"The Great Storm reigns today as the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Between 10,000 and 12,000 people died during the storm...the added toll on commercial structures created a monetary loss of $30 million, about $700 million in today's dollars" (Smith 2003).

A more recent powerful tropical system that affected the Texas coast was that of Hurricane Carla. Carla illustrated how storms are particularly damaging to the low-lying areas of Texas near the Gulf Coast. "Carla's circulation enveloped the entire Gulf of Mexico with fringe effects along all Gulf Coast states," and one-half million residents of the area had to be evacuated to higher ground ("Texas Hurricane History," 2008, USA Today).

Because of its location in the Southeast, Houston is subject to the El Nino effect, the climate changes that occur because of variations in water temperature in the Pacific Ocean. El Nino years tend to have higher levels of...
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