Hurricane Celia

Hurricane Celia was the costliest tropical cyclone in Texas history until Hurricane Alicia in 1983. The eighth tropical cyclone, third named storm, and second hurricane of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season, Celia developed in the western Caribbean Sea from a tropical wave on July 31. Initially, the depression tracked north-northwestward without significantly intensify. By the following day, the depression crossed over western Cuba and entered into the Gulf of Mexico soon thereafter. Shortly after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Celia. With warm sea surface temperatures, Celia rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on the August 1.

The intensification was temporary and Celia weakened to a minimal hurricane the next morning. As Celia moved towards the Texas coastline, it began to rapidly intensify again. The storm reached its peak as it made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, as a strong Category Three hurricane late on August 3. The storm caused 15 fatalities in Texas before dissipating inland the next day. Damages in Texas totaled to $930 million, making Celia the costliest disaster in Texas history at the time. To date, Celia is last major hurricane to strike the city of Corpus Christi, Texas, directly.