On the evening of June 24, 1957, the Weather Bureau Office in New Orleans issued the first advisory on a tropical depression in the Bay of Campeche. There was no satellite in 1957. The decision was based on general meteorological observations from Mexico and a report from a shrimp boat. The system was nearly stationary in an area where sea surface temperatures were running some 2 to 3 degrees above normal, around 85F.
The eyes and ears of hurricane forecasters in those days was aircraft reconnaissance. A recon flight on the morning of the 25th found that system was already a hurricane, with max winds of 85 knots. The central pressure was 989 mb. A hurricane watch was issued for the Texas and Louisiana coasts. A late afternoon recon fix found that the pressure had dropped to 979 mb and winds were increased on the advisory to 100 mph.
On the morning of the 26th, reconnaissance indicated that the hurricane had increased in size and intensity, with the central pressure down to 973 mb. Audrey was centered about 280 miles south of Cameron Parish, in extreme Southwest Louisiana. The hurricane was moving a little east of north at 7-10 mph. Radar tracking flights were conducted through the afternoon and evening, but no more central pressure readings were made.
People in the low lying areas around Cameron, Louisiana monitored the advisories that afternoon. All persons in low and exposed places were told they should move to higher ground, but importantly, the advisories stated that the center would reach the coast late Thursday. People in Cameron got their news from Lake Charles, which is another 40 miles inland from them. The 10 p.m. advisory placed the storm 235 miles south of Lake Charles moving north at 10 mph. Winds were estimated to still be 100 mph. Tides of 5-9 feet were predicted along the coast. People along the coast listened to the 10 p.m. newscasts from Lake Charles, in which broadcasters said that no action was required overnight.
Unfortunately, Audrey was intensifying rapidly and moving faster. A special advisory was issued at 1 a.m., stating that the hurricane would reach the coast before noon on that morning, but people in Cameron were asleep, their cars packed to leave at first light. They went to bed thinking that they had time to escape. They awakened to the sound of water sloshing in their homes as a storm surge of 12 feet inundated the coast and penetrated a great distance inland across the low lying parish. The storm had intensified rapidly during the final hours before landfall, with the central pressure dropping from 973 mb to an official 945 mb. Some experts believe the central pressure was closer to 938 mb.
A total of 390 people died in the category four hurricane.
