Hurricane Edith was the strongest
hurricane to form during the
1971 Atlantic hurricane season. It developed from a
tropical wave on September 5 and quickly strengthened into a hurricane in the
Caribbean Sea. Edith
rapidly intensified on September 9 and made landfall on
Cape Gracias a Dios as a
Category 5 hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It quickly lost intensity over Central America and after briefly entering the
Gulf of Honduras it crossed the
Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. After moving across the
Gulf of Mexico a
trough turned the storm to the northeast and Edith, after having restrengthened while accelerating towards the coast, made landfall on
Louisiana with winds of 105 mph (170 km/h) on September 16. Edith steadily weakened over land and dissipated over
Georgia on September 18.
The hurricane killed two people when it passed near
Aruba. Striking northeastern Central America as a Category 5 hurricane, Edith destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least 35 people. In
Texas high tides caused coastal flooding but little damage. Edith caused moderate to heavy damage in portions of Louisiana due to flooding and a tornado outbreak from the storm. One tornado, rated F3 on the
Fujita Scale, damaged several homes and injured multiple people in
Baton Rouge. The tornado outbreak extended eastward into Florida, of which a few destroyed entire buildings. Damage in the United States totaled $25 million (1971
USD, $...
Read More