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Effects of Hurricane Carla on the Ecology of Redfish Bay, Texas'

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Effects of Hurricane Carla on the Ecology of Redfish Bay, Texas' EFFECTS OF HURRICANE CARLA ON THE ECOLOGY OF REDFISH BAY, TEXAS' CARL H. OPPENHEIMER Institute of Marine Science, University of Miami ABSTRACT Hurricane Carla hit the Texas coast at Port O'Connor on September 8, 1961 with wind velocities up to 175 mph causing tides to 18.5 feet. A study of the effects of the storm immediately afterwards on Redfish Bay, 60 miles to the south of the storm center, showed the erosional effects caused by the water movement. The general ecological environments in the bay were not grossly affected by the storm. The sediments were disturbed to only a few mm and the grass beds were not damaged. Redfish Bay, Texas (Figure 1), located about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, is one of a series of inland bays formed by barrier islands characteristic of the coast of Texas. The shallow bay and mud flat environ- ments of Redfish Bay had been studied for coastline distribution of sedi- ment types, microflora, oxidation, reduction potentials, pH, and bottom communities, for approximately three years prior to hurricane Carla (Oppenheimer, 1960). Port Aransas is located on the north end of Mustang Island at the en- trance to the only pass (Aransas Pass) through the barrier islands between Pass Cavallo at Matagorda Bay in the north, and Port Mansfield in the South. Aransas Pass is stabilized by two jetties which extend several thousand feet into the Gulf. The channel is dredged from the jetties into Corpus Christi. A channel also has been dredged between Aransas Pass and the town of Aransas Pass on the mainland. Along this channel is the Aransas Pass Causeway. A description of the area can be obtained from Collier and Hedgpeth (1950) and Shepard and Moore (1955). The area is quite productive (Odum and Hoskins, 1960) and provides a growing area for mullet, red- fish, and other fishes, and a breeding ground for shrimp, the food of many of the fishes of the Texas coastal area. The last major hurricane occurred in 1954, when the water rose to 6.5 feet in the Port Aransas area. Hurricane Carla began to build up water along the Gulf coast on Sep- tember 8, 1961. The survey reported here was made approximately four days after the eye of hurricane Carla struck the coast at Port O'Connor, 60 miles north of Port Aransas (Figure 1). Reliable observations were IContribution No. 453 from The Marine Laboratory, Institute of Marine Science, University of Miami. Support for this survey was provided by the Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, St. Petersburg, Florida. 60 Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean [13(1) obtained for tidal heights, and radar pictures located the storm center. Actual conditions of rain, wave height and direction, and water height within the area were not easily obtained because the large amount of water carried by the high-velocity winds limited visual observation and damaged most instruments. Information for water level and movement was obtained from personal accounts of witnesses who remained at the storm site, and from official data of the U. S. Weather Bureau at Corpus Christi, Texas. The area surveyed consisted of a triangle between Corpus Christi, Port Aransas and Rockport, Texas. The ecological conditions were observed by aerial survey, bottom sampling and microscopic observation, and com- pared with observations and photographs made during the previous three years. Photograph locations are indicated on the chart in Figure 1. Salini- ties may be obtained from the Texas Game and Fish Commission, Rock- port, Texas. As hurricane Carla moved west through the Gulf, the tide started to rise at Port Aransas on the evening of September 8. On September 11 at approximately 3 P.M. Carla hesitated in its westerly movement for about five hours, the eye being located off Port O'Connor approximately 70 miles north of Port Aransas. At 2 P.M. September 12, the eye moved in over Port O'Connor and at 4 P.M. progressed up Matagorda Bay. The small town of Port O'Connor was completely destroyed. The wind velocity (registering 150 mph before the anemometer blew away) was estimated at 170 miles per hour, and tides of 18.5 were recorded. The eye of the storm was about 30 miles in diameter, with its northerly edge at Port O'Connor, as it passed directly up Matagorda Bay. The effects were felt from Brownsville, Texas, to Cameron, Louisiana. The lowest barometer reading was 27.5'0. Redfish Bay and vicinity, approximately 60 miles south of the eye of the hurricane, presented a unique situation with respect to change in wind direction and movement