Evening star., 1961-09-12
HURRICANE
Texas Property Loss
2 May Hit $500 Million
HURRICANE
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Continued From First Page
that heavy rains - as much as
Is inches at Victoria, Tex, in
land from the coast-will bring
flooding of rivers and streams.
Cathedral Damaged
At Galveston, st. Mary's
Catholic Cathedral and an ad-
Joining school suffered extern
sive roof damage in the tor
nado. Police estimated that 80
to so cars were wrecked by
the tunnels winds.
The Weather Bureau issued
at least two forecasts of tor
nadoes for Texas. One tornado
struck near Nacogdoches in
deep East Texas, destroying a
barn and causing other
damage.
Wind gusts of 100 miles an
hour were reported from sew
eral East Texas points during
the day.
The gigantic hurricane. bat
tering the coast all the way
from Corpus Christi to Morgan
City, La, slammed ashore on
Matagorda Island after crawl
ing offshore for hours and
punching the coast with severe
winds and battering tides.
Sheriff D. B. Halliburton of
Calhoun County said Port
O'Connor, near the point where
Carla struck land. was SO per
cent destroyed. 1t had 1000
residents before it was evacu-
ated.
Two Deaths Reported
sSheriff's officers said two
deaths occurred in the Olivia
area, in the Port O'Connor
section, but did not state the
cause of death or give the
identity of the victims. Associ-
ated Press Staff Writer Ron
ME Thompson reported from
nearby Port Lavaca, another
hard-hit city.
Hurrying to succor coastal
cities were the United States
Navy's aircroft carriers Shang-
ri-La and Antietam, the de-
stroyerS Compton and Gil
anard, the transport Francis
Marion and two Marine Corps
helicopters.
Still huddled in shelters
across the State, still crowding
hotels, motels, parks and into
home of relatives, we're the
refugees whose lines of cars had
reached into Arkansas and
Oklahoma, 400 miles and more
from the coast.
Officials in both Louisiana
and Texas pleaded for the refu-
gees to stay out of the evacu-
ated towns. Flooding streams,
high tides, weakened levees,
and snakes by the thousands
were still a threat. National
Guardsmen, local officers and
Texas Rangers maintained anti
looting patrols in the area.
There was little the refugees
could do at home, officials Of
the two States warned, except
sutherland perhaps die.
Terrific winds and rains hit
Austin last night as the hurri-
cane inched forward, some
times hesitant but still power
full. Trees and limbs Uttered
Austin streets and made auto
mobile traffic dangerous.
Phone Circuits Out
Although injuries were few
in first reports. officials feared
there may be some unreported
as the storm still barreled
overland and heavy rains made
travel almost impossible. The
Southwestern Bell Telephone
Co. said it lost $4,000 circuits
soon after the storm struck
inland.
Spawned in the Caribbean
Sea, Carla shouldered between
Western Cuba and Mexico's Yu-
catan Peninsula last Thursday
to enter the Gulf of Mexico.
Weather Bureau warnings be-
gan almost Immediately.
Meteorologists first described
the great storm as dangerous"
Then Carla was called very
dangerous" and finally "ex-
tremely dangerous. Civil de-
fense officials said Carla might
be the "fiercest storm of the
goth century"
Her might and tides, reaching
as high as Is feet, proved there
was no exaggeration. The pop
ulace took warning and fled be-
fore the threat.
Civil defense leaders said a
half million people fled before
the storm. The Red Cross eSti-
mated the refugee flood at 300,-
900. Officials said the huge
evacuation saved thousands OF
lives and warnings helped save
millions in property damage.
Galveston, where 5000 per-
sons died in a 1900 hurricane,
apparently was one of the
hardest hit cities, even before
the tornado struck. Freeport, al
most totally evacuated, suffered
untold losses as a levee broke
and spilled high tides across
the town. Houston had heavy
damage.
and the damage continued to
pile up today as the storm
whipped through the midlands.
Livestock suffered heavily.
Cattle Was Trapped
Carla did her first harm
ashore as she hit Matagorda
Island where 1000 cattle were