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Topper's Blog: Indianola Hurricane, Indianola, Texas

11:48 PM, Sep 12, 2013   |    comments
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Remembering Indianola

The town of Indianola, Texas was rebuilt after seventy five percent was destroyed by a hurricane in 1875 on yesterday's date. Just eleven years later another hurricane hit the same town in 1886 wiping it off the map. It was never rebuilt, records were lost and all buildings were either burned down from the fuel lamps overturning or just washed away. Both storms pushed the Gulf waters and water from the Matagorda Bay twenty miles inland. Indianola was not far from where present day Port O'Connor is located.

The path of the Indianola Hurricane is similar to the path of Ike back in 2008. Both storms affected Cuba; the Indianola storm brushing the northern coast and the Ike traversing the entire length of the island. Ike made landfall on the north side of Galveston Island early in the morning on the thirteenth with winds of nearly 110 mph. The "Indianola" hurricane made landfall about one hundred miles south of Galveston. One reason why hurricanes traditionally become much more intense over the Gulf of Mexico (e.g. Ike, Indianola as well as Katrina and Camille) is because the water temperatures across the Gulf are typically in the mid 80s.

Most intense U.S. hurricanes making landfall:

Intensity is measured solely by central pressure Rank Hurricane Season Landfall pressure:


1 "Labor Day"     1935         892 mb    Sustained Winds: 160 mph

2 Camille             1969         909 mb                                 160 mph

3 Andrew             1992        922 mb                                 165 mph

4 Katrina              2005        922 mb                                 125 mph

5 "Indianola"        1886       925 mb                                 125 + ?

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