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.
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.
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.
The storm intensified rapidly and made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
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.
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.
