On August 3, 1970, the Gulf Coast of Texas was hit by hurricane Celia. A major Category 3 storm, it made landfall near Aransas Pass and later moved inland causing 15 fatalities and $446 million in damage in South Texas at the time.
In today's dollars, that would be nearly $3 billion in damage!
Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, and Portland were among the cities hit hard by this storm.
Most of the homes and businesses in these cities were severely damaged.
The biggest impact was from the winds that were generated by this storm.
Unlike other storms that typically have strongest winds in the front quadrant, this hurricane had the strongest wind gusts at all four sides of the eyewall!
A few of these gusts were over 180 mph!
These were some of the biggest wind gusts we've seen here in Corpus Christi.
We have no record of any other hurricane hitting this city that was able to generate wind gusts over 200 mph!
There was a lot of flooding in the area and a lot of mudslides.
Most of the people in these areas were very scared and worried about their lives!
One of the best ways to prepare for a storm is to have lots of water, toothbrush, radio, money, flashlights, cellular phones, food, extra clothes, and blankets.
