An infamous date for Acadiana is fast approaching. June 27 will mark the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Audrey making landfall. Donovan Landreneau and Sam Shamburger with the Lake Charles National Weather Service have put together an excellent web page describing conditions experienced during the storm. They painstakingly stitched together radar imagery from military air bases in Houston and Alexandria, and have recreated the storm’s surge with the National Hurricane Center’s SLOSH model. As far as I know, the wind gust listed by this report for Lafayette (86mph) is probably the highest recorded wind since the airport has kept records dating back to 1941. Although Rita’s surge was worse than Audrey’s, the winds and the tragic loss of life with the storms 50 years ago were much worse for Acadiana and Southwest Louisiana. Audrey’s deadliest element was surprise.
Audrey's 50th Anniversary Approaching
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