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- Early in the hurricane season, tropical storms often form in the Gulf of
- Mexico, western Caribbean Sea, or the Bay of Campeche off the coast
- of Mexico. Hurricane Audrey, a June storm, fit this pattern.
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- It is the most powerful June storm on record in the Gulf of Mexico,
- Caribbean Sea or Atlantic Ocean. Audrey formed in the Bay of
- Campeche as a tropical storm on June 24, 1957.
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- Audrey moved due north from there and intensified rapidly into a
- hurricane in the southern Gulf of Mexico by June 26. The storm moved
- north toward the Texas and Louisiana coast and made landfall on
- June 27.
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- The storm intensified rapidly and made landfall as a Category 4
- hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
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- The Louisiana coastal area is especially vulnerable to a storm surge
- because of its low elevation. Storm surge from Audrey exceeded 12
- feet on the Louisiana coast as the storm made landfall near
- Beaumont, Texas. Gulf waters rushed over 25 miles inland.
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- Many homes were destroyed in the Lake Charles area, and offshore
- oil installations suffered heavy damage. Estimates placed damage
- totals at $150 million. Three hundred and ninety people perished.
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