Hurricane Naomi

Hurricane Naomi on September 12, prior to landfall

A dispatch from the Associated Press to Mexico City reported that 20,000 citizens from villages in Durango, Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco evacuated due to the threat of flooding and high winds from Naomi. The damage from Naomi in Mexico was moderate, although no monetary figures have ever been released. The Associated Press dispatch also reported that Naomi was responsible for knocking out communications over a large area in Mazatlán as well as downing power lines and damaging houses.[1] At least 2000 people were reported homeless in Durango due to the hurricane.[6] The hurricane also caused damage to Highway 15 between Mazatlán and Tepic. Although the highway reopened soon afterward, some areas that were struck by the hurricane were still rough.[7] Naomi's most notable impact in Mexico involved the Lázaro Cárdenas Dam on the Nazas River, which was not complete by the time the hurricane hit.[8] The dam, upriver from Gómez Palacio and Torreón, was feared to break down from the water being built up behind it, influenced by the hurricane.[8] The two options were to either open the dam, saving Torreón by inundating Gómez Palacio,[9] or risk inundating both towns by keeping the dam closed. The decision was made harder by the fact that, if the dam was released and no rain fell to refill the basin behind the dam, the farms would have insufficient water for agricultural growth.[9] Photography from the Environmental Science Services Administration's Automatic Picture Transmission based on the ESSA-6 weather satellite showed that the clouds from Naomi responsible for the rain had almost moved over the area near the dam. Based on the images, the authorities decided to gamble on the dam to successfully hold up, and it managed to hold back the waters without breaking.[8] The hurricane caused four drowning deaths and $16 million in damage in Sinaloa.[10]

In Texas, the remnants of Naomi coupled with a frontal system resulted in prolonged rains over the state. The hardest hit city was Corpus Christi, which reported over 8 inches (200 mm) of rain in relation to the disturbance as well as funnel clouds to the south and west of the city, resulting in many roads being stopped to traffic.[11] Accumulated rainfall caused the roof of a tortilla plant to collapse, slightly injuring a worker.[4] Although the range of heavy rains was large, only minor rains were reported in Andrews, Crane, Monahans, Kermit, Wink, Stanton, and Pecos.[12] Despite the totals, the rain proved beneficial as well, helping saturate areas of grassland in need of water.[4]

This was the second time an East Pacific storm was named Naomi and the only time that a storm named Naomi in the basin reached hurricane strength.[2] Because the effects from the hurricane were minor, the name was not retired after this hurricane and was re-used in the 1976 season. However, a name change in 1978 dropped the name Naomi, and the name has not been used since.