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Hurricane Alicia was a small but powerful tropical cyclone that caused significant destruction in the Greater Houston area of Southeast Texas in August 1983. Although Alicia was a relatively small hurricane, its track over the rapidly growing metropolitan area contributed to its $3 billion damage toll, making it the costliest Atlantic hurricane at the time. Alicia spawned from a disturbance that originated from the tail-end of a cold front over the northern Gulf of Mexico in mid-August 1983. The cyclone was named on August 14 when it became a tropical storm, and the combination of weak steering currents and a conducive environment allowed Alicia to quickly intensify as it drifted slowly westward. On August 17, Alicia became a hurricane and continued to strengthen, topping out as a Category 3 major hurricane as it made landfall on the southwestern end of Galveston Island. Alicia's eye passed just west of Downtown Houston as the system accelerated northwestwards across East Texas; Alicia eventually weakened into a remnant area of low pressure over Oklahoma on August 20 before they were last noted on August 21 over eastern Nebraska.
Alicia was the first hurricane to make landfall on the United States since Hurricane Allen struck South Texas in August 1980 over three years prior, ending the longest period of the twentieth century without a landfalling hurricane on the U.S. coast. Alicia's approach precipitated the evacuation of 60–80 thousand people from coastal communities along the coasts of Southeast Texas and Louisiana. Along the coast, a storm surge flooded communities, with the rough surf sinking several ships and resulting in three offshore fatalities. Most of the damage attributed to the storm was caused by strong winds estimated to have peaked at 130 mph (210 km/h) in southwestern Galveston Island. Alicia was the first major hurricane to form in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Anita of 1977.
Widespread damage was wrought in Galveston and Houston, where thousands of homes were destroyed. In Downtown Houston, nearly all skyscrapers saw the loss of approximately half of lower-level windows, littering the urban streets with debris. Widespread power outages and flooding impacted much of Southeast Texas, with observed rainfall totals peaking at . In addition to the strong winds, rough surf, and heavy rain, Alicia also generated 22 tornadoes centered around the Houston–Galveston area; most were Fujita scale F0, but the strongest, rated F2, tore through Corsicana further north.
The impacts of Alicia tapered inland past the point of landfall, though the weakening system still produced damaging winds and flooding in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and Oklahoma; light rain associated with Alicia was observed as far north as Michigan. In total, Alicia caused 21 fatalities and 7,288 injuries.
The storm's slow movement—averaging just 5 mph (8 km/h)—and lack of strong steering currents allowed Alicia to reap highly favorable conditions characterized by warm sea surface temperatures in excess of and favorable winds in the upper troposphere due to an upper-level anticyclone, resulting in unabated intensification until landfall. Radar analyses indicated that Alicia was stationary at times as it transitioned to a northwesterly heading. An eye began to emerge on satellite imagery by the afternoon of August 16. On August 17, Alicia strengthened into a hurricane with its pressure falling at a steady 1 mbar (hPa; 0.03 inHg) per hour. At 06:00 UTC (1:00 a.m. CDT) on August 18, Alicia became a major hurricane and made landfall an hour later on Galveston Island— southwest of Galveston, Texas—with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 962 mbar (hPa; 28.41 inHg) as measured by aircraft reconnaissance, making it a low-end Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Alicia was the first hurricane to strike the continental United States since Hurricane Allen moved ashore South Texas in August 1980, ending the longest break in contiguous U.S. hurricane landfalls of the 20th century. The hurricane was also the first major hurricane to impact the Greater Houston area since Hurricane Carla in 1961.
Alicia weakened as it accelerated northwest into the Texas interior, with the hurricane's center passing just west of Downtown Houston on the morning of August 18 as a Category 1 hurricane; the storm was initially slow to weaken as it was able to rein in moist air from the warm Gulf of Mexico. Later that day, the continued inhibitory impacts of friction and dry air weakened Alicia to a tropical storm near College Station, Texas,"Hurricane Alicia Post Storm Report", p. 3 and degenerated into a tropical depression early on August 19 near the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Despite having remained over land for 36 hours, Alicia remained well-organized while tracking into Oklahoma on August 20. The tapering system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone later that day; these remnants persisted for another day before they were absorbed by a passing trough over eastern Nebraska on August 21.
Between 60 and 80 thousand people were evacuated from Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, and Harris counties in advance of Alicia, as well as 1,500 persons from Sabine Pass. Twenty thousand people sought refuge at shelters within Houston. Another 6,000 evacuated from Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Offshore oil operations were postponed in preparation for Alicia with the evacuation of 1,360 workers, most of whom were from Shell platforms."Hurricane Alicia Post Storm Report", p. 6 Initially, however, residents did not take the warnings seriously. Galveston Mayor E. Gus Manuel, against the advice of Texas Governor Mark White, ordered the evacuation of only low-lying areas. As a result, only 10 percent of the population living behind the seawall chose to leave when Alicia came ashore. In contrast, about 30 percent of Galveston's population evacuated the island when Hurricane Allen threatened the eastern Texas coastline in 1980. Throughout the day, however, as the increasing winds began to cause damage in Galveston, people grew more concerned. The mayor finally ordered a widespread evacuation of the island after midnight on August 18, but by then, the bridges to the mainland were uncrossable.
