6.       HURRICANE/TROPICAL STORMS

    GENERAL SITUATION 

Hurricanes are tropical cyclones in which winds reach constant speed of 74 miles per hour or more, and blow in a large spiral around a relatively calm center (the eye of the hurricane).  Hurricanes are very large whirlwinds in which air moves in a tightening spiral around a center of extreme low pressure, reaching maximum velocity in a circular band  20 – 30 miles or more from the rim of the eye.  Near the center winds may gust up to 200 miles per hour with hurricane force winds (74 mph or greater) reaching to more than 100 to 150 miles from the center. 

Storm surge is the greatest cause of deaths during a hurricane.  Some surges reach 20 feet or more in height causing millions of dollars in damages from beach erosion, undermining roads, bridges, railroads, and structures along the waterfront.   

Hurricane Structure

The main parts of a hurricane (shown below) are the rainbands on its outer edges, the eye, and the eyewall. Air spirals in toward the center in a counter-clockwise pattern, and out the top in the opposite direction. In the very center of the storm, air sinks, forming the cloud-free eye.

The Eye

The hurricane's center is a relatively calm, clear area usually 20-40 miles across. People in the midst of a hurricane are often amazed at how the incredibly fierce winds and rain can suddenly stop and the sky clear when the eye comes over them. Then, just as quickly, the winds and rain begin again, but this time from the opposite direction.

Polk County is located a little over 100 miles inland and is not effected by storm surge, however, torrential rains, tornadoes and high winds cause huge losses.  Torrential rains have been known to produce up to 30 inches of rain or more, these rains cause severe flashfloods and riverine flooding along the river basins of the Trinity and Neches Rivers.  High winds cause trees to topple on houses and across power lines and roadways.  A prime example is Hurricane Jerry in 1989.  Jerry was a minimum category one hurricane that devastated the Southern and eastern parts of Polk County.  About half of the residents in these areas were without electricity for 5 to 10 days.  Trees were downed everywhere blocking roads and destroying houses.  Hurricanes do not have to strike Southeast Texas to impact Polk County, Storms as far away as Corpus Christi can spawn tornadoes and produce torrential rains of 8 – 10 inches or more.    

The upper Gulf Coast has enjoyed an unprecedented population explosion, with growth exceeding better than  57% over the past five years.  With this tremendous growth rate we are faced with many new problems, such as, a great many of the residents have very little or no hurricane experience.  The Upper Gulf Coast has not been impacted by a major hurricane in over fourteen years, residents feel safe and have grown complacent and do not heed evacuation warnings.  Projected traffic density along evacuation routes can create a condition that may preclude a safe evacuation, as many Southeast Texans experienced during Hurricane Andrew.  Even though Hurricane Andrew turned and did not impact the Texas Coast, many Texans that evacuated from the Golden Triangle found themselves stranded for hours on end in dense traffic  

Three evacuation routes cross into Polk County, US 59 that runs North from the Houston area, Texas 146 that runs North from the Galveston area, and FM 1276 that runs North from FM 105 out of the Beaumont area.  All of these routes come together in Livingston causing a gigantic bottleneck. (see Attachment “Evacuation Routes in Polk County”).  There is a concern that if: 

Ø      The Galveston – Houston area has an evacuation and

Ø      The Golden Triangle (Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur) areas evacuate. 

Both areas evacuating at the same time will cause a traffic “Nightmare” for Polk County. This would be a worst case scenario.  (See Attachment 6 – A for Hurricane Evacuation Routes.)  

Below is a list of hurricanes that have affected Polk County over the past fifteen years. 

Information source, National Weather Service and Polk County Enterprise   

This Homepage was prepared by Kenneth F. Hambrick, Polk County Coordinator. Contact at E-Mail address: webmaster@pcoem.org  for additional information about our program. The information contained in this Homepage is considered public domain and the Office of Emergency Management encourages interested persons to utilize any portions of it that might be of educational benefit or enhance their local programs.

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