Five Natural Disasters that Occurred in Texas

Texas seems like a quiet and picturesque state, with good values and great food, but they have been plagued with some of the worst disasters in the country. The resilience of the people living there strong and strong precast concrete walls in Texas  has allowed them to cope, but it hasn’t been easy.

 These Disasters Had Serious Consequences on Their Community

To get a better insight on just what these tragedies are and their extent, here is five of the worsts natural disasters that happened in Texas in recent history.

1.     Tropical Storm Allison

It was on the evening of June 5, 2001, when tropical storm Allison made landfall on the western part of Galveston. It spent days ravaging Texas, with 35 inches of rainfall in Houston alone. It had caused a total of 55 deaths and $10 billion worth of damages, earning the name. “deadliest tropical storm in U.S. history”. Due to the destruction it had caused, the name Allison was retired from the list storm names in the US.

2.     The Waco Tornado

It was in Waco where one of Texas’ deadliest tornadoes hit on May 11, 1953. The tornado was a categorized as an F5 twister, at a size of a third of a kilometer. After it moved from Lorena to Waco, it had already claimed 114 lives and left hundreds more injured. Because of the extent of damage, some had to wait half a day to be rescued from under the rubble. With almost 2,000 homes either damaged or destroyed, it took a while for Texas to recover. The only good that came out of it was Texas’ decision to come up with and implement a warning system to help its citizens prepare for the onslaught of tornadoes.

3.     Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornadoes

If the first tornado was all about size and causing maximum damage in one area, this one traveled over 125 miles to destroy homes and claim lives. It went through Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, flattening its path along the way. Once this F5 tornado was done, there were 181 people dead. It even completely wiped the towns of Higgins and Glazier. To say that this was one of the most destructive disasters in the State is an understatement.

4.     2011 Texas Wildfires

Wildfires are common in Texas, especially during severe droughts, but the fire department was not prepared when wildfire that lasted for hours consumed most of Bastrop County. It scarred most of the surrounding forest and destroyed over a thousand homes.

5.     Hurricane Ike

It was again in Galveston that a devastating hurricane hit in October of 2008. When Hurricane Ike reached the coast of Texas, it had a total wind speed of 110 miles per hour. What people were unprepared for was the storm surge that happened shortly after landfall. It was 22 foot tall. In total, Hurricane Ike claimed 17 lives and cost the state $50 billion in damages.

Sources:

http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/storms/2000s/ike/