A stretch of the Texas coast experienced Beaufort scale winds. The strongest gust was reported in Galveston where a 102 mph (164 km/h) gust was recorded near landfall, though stronger gusts likely occurred over more sparsely populated coastal areas; no surface observations were documented along southwestern Galveston Island where Alicia made landfall. Analysis of structural damage suggested that gusts as high as 130 mph (210 km/h) were produced by Alicia over land."August 1983", p. 43 Nearly every structure in Galveston County, Texas sustained varying degrees of damage from torn roofing to total destruction with the most severe damage occurring in western parts of the county. Telecommunications and power on Galveston Island were downed for several days. The walls of some hotels collapsed and numerous windows facing the wind were blown out. Storm surge damaged most buildings in Jamaica Beach, Texas, with 50 homes sustaining major damage. Heavy rains nearing totals on the island caused street flooding and destroyed a mobile home community. Significant wind damage occurred on the inland portions of Galveston County, including damage to schools, apartment complexes, and mobile homes. In League City, Texas, damage was estimated at $100 million, largely stemming from roof damage.
Seven people were killed in Harris County, Texas as a result of fallen trees, drownings, or automobile crashes. Another 1,530 people were injured. At Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, sustained winds peaked at 81 mph (130 km/h) with gusts to 99 mph (159 km/h). The airport sustained $1.5 million in damage, including damage to several small aircraft, hangars, metal structures, and airport windows. Tropical storm-force winds of gusting to at the Houston Intercontinental Airport; there, two terminal roofs experienced minor damage and one airplane broke from its ties. Fifty cars on site suffered shattered windows. Skyscrapers in Downtown Houston suffered extensive damage from wind-blown debris accelerated by the narrow spaces between buildings. The lower 40 floors of most skyscrapers were shattered by wind-blown gravel. Similar debris or water blocked over 20 major roads; flooding caused by the widespread rainfall was most severe in Baytown, Clear Lake, and Pasadena in the eastern part of Harris County, necessitating the rescue of roughly 300 people. Thirty of these rescues arose from a single subdivision in Baytown where inundation reached a depth of . In these communities, hundreds of homes were flooded. Ninety percent of homes were damaged in Crystal Beach, Texas, of which half were destroyed. Alicia also caused $4.5 million in cotton losses and $6 million in pecan crop losses in Harris County. Total damage to public property in the county was estimated at $46 million. Johnson Space Center escaped significant damage, though 200 nearby trees were toppled by the strong winds and a few facility doors and windows were damaged.
In eastern Brazoria County, Texas, strong winds caused widespread damage to roofs, mobile homes, and automobiles. Damage was also wrought to several aircraft at the Texas Gulf Coast Regional Airport in Freeport, Texas; damage in the city totaled $1 million. Sixty-five percent of structures were damaged in Danbury, Texas. Extensive power outages affected Fort Bend County, Texas. Damage in Matagorda was mostly caused by tidal flooding and winds; 4,500 residents evacuated after the storm surge flooded low-lying areas, forcing the closure of two drawbridges crossing the Intracoastal Waterway connecting the mainland to the Matagorda Peninsula. Wind-induced rice crop damage was estimated at $3.5 million. Elsewhere in East Texas, Alicia's strong winds and heavy rains blocked power and water supplies in several cities. Two people were killed in Montgomery County due to fallen trees.
The hurricane also produced 22 tornadoes across Texas, associated primarily with a single strong outer rainband northeast of Alicia's center; the majority were brief and weak Fujita scale tornadoes that caused negligible damage."August 1983", p. 45 One F1 tornado in Harris County damage two businesses near the intersection of Interstate 45 and Texas State Highway NASA Road 1. The strongest tornado was an F2 tornado in Corsicana that was responsible for a significant proportion of the damage toll in North Texas. The tornado touched down in the morning of August 18 in the western extents of Corsicana and lasted for five minutes on a track, damaging several buildings including homes, a church, and a horse arena. In addition to the F2 tornado, the weakening Alicia produced strong winds in North Texas. In Panola County, these winds destroyed outbuildings and downed powerlines and trees in addition to damaging roofs. The weakening storm brought strong thunderstorms over the Dallas–Fort Worth area, bringing gusts estimated between and causing structural damage throughout the metropolitan area. Some condominiums under construction were destroyed by the winds and trees and powerlines were downed in Keller, Texas and Grapevine, Texas. A freeway sign was dislodged and fell upon two 18-wheeler trucks in Dallas, killing the driver of one truck and seriously injuring the driver of the other truck. Creeks swelled following heavy rains, with a local maximum of near Mexia, Texas. A ten-year-old boy died after he was swept away by a rapidly flowing current."August 1983", p. 42
On September 23 and September 24, 1983, in the wake of Alicia, two subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives held hearings in Houston. The hearing on September 23 were to examine the primary issues of the NWS during Alicia, the effectiveness of the NWS in current procedures, and the use of the NWS. The second hearing, which occurred on September 24, was to discuss the damage and recovery efforts during Alicia. During the September 23 hearing, witnesses agreed that the NWS did well before and during the emergency caused by Alicia. NWS forecasters also testified in which they said they gratified themselves that their predictions were well "on target" and that the local emergency plans had worked so well, which saved many lives. Mayor Gus Manuel on Galveston claimed that the NWS did an excellent job during Alicia. He was also very impressed about their landfall predictions on August 17. During the September 24 hearing, evidence was presented which demonstrated the need for improving readiness to cope with disasters, such as Alicia. Mayor Manuel mentioned that his town needed stronger building codes, which were under review.
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