of wind-driven water because of the cyclonic wind movement. The waves and water moved coastward as the storm progressed to the west, causing the tides at Port Aransas to rise to 10.3 feet above mean low water, with waves and surges up to 40 feet. The Gulf water, moving westward, pushed into the bays behind the Barrier Islands. High waves and water progressed up the Corpus Christi ship channel toward Aransas Pass and Aransas Bay, causing a small amount of erosion along the channel edges and spoil banks. Sometime during the early hours of Monday, September 11, as the storm passed to the north, the wind shifted to the northwest and effectively counteracted the inward flow of tide into the bays and the wave action coming from the Gulf. This created a stabilizing effect upon the waves in this part of the Bay system and minimized erosion effects and as the storm progressed inland the wind velocity and wave action decreased. At the 19631 Oppenheimer: Effects of Hurricane Carla 61 same time, large amounts of rain fell which entered the Bay system, thus dropping the salinities and adding water to the Bay. The highest official tides and winds recorded were: Feet above Wind Velocity Rainfall MLW MPH (inches) Rockport 7.8 90 Corpus Christi 6.8 90 5.5 - 15 Port Aransas 10.9 125-(170 est.) Austwell 9.0 100-(1 SO est.) Observers noted that the wave action within the bays was not extensive. The highest waves were created by the storm moving inland, causing the Gulf waves to come into the bays for a limited distance. When the wind shifted to the northwest it formed waves which passed southward along Lydia Ann Channel toward Port Aransas. These, plus the Gulf waves which were coming in the Pass, caused considerable damage to the town waterfront. Although visual observations were limited, it is estimated by witnesses and from damage and erosion that the wave heights within Redfish Bay were less than three feet. As the storm moved inland the water moved out of the bays back to the Gulf, scouring out areas along Port Aransas, Aransas Pass Channel and Causeway, and the west spoil banks along Corpus Christi ship channel adjacent to Port Aransas. Four days after the storm this muddy water could be traced three to four miles into the Gulf as it passed out of Aransas Pass. (See Figure 12, which shows sedi- ment-filled water moving out of the shallow mud flats.) The fourth day after the storm the tide was still one foot above normal, and the mud flats and small islands behind the barrier islands were still flooded. Large expanses of normally exposed mud flats containing blue- green algae were still covered with water. The water in Redfish Bay, relatively fresh due to the rainfall, continued to move out of the Bay. The greatest effects of the storm were noted along the beach fronts of the many islands in Redfish Bay. The high tide and wind washed considerable material from the mud flats and the many spoil banks near the dredged channel, Aransas Pass and Padre Island causeways. Aerial observations were supplemented by photographs which may be compared with the aerial photographs taken prior to the storm. Figures 2 to 5 illustrate the extent of damage to the beach along the Gulf adjacent to Port Aransas. Figure 2 is of the north jetty. The beach front is cut back and the white sandy area shown was previously covered with dunes 10 to 25 feet high, similar to the few remaining dunes shown in the right center. Figure 3, taken a few hundred yards north of Figure 2, shows the result of the storm waves which passed over St. Joseph Island, almost leveling the high dunes which were previously present. The strip of beach at the top of 62 Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean [13(1) the photograph is St. Joseph Island. The water in the center is Lydia Ann Channel which connects Aransas Bay at the north with the Port Aransas channel. The mud flats in the bottom of the photograph will be referred to later. Figures 4 and 5 were taken of the South Jetty Beach before and after the storm. The beach has been badly eroded and the high dunes back of the beach have been leveled for about 300 feet from their previous location. Between dunes the hollows are filled with water. The pier has been partially destroyed and the line of waves indicates the typical bar structure of the area. Each line of waves represents an offshore bar. Two bars are shown in Figure 4. Figure 5 also shows the presence of two bars, the second bar not being as well defined as in Figure 4, which indicates that the bars did survive the storm or were immediately re-formed. Figures 6 and 7 were taken at the same location along the southeast shore of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel before and after the storm, respectively.
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