1957 — June 26-28, Hurricane Audrey, SW LA/526; also TX, IL, IN, NY, Canada –545-550
–4000 Jacksonville Courier, IL. “Hurricane Toll May Be 4,000.” 6-28-1957, p. 1.
–3000 AP. “Estimate 3,000 Dead in Hurricane Audrey,” Freeport Journal-Standard, IL, 6-28-1957, p.1.
— 550 Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Ed.). 1964, 321.
— 550 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 1995.
— 547 Blanchard high estimate based on state breakouts below, using high TX number of 11.
— 545 Blanchard low estimate based on LA and TX low estimate and not counting IN, IL, NY.
–<500 Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Ed.). 1964, 328.[1]
— 500 Ross and Blum. “Hurricane Audrey, 1957.” Monthly Weather Review, June 1957, 221.
— 500 NewspaperARCHIVE.com. “Hurricane Audrey Kills 500.”
—>431 Wikipedia. “Hurricane Audrey.” 5-5-2012 modification.
— 416 Bedient and Sebastian. “An Introduction to Gulf Coast Severe Storms…” 2012, p. 8.
—>416 Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense [US] Cyclones…, April 2007.[2]
—>416 Blake, et al. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense [US] Cyclones…1851 to 2010.
— 390 Burt and Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. 2004, p. 205.
— 390 Drabek, Thomas E. The Human Side of Disaster. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2010,
— 390 Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Ed.). 1964, 328.
–>390 Hebert and Taylor. The Deadliest, Costliest…Most Intense [US] Hurricanes… 1983.[3]
— 390 Hebert/Jarrell/Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest…[US] Hurricanes… 1993, p. 80.
— 390 History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957. “Hurricane Audrey…Coast.”
— 390 Jarrell, Mayfield, Rappaport, Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest…[US] Hurricanes. 2001.
— 390 Moore, Paul L. “The Hurricane Season of 1957.” Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1957.[4]
— 390 Rappaport 1995.
— 390 Sav, Thomas. Natural Disasters: Some Empirical…Economic Considerations. 1974, p.8.
— 350 Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. Hurricane. 1958, p. 323.
–15 Canada (12 were result of “storm-induced automobile accidents.”) Environment Canada.
— 5 Ontario –10 Quebec
Summary of State Breakouts
Illinois ( 2)
Indiana ( 4)
Louisiana ( 526)
Texas ( 9 – 11)
New York ( 4)
US Total: 545-547
Canada ( 15)
Grand Total: 560-562
Breakout of Fatalities by State
Louisiana ( 526)
— 526 Roth, David. Louisiana Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS, 4-8-2010, p. 3.
— 526 Roth, D. Louisiana Hurricane History: Late 20th Cen., Lake Charles NWS, 6-4-2003.[5]
Texas (9-11)[6]
–1 Orange, June 27, electrocuted. Odessa American, TX. “Storm Victim at Orange…” 6-28-57.
–9 June 27. Roth, David (National Weather Service). Texas Hurricane History. P. 9[7]
–9 (off TX coast). USCG. Commandant’s Action…collision…Keturah…, 1958.[8]
IN, IL, NY ( 10)
— 10 “Hurricane Audrey, 1957.” Moore. Monthly Weather Review, June 1957, p. 221.
Illinois ( 2)
–1 Chrisman, U.S. 36, ~June 29. Flooding; motorist found dead in auto in flooded ravine.[9]
–2 Sullivan, ~June 29. Electrocution; man in flooded home touched electric cord while in water.[10]
Indiana ( 4)
–4 Indianapolis. Drownings attributed to Audrey storm-induced flooding.[11]
–2 Commuter bus swept into Eagle creek in Zionsville (just northwest of Indianapolis).
–1 Rescue boat overturned, west edge of Indianapolis.
–1 Drowning in home basement; male.
