Hurricane Elodie

Hurricane Elodie was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that was the costliest and deadliest natural disaster in the history of the United States, and the second-costliest natural disaster in recorded history. It was the fifth named storm and fourth hurricane of the 2027 Atlantic hurricane season.

The storm originated to the southeast of Puerto Rico on July 9th from a tropical wave. Early in the morning on the following day, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Elodie, which became Hurricane Elodie three days later. The newly formed hurricane swiftly moved to the west, rapidly intensifying on July 14th until it reached Category 5 status. It briefly weakened to a Category 4 as it took a sharp turn to the northwest and underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, and made its first landfall in Quintana Roo on July 16th at that intensity. Elodie emerged a weak Category 4 from the other side of the Yucatan Peninsula, but began to rapidly deepen once more, regaining Category 5 strength late on July 17th. As Elodie approached the Texas coast on July 22nd, a peak wind speed of 210 mph (340 km/h) and a central pressure of 870 mbar were recorded, making Elodie the strongest hurricane in the history of the Atlantic Ocean. Elodie made landfall on July 23 in Galveston, Texas, before moving across Texas and Oklahoma as it gradually weakened to a remnant low.

Hurricane Elodie brought cataclysmic destruction to the Gulf Coast, particularly in Texas around the Galveston area, much of it caused by its record-breaking storm surge. This surge reached heights of 37 feet (11.3 meters) in some places, breaching the Galveston seawall and shattering levees wherever it fell upon the coast. Severe property damage and destruction occurred along the Texas coast, where buildings were flattened by the winds and streets were flooded by the surge. The storm was the most intense landfalling cyclone, ahead of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, and the deadliest hurricane since Hurricane Mitch, inflicting 10,593 fatalities. 10,554 of these occurred in Texas, while 12 occurred in Louisiana, 2 occurred in Oklahoma, 18 occurred in the Yucatan Peninsula, 4 occurred in Honduras, and 3 occurred in Jamaica. Total damage was estimated at $207 billion (2027 USD), nearly twice that of Hurricane Katrina, making Elodie the costliest natural disaster since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

The breaches in the Galveston seawall and in levees along the Texas coast caused the vast majority of the deaths from Hurricane Elodie from July 23-25. 100% of the city was flooded, with 90% of structures completely destroyed.

Meteorological history
Hurricane Elodie formed as Tropical Depression Six to the southeast of Puerto Rico on July 9, 2027, from a quickly moving tropical wave. The storm strengthened into Tropical Storm Elodie in the morning of July 10, and became Hurricane Elodie three days later on July 13th.