Hurricane Carla was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Striking the middle Texas coast in September 1961, Carla was the second most intense hurricane on record in Texas, only behind the 1886 Indianola hurricane. The third named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Carla developed from an area of squally weather in the southwestern Caribbean Sea on September 3. The system was upgraded to a tropical storm on September 5 and reached hurricane intensity the next day. On September 7, Carla entered the Gulf of Mexico, passing northeast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Early on September 10, Carla became a Category 4 hurricane and peaked in intensity a day later with maximum sustained winds of and a minimum central pressure of . The hurricane made landfall in the afternoon of September 11 near Port O'Connor, Texas with the same wind speed and a slightly higher pressure. Traveling inland, Carla weakened to a tropical storm on September 12 and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on September 13 while centered over southern Oklahoma. Carla's remnants reached the Labrador Sea, Canada and dissipated on September 18, 1961.
While crossing the Yucatán Channel, the outer bands of Carla brought high winds and local flooding in western Cuba and the Yucatán Peninsula. In Texas, sustained winds as high as and a storm surge of were observed in Port Lavaca. Carla also spawned several tornadoes in the state, including an F4 tornado near Galveston which killed eight people.
Throughout Texas, Carla damaged or destroyed over 60,000 buildings and killed 34 people. Several tornadoes also touched down in Louisiana, killing six people and causing additional damage. Heavy rainfall from Carla impacted other states, especially Kansas and Missouri, where flash flooding severely damaged crops and killed six people. Overall, Carla resulted in over $442 million in losses and 46 fatalities. The name Carla was retired following the season.
Meteorological history
As early as September 1, a tropical disturbance – an area of convective activity – was observed tracking westward across the Caribbean Sea within the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Around that time, an anticyclone was situated over the western Caribbean Sea at the upper-tropospheric levels. Surface analysis indicated that a low-level circulation was developing early on September 3, and this became a tropical depression – a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of less than – about northwest of Barranquilla, Colombia at 1200 UTC.
The storm is estimated to have strengthened into a tropical storm by 1800 UTC on the September 4. Operationally, the system was not considered a tropical storm until midday on the 5th, at which point it was given the name Carla. A reconnaissance aircraft flight on September 5 found that Carla was continuing to intensify, with a central pressure of and winds rising to . Radar indicated that the system was an unusually large tropical cyclone, with convective bands extending about outward from the center. Around midnight on September 6, Carla passed near Swan Island, which reported a barometric pressure of about and wind gusts of from the southwest. Aircraft reconnaissance that day found that the storm had deepened substantially, with the barometric pressure falling to , and Carla is estimated to have reached hurricane intensity earlier in the day.
The hurricane remained relatively steady for much of the next day, with the pressure measured by aircraft that morning remaining near . However, Carla began strengthening again late in the day, reaching Category 2 strength. Shortly thereafter, the hurricane crossed the Yucatán Channel and entered the Gulf of Mexico, where a strong high-pressure area forced Carla to resume its original northwesterly course.
Carla continued to strengthen, and by midday on September 8 the storm was a Category 3 major hurricane. Carla was a large hurricane, with a radius of maximum winds wide. The storm strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane on the morning of September 10, while approaching the Gulf Coast of the United States, and reached its peak intensity early on the 11th, with maximum sustained winds of and a minimum pressure of . Operationally, Carla was considered to have had peak winds of , making it a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the highest classification. However, a reanalysis of the storm published in 2018 concluded that Carla never reached Category 5 intensity.
Late on September 11, Carla made landfall on the northeastern tip of Matagorda Island, Texas with winds of and a minimum pressure of . The winds were estimated using the pressure-wind relationship for a storm of its size and latitude as well as two reports of sustained winds near along the coast. Carla's landfall pressure was the lowest in Texas during the 20th century, and the second lowest on record in the state after the 1886 Indianola hurricane. Carla rapidly weakened inland, and fell below hurricane strength by noon on September 12. Late on that day, the storm curved just east of due north. As Carla moved inland, it spawned an outbreak of tornadoes, all of them occurring to the right of the track. After reaching Oklahoma on September 13, Carla transitioned into an extratropical cyclone while located over east-central Oklahoma. The remnants of Carla moved rapidly northeastward and brought heavy rainfall to some areas of the Great Plains and Midwestern United States. By September 14, the remnants moved over Lake Huron as an extratropical depression. On September 16, Carla's remnants briefly regained gale-force winds before dissipating shortly after midnight on September 18.
