Hurricane Edith (1971)

Hurricane Edith was the strongest hurricane to form during the 1971 season, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Edith developed from a tropical wave on September 5 and quickly strengthened into a hurricane in the Caribbean Sea. Edith rapidly intensified on September 9 as it approached Central America, and it made landfall on Cape Gracias a Dios as a Category 5 hurricane, with sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). It quickly lost strength over Central America, and after briefly entering the Gulf of Honduras, Edith struck Belize as a strong storm. It crossed the Yucatán Peninsula and moved across the Gulf of Mexico, approaching but remaining just offshore Tamaulipas. A trough turned the storm to the northeast, and Edith restrengthened into a hurricane, making its final landfall on Louisiana with winds of 105 mph (170 km/h) on September 16. Edith steadily weakened over land and dissipated over Georgia on September 18.

The hurricane killed two people when it passed near Aruba. Striking northeastern Central America as a Category 5 hurricane, Edith destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least 35 people. In Texas, high tides caused coastal flooding but little damage. Edith caused moderate to heavy damage in portions of Louisiana due to flooding and a tornado outbreak from the storm. One tornado, rated F3 on the Fujita Scale, damaged several homes and injured multiple people in Baton Rouge. The tornado outbreak extended eastward into Florida, of which a few destroyed entire buildings. Damage in the United States totaled $25 million (1971 USD).