New York ( 4)
–1 Binghamton. Car plunged down embankment “during the height of the storm.”[12]
–1 Boston hamlet near Buffalo. AF F-80 jet fighter crashed during storm.[13]
–2 Eden ~Buffalo. Cars skid on wet road, crash; Mrs. Leda Brook, 65; Anthony J. Filipiak, 15.[14]
Narrative Information
Ross and Blum: “As the name implies, Hurricane Audrey was the first of the 1957 season. Audrey was labeled a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea on June 25 [and a hurricane watch is declared for Texas and Louisiana (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957)]. It stalled in the Gulf of Mexico and began intensification. While centered 380 miles southeast of Brownsville, TX it became a hurricane.” (Ross and Blum 1957, 221)
June 26: Audrey reaches Category 2 status, moving northeastward slowly at first at about 7 miles per hour, then up to 15 mph (Moore 1957), attaining a peak wind speeds of 105-145 mph,[15] with a reported gust up to 180 mph (Moore 1957).[16] “…the residents of Louisiana near the Gulf of Mexico were told to seek higher ground.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957)
June 26: “…At approximately 2235 on 26 June 1957, during heavy weather created by Hurricane ‘Audrey’, the wooden hulled American fishing schooner Keturah, of 77 g.t., proceeding toward Galveston, Texas, under sail, with main engine disabled, collided with an offshore drilling platform in position 29-09-16 N; 94-40-33 W and sank with the loss of the entire crew, estimated at nine persons. There is uncertainty as to the number and identification of those on board other than the Master because he personally engaged the crew and did not deposit a crew list ashore prior to departing Pensacola, Florida, on 6 June….” (U.S. Coast Guard. Commandant’s Action on Marine Board of Investigation; collision of the F/V Keturah with offshore drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, 26 June 1957… Jan 21, 1958, cover letter.)
June 27: Audrey reaches Cat 4 status; makes landfall near TX/LA border just south of Sabine Lake and Port Arthur, TX, pushing ahead of it a storm surge of up to 7-10.6[17] feet along a 24-25 mile front.[18] Nine deaths in Texas, “seven of which resulted from the sinking of the fishing boat Keturah off of Galveston (Roth, TX Hurricane His. 2003; cites Morgan 6).
“Waves associated with the storm were monstrous, indeed. In the gulf, seas of 45 to 50 feet were reported. Waves at Cameron reached as high as 20 feet above mean sea level; this was on top of the storm surge!” (Roth, LA Hurricane History: Late 20th Century, June 4, 2003)
“Tides were reported to be more than 12 feet above mean sea level in Louisiana from the Coast Guard station at Calcasieu Pass to Grand Cheniere…” (Moore 1957, 405).[19] Sixty to eighty percent of the homes and businesses from Cameron to Grand Chenier were either destroyed or severely damaged (Moore 1957, 405). “Entire communities in the tidal region of Louisiana were demolished.” (Ross and Blum 1957, 221)
“Warnings were sounded for Louisiana but the people of the swamps and bayous were not moved. ‘I wasn’t much afraid,’ one women said, ‘because the Lord told us He would never destroy this earth with water again.’ But Pecan Island, Creole, Grand Chenier and Johnson’s Bayou were rolled under by the waves. Dead bodies, fuel tanks and wrecked fishing boats were swept into the main street of Cameron.” (Douglas 1958, pp. 323-324) “Only one building survived in Creole and only two were left standing in Cameron, thankfully including the courthouse that was sheltering many of the residents.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957)
“Three hundred and fifty people died and the living fought for life on any bit of dry land, with invading alligators and moccasin snakes.” (Douglas 1958, pp. 323-324)
“Many people were simply swept away by the floods. Eighteen people in a single family perished when their home was knocked down and washed away. Some survivors lived by tying themselves to tree tops, other by clinging to driftwood. At least one person died from the bite of a poisonous water snake while clinging to wreckage. Many bodies were not found for months after the hurricane–including one that was not recovered until the next year. It is possible that the death toll from Audrey exceeded 500 people.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957)
Quickly weakens to tropical storm moving through Louisiana, leaving 40,000 people homeless. Moore, et al (1957, 403 & 405) note that “Nearly all the deaths can be attributed to drowning by high tides.”