Preparations Occurring a year after Hurricane Donna, officials in the Florida Keys took precautions to brace for potential impact from the storm. The United States Navy flew their planes out of Key West, while Coast Guardsmen evacuated Alligator Reef Light, American Shoal Light, and Sombrero Key Light. Ships docked at Key West sailed out to sea to ride out the squalls. On the morning of September 7, a hurricane watch was issued from the entire coast of Louisiana eastward to Apalachicola, Florida. On September 8, a hurricane watch was issued along the southwest coast of the state from Vermilion Bay westward. It was later extended westward to include the entire coast of Texas, and eastward to Apalachicola, Florida. A portion of the hurricane watch from Aransas Pass, Texas to Grand Isle, Louisiana was upgraded to a hurricane warning at 1600 UTC on September 9.
An estimated 500,000 people fled the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, making it the largest evacuation in the history of the United States at the time. In Louisiana, the number of evacuees was estimated to be at least 50,000 by state civil defense officials, and as high as 80,000 by the Red Cross. Coastal parishes in the state, "galvanized... by the memory of [hurricane] Audrey," began ordering evacuations as early as Friday, September 8. Evacuation orders were given out over radio, television, loudspeaker, and by police going door-to-door to warn residents. 95% of Plaquemines Parish evacuated, as did nearly all of Grand Isle. Officials estimated that communities in Cameron Parish had evacuation rates between 99 and 100%, and the parish government relocated to Lake Charles. In small towns along the coast of Texas, 90–100% of their populations evacuated, while 20% of people left the larger cities. Many in Galveston stayed due to protection from the Galveston Seawall. Public shelters in both states were administered by the American Red Cross, which opened shelters as far inland as Dallas and Fort Worth. Most official shelters were schools, though other public buildings such as churches and theaters were also used. Many people also sought refuge in "unauthorized shelters" not officially administered by the Red Cross. In Galveston, about 1200 people sought shelter at the courthouse, and some were injured when the building was struck by a tornado. Some shelters, mainly schools, were racially segregated.
As heavy rains began to impact areas of Missouri and Kansas, officials began evacuating low-lying areas. In Kansas City, the Red Cross set up shelters and residents near local lakes and creeks were evacuated. Local businesses began sandbagging in anticipation of further flooding. Missouri Governor John M. Dalton ordered the 110th Engineers combat battalion to assist in the efforts.
Impact Throughout its path, 46 fatalities and about $442 million in damage were attributed to Carla. Most of the impact occurred in Texas, where the storm made landfall as a large and strong Category 4 hurricane.
Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico In Cuba, broadcasts reported severe flooding near Pinar del Río, Los Colomas, and Punta de Cartas. Offshore Honduras on Swan Island, a rainfall amount of was reported along with wind gusts up to . In Mexico, winds may have reached hurricane-force in remote areas on the northeast tip of the Yucatán Peninsula. Damage to offshore Oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico was estimated at $5 million.
United States
Texas
Abnormally high tides and storm surge occurred along the entire coast of Texas, reaching above mean sea level in a large area of the open coast to the right of the track. The storm flooded over of land, with surge reaching 10 miles inland in some areas. The highest storm surge was recorded in Matagorda Bay, where water reached over above sea level. The highest recorded water level was at Port Lavaca, based on a high-water mark left inside of a house on the eastern side of Lavaca Bay. Elsewhere, tides reached at Port Houston, at Galveston, and at Corpus Christi. Carla also produced powerful winds along its path. The highest sustained wind observations during the storm were two reports of winds at Matagorda and Port Lavaca. Gusts in Matagorda reached , and the anemometer in Port Lavaca blew away after a gust to ; wind gusts afterwards were visually estimated to have reached over . An Alcoa plant in Point Comfort reported a wind gust over before the instrument failed, and an industrial plant in Victoria recorded a maximum gust of . Further inland, the Weather Bureau offices in Houston, Austin, and Dallas reported maximum gusts of , , and , respectively. Carla also produced heavy rainfall in Texas, peaking at in Bay City, while Galveston, Wharton, Liberty, and Dickinson all reported rainfall totals over . Carla spawned at least 11 tornadoes in Texas. Throughout Texas, Carla destroyed 1,915 homes and 983 other buildings, and caused damage to another 50,723 homes and 16,107 other buildings. An estimated 1.5 million board-feet of lumber was damaged by the hurricane. Rice and citrus crops in the state were substantially damaged. About 166,000 customers lost telephone service. The US Army Corps of Engineers estimated damage in Texas at more than $408 million dollars, including $60.9 million dollars in agricultural losses, $12.3 million in damage to transportation infrastructure, and nearly $10 million in damage to utilities. It was also estimated that over $30 million in damage was prevented by flood control projects, mainly the Galveston seawall. 34 people were killed in Texas, including 22 who drowned, 8 who were killed by a tornado in Galveston, and 4 who died from electrocution by downed power lines. There were over 460 injuries in Texas, according to the American Red Cross.