Research Paper On Hurricane Alicia Hurricane

In August of 1983 Hurricane Alicia slammed into Texas coastline causing mass destruction. The hurricane formed near Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico before hitting Texas. Hurricane Alicia was responsible for the death of 21 people, along with nearly two billion dollars in damages. Alicia was the first ever billion dollar hurricane to destroy Texas. Hurricane Alicia tore through Galveston and Houston with wind speeds of 115 miles per hour destroying parts of the cities and created at least 23 reported tornadoes to add to the damages. Nearly 750,000 lost power and over 8,000 miles of power lines was down during the storm leaving people without power for over a week. The hurricane ruined many large business and buildings and tons of residential homes. Since the damage was so detrimental, the hurricanes name was retired.
The United States hadn’t experienced a Hurricane in three years until Hurricane Alicia hit Galveston, Texas and along the gulf coast. The hurricane was reported as a Category 3 hurricane, with high winds of almost 100 mph and strong gusts up to about 127 mph. The town of Seabrook by Galveston Beach got a 12-foot tsunami like storm surge and an 11-foot tide completely flooded through buildings
in the Seabrook area. Large amounts of rain fell throughout part of Texas. Houston received 11 inches in a short time period. Luckily, Alicia moved quickly so inland areas did not suffer from terrible flooding.
The Red Cross cared for about 63,000 people following the hurricane which costs about $166 million.
FEMA donated approximately $32 million to people affected by the hurricane and to the local governments in order to begin the rebuilding process. Within the money they donated about $23 million of that went to cleaning up debris left over after the storm. Over 16,000 people received aid from FEMA's disaster relief service centers. The Small Business Administration came to help by sending 56 people to volunteer and interviewed over 16,000 individuals affected by the hurricane. The Federal Insurance Agency had gone through 1,318 flood insurance cases from Hurricane Alicia's devastation, unfortunately only 782 people ever received final payment from their
insurance.
Just a few weeks after the hurricane two subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives held hearing sessions in Houston. The first hearing was on September 23 and was planned to investigate the issues of the National Weather Service during Hurricane Alicia, but also the positives including the effectiveness of the National Weather Service in current procedures, and how to improve the use of the National Weather Service. The second hearing, began on September 24, and was used to talk about the damage and recovery efforts that would take place during and after Hurricane Alicia.
Even after the storm, it was still very difficult for transportation. A majority of streets and roads were inaccessible due to fallen trees, signs, and other debris blocking the roads. The bridges in the area were fine for the most part. The airports and railroads in and around Houston were closed during the hurricane and closed for a period of time after the hurricane had passed. The water supply and sewage was greatly affected by loss of power that occurred to millions of people. The problem lied in the fact that sewer systems became filled with sand and water from Galveston beach and dragged in by huge waves that flooded the city.
Although Hurricane Alicia was one of the United States most expensive hurricanes reported for property damage, the death count was much lower than expected. The cleanup and recovery took weeks. The return to normalcy took a little longer. The state rebuilt itself and made changes to how they prepared for future hurricanes that would hit. People are much quicker to evacuate now and realize the real dangers of these kinds of storms.