Tropical Storm Allison

Tropical Storm Allison
Tropical Storm Allison near peak intensity on June 5
Meteorological history
FormedJune 5, 2001
ExtratropicalJune 17, 2001
DissipatedJune 20, 2001
Tropical storm
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds60 mph (95 km/h)
Lowest pressure1000 mbar (hPa); 29.53 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities41 direct, 14 indirect (55 total)
Damage$9 billion (2001 USD)
Areas affectedTexas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New England, Atlantic Canada
IBTrACSEdit this at Wikidata

Part of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Allison was a tropical storm that devastated southeast Texas in June of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. An arguable example of the "brown ocean effect", Allison lasted unusually long for a June storm, remaining tropical or subtropical for 16 days, most of which was when the storm was over land dumping torrential rainfall. The storm developed from a tropical wave in the northern Gulf of Mexico on June 4, 2001, and struck the upper Texas coast shortly thereafter. It drifted northward through the state, turned back to the south, and re-entered the Gulf of Mexico. The storm continued to the east-northeast, made landfall on Louisiana, then moved across the southeast United States and Mid-Atlantic. Allison was the first storm since Tropical Storm Frances in 1998 to strike the northern Texas coastline.[1]

The storm dropped heavy rainfall along its path, peaking at over 40 inches (1,000 mm) in Texas. The worst flooding occurred in Houston, where most of Allison's damage occurred: 30,000 became homeless after the storm flooded over 70,000 houses and destroyed 2,744 homes. Downtown Houston was inundated with flooding, causing severe damage to hospitals and businesses. Twenty-three people died in Texas. Along its entire path, Allison caused $9 billion (2001 USD, $13.22 billion 2020 USD) in damage and 41 deaths. Aside from Texas, the places worst hit were Louisiana and southeastern Pennsylvania.

Following the storm, President George W. Bush designated 75 counties along Allison's path as disaster areas, which enabled the citizens affected to apply for aid. Then the fourth-costliest Atlantic tropical cyclone and still the costliest Atlantic tropical cyclone that was never a major hurricane, Allison was the first Atlantic tropical storm to have its name retired without ever having reached hurricane strength.

  1. ^ John P. Ivey (2002). "Flood Safety and Tropical Storm Allison" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2006-05-03. Retrieved 2006-05-15.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia

Developed by Nelliwinne