June 27: “Orange, AP – The man Hurricane Audrey killed here yesterday when she roared through this city of 38,000 will be remembered as a hero who died trying to save two men he did not know. Gerald Bridges was killed while trying to save two men he found lying in a street filled with water. Bridges, 21, never knew what hit him, doctors said. He couched a live wire packing 2,300 volts while he stood in a puddle of water.
“Bridges was on his way home from work at Gulf States Utilities Co. when he stopped his car. In the middle of a residential street to help the two men he saw lying there. They had been knocked unconscious by an electrical shock. The two men were taken to a hospital. Virgil Smith, 32, was in critical condition today. James Downey, 30 was in good condition but remembered nothing of the accident.
“Bridges’ wife, Jean, a society reporter for the Orange Leader [TX] had gone home a few hours earlier because a power failure made it impossible to work at the newspaper office….” (Odessa American, TX. “Storm Victim at Orange Dies in Rescue Try.” 6-28-1957, p. 1.)
June 28: “Two tornadoes were spawned; one in New Orleans and the other in Arnaudville.[20] Out of the 100,000 buildings that experienced damage, several thousand were destroyed. Between 90 and 95 percent of the buildings in Cameron and Lower Vermilion Parishes were damaged beyond repair…. Damages in Louisiana totaled $120 million.”
Became extratropical storm crossing over Tennessee, later merging with a polar wave near Chicago. Over the Ohio Valley, large rainfall leads to significant flooding and 10 fatalities in Indiana, Illinois and New York (Ross and Blum 1957, 221). 65 mph winds experienced in Pennsylvania and 95-100 mph winds reported at Jamestown, New York (Moore 1957, 406). Crossed into southeastern Canada with winds up to 80 mph reported, as well as three fatalities.
“The Ohio River Valley, western Pennsylvania and New York felt the last of the hurricane’s life northward. It died in Canada” [June 29]. (Douglas 1958, pp. 323-324.)
“As far away as Canada, four people lost their lives at the tail end of the storm over a week later. More than 40,000 people were left homeless by Hurricane Audrey. Many were housed at McNeese State University near Lake Charles, Louisiana, until they could be permanently resettled. Many victims found it difficult to rebuild—their insurance offered financial protection from wind damage, but not water damage.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957.)
“The loss of life in Audrey was the greatest of any tropical storm in the United States since the New England hurricane of 1938 and emphasized the difficulty of insuring the carrying out of adequate safety precautions and evacuation, even with the most recent methods of tracking and early warnings.” (Moore et al, Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1957, p. 401.)
As of 2008 Audrey remains earliest storm of any Atlantic hurricane season to reach Cat 4 intensity in the recorded history of the basin, and the strongest storm ever to form in June.[21] It was also the second of three major hurricanes to occur in the month of June. The name “Audrey” was retired.
Sources
Associated Press. “‘Little Audrey Strikes, Trees, Utility Lines Hit…4 Die in State as Storm Leaves Damaging Path.” Daily Bulletin, Endicott, NY, 6-29-1957, p. 1. Accessed 2-10-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/endicott-daily-bulletin-jun-29-1957-p-1/
Associated Press. “Estimate 3,000 Dead in Hurricane Audrey,” Freeport Journal-Standard, IL, 6-28-1957, p. 1. Accessed 2-10-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/freeport-journal-standard-jun-28-1957-p-1/
Associated Press. “Storms Bring Floods to Central Illinois.” Dixon Evening Telegraph, IL. 6-29-1957, p1. Accessed 2-10-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/dixon-evening-telegraph-jun-29-1957-p-1/
Bedient, Philip B. and Antonia Sebastian. “An Introduction to Gulf Coast Severe Storms and Hurricanes,” pp. 1-15 in: Bedient, Philip B. (Ed.) Lessons from Hurricane Ike. Texas A&M University Press, 2012. Google preview accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=gelBBDRUjCcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Blake, Eric S., Edward N. Rappaport, and Christopher W. Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Cyclones From 1851 to 2006. Miami, FL: National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, April 15, 2007 update, 45 pages. Accessed at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/Deadliest_Costliest.shtml
Blake, Eric S., Christopher W. Landsea, and Ethan J. Gibney. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Cyclones From 1851 to 2010 (and Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts). Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS-NHC-6, August 2011. Accessed 2-10-2020 at: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/nws-nhc-6.pdf
Burt, Christopher C. and Mark Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. W. W. Norton & Co., 2004, 304 pages. Google preview accessed 1-1-2014 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=NuP7ATq9nWgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Chicago Sunday Tribune. “Thousands Routed by Floods.” 6-30-1957, p. 2. Accessed 2-10-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-tribune-jun-30-1957-p-2/
Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. Hurricane. New York: Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1958, 393 pp.
