CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — 53 years ago, the big weather story wasn't the extreme heat. It was another force of nature that was ravaging the Coastal Bend. Although today everything is colorful and lively, on August 3rd, 1970, death and destruction roared into the Coastal Bend, and it had a name. That name was Celia.
Hurricane Celia’s visit came as a surprise to everyone.
"When we first heard about it, it wasn’t a concern to anyone in Corpus Christi. It was weather just like this," former Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb said.
McComb said residents expected the storm to hit further south near McAllen and Brownsville, but Celia made an alarming course shift, giving them less than 24 hours to prepare.
"There wasn’t any warnings. Hurricane Celia was not coming to Corpus Christi on Sunday, and yet she landed on Monday," McComb said.
Those who were younger when Celia came to town remember it as if it was yesterday, like Corpus Christi woman Patricia Lopez, who was only seven when her house was swept through, leaving her family with nothing.
"I was little. We were there at the school, and we could see the telephone beams go through the trucks and the cars, and it destroyed them and everything," Lopez said.
Others also remember that day all too well.
"The water was all the way to our waist. I went to the school, and I had to help all the little people that were there because the roof collapsed. They were all just stuck in water," Corpus Christi man Adelfino Ortiz said.
Those who experienced Hurricane Celia woke up in the morning only to realize there was no way to contact their families to let them know what had happened.
"Corpus Christi has wiped off the face of the earth," McComb said.
Recovery lasted anywhere from months to years depending on the damage. Residents said it was anything but easy.
"There was not a breath of air, no breeze, there wasn’t any power. There was no air conditioning and it was extremely hot. Trying to recover from it was a long, hot process," McComb said.
Hurricane Celia left 15 dead in South Texas and damages totaled nearly half a billion dollars. Damage was caused by 160-mile-per-hour winds and gusts of up to 180 miles per hour. 70% of all homes and businesses in Corpus Christi were damaged by Celia.
Thanks to new technology, coastal residents can be warned of danger earlier, however technology cannot change the path of a storm. All residents can do is prepare and have a plan of action because it's not a question of will another hurricane hit the coastal bend, it's a question of when.
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