Hurricane Fern (1971)

Fern formed in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana and drifted slowly southwest down the Texas coast.^1,2 NHC's best track brings Fern ashore near Corpus Christi, Texas, at 0000 UTC on September 11, 1971 (7 p.m. CDT on September 10) as a Category 1 hurricane with 75-knot (86 mph) winds and a 979 mb pressure, with a second landfall point at the same strength six hours later.^3,1

Storm surge reached 6.0 feet above mean sea level at Freeport, 5.5 feet at Galveston, 5.0 feet at Aransas Pass and 3.0 feet at Corpus Christi.⁴ Gusts over 100 mph blew away the wind instrument at Port O'Connor at 10 a.m. on September 10.⁵ In Corpus Christi, gusts reached 70 mph, breaking some plate glass windows and causing minor roof damage.² Rain of 10 to 26 inches fell on the Coastal Bend, with 26.00 inches at Beeville, and major flooding hit parts of the Frio, Lavaca, Navidad, San Antonio, Guadalupe, Mission and Aransas rivers.^6,1,5 A levee break at Robstown put water into 40 blocks on the southwest side of town.⁵ Several F0 to F1 tornadoes touched down across the Central and Southern Texas Coastal Plains from September 10 to 12.¹ An estimated 6,500 homes and 1,000 businesses within 50 miles of Corpus Christi were damaged.² National Weather Service figures put damage at $30 million, including $5 million at Sinton, and two people died.^5,2,6