Drabek, Thomas E. The Human Side of Disaster. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2010.
Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.
Environment and Climate Change Canada. Notable Canadian Tropical Cyclones [webpage]. Accessed 2-10-2020 at: http://www.ec.gc.ca/ouragans-hurricanes/default.asp?lang=En&n=CC8A7AA0-1
Hebert, Paul J., J.D. Jarrell, Max Mayfield. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes of This Century (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS-NHC-31). Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce 1993, 41 pages.
Hebert, Paul J. and Glenn Taylor. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes of This Century (and Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts) (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC 18). Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1983, 24 pages. At: http://ratfish.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1983-18.pdf
History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957. “Hurricane Audrey Hits Gulf Coast.” At: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=06/25&categoryId=disaster
Jacksonville Courier, IL. “Hurricane Toll May Be 4,000.” 6-28-1957, p. 1. Accessed 2-10-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/jacksonville-courier-jun-28-1957-p-1/
Jarrell, Jerry D., Max Mayfield, Edward N. Rappaport, Christopher W. Landsea. The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes From 1900 to 2000 (And Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts) (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS TPC-1). Miami, FL: NOAA NWS and Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, October 2001 Update. Accessed at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/deadly/index.html
Moore, Paul L and staff. “The Hurricane Season of 1957.” Monthly Weather Review. NOAA, Dec. 1957, 8 pp. At: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1957.pdf
Newspaperarchive.com. “Hurricane Audrey Kills 500.” Accessed 2-11-2009 at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Articles/Hurricane-Audrey-kills-500.aspx
Odessa American, TX. “Storm Victim at Orange Dies in Rescue Try.” 6-28-1957, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=16394215
Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf
Ross, Robert B. and Maurice D. Blum. “Hurricane Audrey, 1957.” Monthly Weather Review, June 1957, 221-227. At: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1957.pdf
Roth, David. Louisiana Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: National Weather Service, 4-8-2010. Accessed at: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/lahur.pdf
Roth, David. Louisiana Hurricane History: Late 20th Century. Lake Charles, LA: National Weather Service Forecast Office Lake Charles, LA, NOAA, 6-4-2003 modification. Accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/lalate20hur.php
Roth, David (National Weather Service). Texas Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS. 1-17-2010 update. Accessed 11-22-2017 at: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/txhur.pdf
Roth, David. Texas Hurricane History: Late 20th Century. National Weather Service, Weather Service Forecast Office, Lake Charles, LA, NOAA, 1998; June 23, 2003 modification. Accessed at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/txlate20hur.php
Sav, Thomas G. Natural Disasters: Some Empirical and Economic Considerations (Final Report, NBSIR 74-473). Washington, DC: National Bureau of Standards, Institute for Applied Technology, Center for Building Technology, Building Economics Section, February 1974, 74 pages. Accessed 7-12-2017 at: http://www.fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build74/PDF/b74006.pdf
United States Coast Guard. Commandant’s Action on Marine Board of Investigation; collision of the F/V Keturah with offshore drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, 26 June 1957 and sinking with loss of life. Washington DC: Commandant, USCG, Jan 21, 1958. Accessed at: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/docs/boards/keturah.pdf
Wikipedia. “Hurricane Audrey.” 5-5-2012 mod. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Audrey
[1] Dunn and Miller: “Audrey left 390 known dead and the total may have exceed 500 since there were 192 persons reported missing.”
