1943 Surprise Hurricane
The 1943 Surprise Hurricane struck the Houston, Texas area on July 27, 1943. While not a major hurricane, the storm was described as the worst since the 1915 hurricane, which tested the newly constructed seawall at Galveston.
The storm
This hurricane was first detected on July 26, 1943. The United States was in the middle of the second World War, and Benito Mussolini had just been removed from power. There were no satellites, and weather radar was a decade away. Because of the fear of U-boats in the Gulf, all radio traffic from ships was silenced, including storm reports. The storm struck the Bolivar Peninsula, crossed Galveston Bay, and made landfall a second time near the Houston Ship Channel. Because of the distraction of the war, and the lack of ship reports, warnings were few, and residents were caught off-guard. By the 27th, the storm had weakened to tropical storm strength, and was northwest of Houston.
Damage
Although the officially recorded sustained winds were only in the 70-90 mph range, damage was heavy, and primarily wind-related. The storm killed 19 people, and caused $17 million (1943 dollars) in damage to the Houston area. Strangely, this storm had no storm surge to speak of, and produced quite variable rainfall. Most rainfall reports were around 6", but 80 miles east of Houston in Port Arthur, the storm produced over 19" of rain.
Hurricane hunting
This storm also marked the first intentional meteorological flight into a hurricane. On a bet with British pilots at Bryan Field, flight instructor Colonel Joe Duckworth flew his AT-6 Texan trainer directly into the storm, becoming the first hurricane hunter. On his return, he would make a second flight, this time carrying the base weather officer as a passenger.
Censorship
A unique aspect of this storm was censorship of its forecasts. The U.S. Weather Bureau destroyed their barometric readings, as well as many other measurements. News that the storm even existed was censored outside of Texas and Louisiana. The storm had destroyed the cooling towers at the Shell Oil Refinery in Deer Park and the Humble Oil Refinery in Baytown, shutting them down. These two were the primary refineries producing aviation fuel for World War II, and it was decided that information about this loss of production could not be allowed to leak into enemy hands. Censorship in relation to hurricane advisories has been called the most tragic aspect of this hurricane. Advisories had to be cleared through the Weather Bureau office in New Orleans, causing them to be hours late; moreover the advisories contained no forecast information, which would have allowed for preparation before the storm hit. After the loss of life in this storm, U.S. hurricane advisories have never been censored again.
External links Research paper on the storm Galveston Daily News special report (registration required)
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