1980 — Aug 6-10, Hurricane Allen, TX & off LA coast (includes copter crash 13 deaths)–24

lornajarrettblanchard August 6, 1980

Internationally (~275)

— 275 Blanchard tally from country breakouts below.

— 272 Longshore. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones (New Ed.). 2008, p. 8.

— 249 National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Allen, 31 July-11 August 1980. NOAA.

— 234 Lawrence and Pelissier. “Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1980.” V109, July 1981, p. 1569.

— 3 Cuba. Electrocutions; man, 30, son, 13, and male, 36.[1]

— 3 Dominican Republic.[2]

— 1 Guadeloupe.[3]

— ~220 Haiti, Aug 5. (Longshore and NHC.)

— 8 Jamaica.[4]

— 18 St. Lucia.[5]

— 24 United States.

United States (24)

— 24 Roth, David (NOAA) 2003 (including helicopter crash on Aug. 6 off LA coast).

— 24 Roth, David (NWS). Texas Hurricane History. Jan 17, 2010 update, p. 57.

— 24 BWB tally based on Louisiana and Texas breakouts below.

— 2 Lawrence and Pelissier. “Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1980.” V. 109, July 1981, p. 1569.

Louisiana: (17)

— 17 State. During evacuation efforts.[6]

— 13 ~90 miles off Houma, Aug 6. ODECO helicopter crashes evacuating platform workers.[7]

— 4 Offshore on oil rig[8] or barge, Aug 8.[9]

Texas: ( 7)

–4-7 South Texas.[10]

— 7 South Texas. Blanchard tally based on location and cause of death breakouts below.

— 5 State. UPI. “State continues Allen clean-up.” Galveston Daily News. 8-13-1980, p. 1.

— 2 State (“directly attributed”).[11]

— 2 State. Heart attacks “during the storm.”[12]

— 1 Corpus Christi. Drowning in car in ditch; female (Ruby Bohler), 73.[13]

— 1 Corpus Christi. Drowning; body found on the beachfront; male, 52.[14]

–1-3 Galveston. Missing fishermen reported “swept away in high waves.”[15]

Narrative Information — Louisiana

Aug 7: “New Orleans (AP) – Two men were sighted in the Gulf of Mexico today near the wreckage of a helicopter that was evacuating 13 oil rig workers in the advance of Hurricane Allen, the Coast Guard said. “They’ve found the wreckage of the helicopter but we don’t know if they are dead or alive,” said Coast Guard spokesman Joe Gibson. The Coast Guard said a civilian boat found the wreckage about 60 miles southwest of Houma, La. The Ocean Drilling and Exploration Co. said the pilot and five of its employees were aboard the helicopter, along with seven workers from various offshore services companies….ODECO spokesman Al Spindler said the helicopter picked up the last men from a company oil production platform about 90 miles southwest of Houma and was headed to shore when it disappeared.” (Paris News (TX). “Two Sighted Near Helicopter Wreckage,” Aug 7, 1980, 4.)

Planecrashinfo.com: “Crashed after continued VFR flight into adverse weather conditions. No windshield wipers, unreliable attitude indicator and inoperative turn needle.”

(Planecrashinfo.com.)

Texas

Roth: “Allen formed 1100 miles east of Barbados on August 1st. It moved westward through the Atlantic and became a hurricane on the 3rd, when about 120 miles east of Barbados. The storm became the strongest hurricane ever in the Caribbean on the 7th, with winds of 185 m.p.h. sustained and higher gusts, and a pressure of 899 mb (26.55″). It began to weaken as it entered the Gulf of Mexico on the 8th as it moved west-northwest. Dry air began to intrude into the system which caused weakening. As it slowed to a crawl off of Brownsville, dry air continued to be entrained and it kept weakening. Allen made landfall as a category 3 hurricane near Port Mansfield on August 10th.

“Highest wind gust reported was from Port Mansfield, 138 m.p.h. Storm surges reached 12 feet at Port Mansfield. Five foot surges were reported up to Galveston Island. Severe beach erosion took place as far away as Port Arthur, completely destroying Texas highway 87 between High Island and Sabine Pass on the 9th. The pressure at Brownsville fell to 28.62″. Winds gusted to 92 mph at Corpus Christi. Buildings in Brownsville had up to 4 ft. of water. Padre Island was cut through in 68 places, by one count. Tornadoes damaged 25 homes in Penita and injured 3 in San Antonio. About 300,000 people evacuated. Seven died in Texas and 17 in Louisiana; most in Louisiana [13] died as a helicopter evacuating them from an offshore platform crashed. Damages totaled $1 billion. Rains from Allen relieved a serious drought in Southern Texas.” (Roth 2003)