[2] Authors add note “at least,” page 7, table 2, note h.
[3] Hebert and Taylor note that “some 344 of these lost on ships at sea.” p. 4.
[4] “Audrey left 390 known dead, including 263 identified and 127 unidentified. There were 192 persons reported missing many of whom may be among the 127 unidentified dead.” (Moore, Monthly Weather Review, 1957, p 401.)
[5] “The most quoted total of lives lost by all causes due to Audrey is around 526 people; most of them were in Cameron Parish.” (Roth, Louisiana Hurricane History: Late 20th Century. Lake Charles NWS, 4 June 2003.
[6] Both Roth and the Coast Guard note 9 Texas fatalities, however Roth has seven fatalities for the Keturah, whereas the Coast Guard has it at nine. Roth has two other Texas fatalities, presumably on the mainland. We know from the Odessa American that there was an electrocution death at Orange. Therefore, if the Coast Guard is correct and there were nine fatalities on the Keturah, and if Roth is correct that there were two other fatalities, then there were eleven in all. If Roth is correct as to seven on the Keturah, then there were nine, assuming that he is correct on two other fatalities. There was certainly at least one mainland death. Thus there were 9-11 deaths.
[7] At page 49 Roth writes that there were nine deaths, “7 of which resulted from the sinking of the fishing boat Keturah off of Galveston (Morgan).” This implies that there were two elsewhere, but I have not been able to verify this. Thus I count only the nine attributed to the loss of the Keturah.
[8] While this report notes 9 fatalities, it also states that it was not clear exactly how many men were aboard.
[9] Associated Press. “Storms Bring Floods to Central Illinois.” Dixon Evening Telegraph, IL. 6-29-1957, p. 1.
[10] Associated Press. “Storms Bring Floods to Central Illinois.” Dixon Evening Telegraph, IL. 6-29-1957, p 1.
[11] Chicago Sunday Tribune. “Thousands Routed by Floods.” 6-30-1957, p. 2.
[12] AP. “‘Little Audrey Strikes…4 Die in State…” Daily Bulletin, Endicott, NY, 6-29-1957, p. 1
[13] Associated Press. “‘Little Audrey Strikes, Trees, Utility Lines Hit…4 Die in State as Storm Leaves Damaging Path.” Daily Bulletin, Endicott, NY, 6-29-1957, p. 1. Notes the jet was out of Langley Field, VA on way to Niagara Falls Air Force Base. Pilot identified as Lt. Col. Gilbert Nveling, 41, of Hampton, VA.
[14] AP. “‘Little Audrey Strikes…4 Die in State…” Daily Bulletin, Endicott, NY, 6-29-1957, p. 1.
[15] Roth (June 4, 2003) notes “Highest winds were reported to 96 m.p.h. at the NWS site with reports up to 105 m.p.h. in Lake Charles.”
[16] Roth (June 4, 2003) notes that this unofficial report was received from an oil rig.
[17] Ross and Blum (1957, 221) note that 10.6 feet m.s.l between 1600 and 1700 GMT at Cameron, LA.
[18] “Water on the coast reached as high as 15 feet above the normal high-tide mark.” (History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 25, 1957.)
[19] Footnote 2 states that “A high water mark found on Oak Grove Ridge, just north of the mouth of the Mermentau River, was subsequently established as 13.9 ft. m.s.l. by Corps of Engineers.”
[20] The tornadoes reportedly killed 2 and injured 14 others in Mississippi and Alabama.
[21] Moore et al, “The Hurricane Season of 1957, Monthly Weather Review, NOAA, December 1957, p. 401