a Category 1 hurricane, but affected areas north to New York. Storm tides of 6 to 7 feet above normal were observed at Apalachicola and Cedar Key, FL, and 3 to 5 feet above normal from Fort Myers to the Tampa Bay area, while devastating floods occurred from North Carolina to New York. Hurricane Agnes was responsible for 122 deaths in the United States, most of those due to catastrophic flooding in New York and Pennsylvania, and damage estimates were $2.1 billion.


1970 - Hurricane Celia
Celia made landfall just north of Corpus Christi, Texas, in early August and became the most costly hurricane to date to strike the Texas Coast. As Celia approached land, it produced tides that inundated approximately 325,000 acres of the Texas coastal area. The highest tides were reported to be 11.4 feet above mean sea level in Aransas Pass and 9.2 feet above mean sea level on the beach at Port Aransas. Essentially, the entire town of Port Aransas was flooded by the tide. The tide at Corpus Christi ranged from 3.9 to 5.6 feet above mean sea level. Above normal tides were experienced as far east as Galveston, with a tide of 4 feet above mean sea level. Tides at other locations near the path of the hurricane ranged from 3 to 8 feet above mean sea level. Damages from Hurricane Celia were estimated at more than $467 million, and Celia left 13 people dead and thousands homeless.