Sources

Associated Press, Merida, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. “Allen churns toward Yucatan Channel.” Alton Telegraph, IL, 8-7-1980, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=116008776&sterm=allen+oil+rig+dead

Associated Press, Brownsville, TX. “Allen roaring toward Texas.” Kokomo Tribune, IN. 8-10-1980, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=115502652&sterm=allen

Associated Press, Corpus Christi (Mack Sisk). “Texas ‘truly blessed’ Allen damage no worse.” Herald-Zeitung, New Braunfels, TX, 8-12-1980, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2014 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=115469932&sterm=hurricane+allen+dead

Lawrence, Miles B. and Joseph M. Pelissier (National Hurricane Center). “Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1980.” Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 109, July 1981, pp. 1567-1582. Accessed 9-9-2014 at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/mwr_pdf/1980.pdf

Longshore, David. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones (New Edition). New York, NY: Facts on File, 2008. 468 pages. Google preview accessible at: http://books.google.com/books?id=8kXwskQHBLoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Allen, 31 July-11 August 1980. NOAA. Accessed 9-9-2014 at: http://hurricanecentral.freeservers.com/Prelim_Reports/1980_Allen.htm

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Memorable Gulf Coast Hurricanes of the 20^th Century. Accessed 9-9-2014 at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/mgch.html

Planecrashinfo.com. “1980. Accident Details. Air Logistics, Houma, LA…Aug 6, 1980.” Accessed at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1980/1980-39.htm

Roth, David (National Weather Service). Texas Hurricane History. Camp Springs, MD: NWS. 1-17-2010 update. Accessed 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

United Press International. “Allen’s Death Toll Goes Up With New Haitian Fatalities.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA, 8-12-1980, p. 20. Accessed 9-8-2014 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=149695644&sterm=hurricane+allen+dead

United Press International, Corpus Christi. “State continues Allen clean-up.” Galveston Daily News. 8-13-1980, 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=110203809&sterm

Valley Independent, Monessen, PA. “Gulf Area Braces.” 8-8-1980, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=29106772

[1] Associated Press, Mexico. “Allen churns toward Yucatan Channel.” Alton Telegraph, IL, 8-7-1980, p. 1.

[2] Associated Press, Mexico. “Allen churns toward Yucatan Channel.” Alton Telegraph, IL, 8-7-1980, p. 1.

[3] National Hurricane Center. “Casualty and Damage Statistics,” Hurricane Allen, 31 July-11 August 1980.

[4] Associated Press, Mexico. “Allen churns toward Yucatan Channel.” Alton Telegraph, IL, 8-7-1980, p. 1.

[5] NHC. “Casualty and Damage Statistics,” Hurricane Allen, 31 July-11 Aug 1980. (Longshore (1980, 8) has 16.

[6] UPI. “State continues Allen clean-up.” Galveston Daily News. 8-13-1980, p. 1.

[7] AP, Aug 7; Longshore 8; Planecrashinfo.com; Roth 2003; Valley Independent (Monessen, PA), 8-6-1980, p. 1.

[8] UPI. “Allen’s Death Toll Goes Up With New Haitian Fatalities.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA, 8-12-1980, p.20.

[9] “…one person was dead and three were missing after a barge overturned near Lake Charles, La., Friday night.” (Associated Press, Brownsville, TX. “Allen roaring toward Texas.” Kokomo Tribune, IN. 8-10-1980, p. 1.)

[10] UPI. “Allen’s Death Toll Goes Up With New Haitian Fatalities.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA, 8-12-1980, p.20.

[11] NOAA. Memorable Gulf Coast Hurricanes of the 20^th Century.

[12] UPI. “Allen’s Death Toll Goes Up With New Haitian Fatalities.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA, 8-12-1980, p. 20.

[13] AP (Sisk). “Texas ‘truly blessed’ Allen damage no worse.” Herald-Zeitung, New Braunfels, TX, 8-12-1980, p. 1. Another report writes that the victim “repeatedly refused police help after her car stalled in floodwaters…” (UPI. “Allen’s Death Toll Goes Up With New Haitian Fatalities.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA, 8-12-1980, p. 20.)

[14] AP (Sisk). “Texas ‘truly blessed’ Allen damage no worse.” Herald-Zeitung, New Braunfels, TX, 8-12-1980, p. 1. Another report, apparently referring to the same man, writes that the victim was found in his flooded home. (UPI. “Allen’s Death Toll Goes Up With New Haitian Fatalities.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA, 8-12-1980, p. 20.)

[15] UPI. “Allen’s Death Toll Goes Up With New Haitian Fatalities.” The Progress, Clearfield, PA, 8-12-1980, p.20.