text: tropical storm debra ( 1978 ) tropical storm debra was the second of two tropical storms to hit the united states in the 1978 atlantic hurricane season . the fourth named storm of the season , debra developed from the interaction between a high - altitude cold low and a lower tropical wave in the gulf of mexico . forming on august 25 , it was upgraded to tropical storm debra based on data from a hurricane hunter aircraft . as debra approached the coast , it attained peak winds of 60 mph ( 95 km / h ) . the storm made landfall on the coast of louisiana , east of the texas border . two deaths were caused by the storm . debra weakened as it moved inland and ultimately dissipated on august 29 over arkansas . meteorological history debra originated in an upper - level cold - core low pressure system that developed over southwestern florida in late august 1978 . the low moved southwest towards the yucatán peninsula over the next day , as a tropical wave drifted westwards from the caribbean sea . the interaction between the upper - level system and the wave led to the formation of a tropical depression on august 26 around 460 miles ( 740 km ) south of new orleans . at first the depression drifted westward but , as the western periphery of a high - pressure area weakened , it tracked towards the north and slowly strengthened . after a reconnaissance aircraft found surface winds of 45 mph ( 70 km / h ) on august 28 , the depression was upgraded to tropical storm debra . the aircraft also recorded a minimum pressure of 1002 mbar ( hpa ; 29 . 59 inhg ) . while debra approached the coast of louisiana , an additional flight into the system found a drop in surface pressure to 1000 mbar ( hpa ; 29 . 53 inhg ) , as well as peak winds of approximately 60 mph ( 100 km / h ) at 00 : 00 gmt on august 29 . observation stations off the coast recorded sustained winds of 45 – 50 mph ( 70 – 80 km / h ) on august 28 , as debra passed 150 miles ( 240 km ) to the west . the storm made landfall between beaumont , texas , and lake charles , louisiana , on august 28 . two stations recorded surface pressures of 1002 mbar ( hpa ; ( 29 . 59 inhg ) ) . as debra moved north - northeast through louisiana and arkansas , the central pressure rose slightly . in south central arkansas the residual low pressure system merged with a frontal trough on august 29 ; the frontal wave drifted into southern illinois and traveled eastbound into the ohio valley for the next three days . five tornadoes were reported from the system in texas , louisiana , and mississippi shortly after debra 's landfall . preparations and impact louisiana a flash flood watch was issued in advance of debra for the whole of louisiana . exxonmobil , royal dutch shell , chevron , and other oil companies shut down operations and evacuated about 1 , 000 employees from offshore oil rigs in texas and louisiana . despite these evacuations , a 15 - foot ( 4 . 6 m ) wave killed a person at a rig 80 miles ( 130 km ) offshore from cameron . three evacuation centers in lake charles , were set up to help those needing shelter and departing the cameron area , and the red cross opened four shelters at the calcasieu parish public schools . in louisiana , more than six thousand people were evacuated from cameron parish , as well as an undetermined number from vermilion parish . louisiana had moderate flooding , especially in rapides parish . rainfall amounted to 6 inches ( 15 cm ) at lake charles and lafayette , 3 inches ( 7 . 6 cm ) at shreveport , and 3 . 5 inches ( 8 . 9 cm ) at monroe . flash flood warnings were issued during the storm for louisiana , mississippi , arkansas , missouri , and tennessee . by dawn on august 29 , all rainwater had receded from the streets and tides were back to normal levels . a confirmed tornado at the ike settlement in vernon parish , knocked over a trailer . the greatest amount of rainfall caused by debra , 10 . 81 in ( 275 mm ) , was recorded in freshwater bayou lock . more than 6 in ( 150 mm ) was recorded across louisiana , and tides between atchafalaya bay and vermilion bay were 5 . 7 ft ( 1 . 7 m ) above normal . at grand chenier , a wind gust of 65 miles per hour ( 105 km / h ) to 70 miles per hour ( 110 km / h ) was recorded , and there were reports of downed trees and damage to roofs in lake charles and new orleans . tides at lake pontchartrain were 2 feet ( 0 . 61 m ) to 3 feet ( 0 . 91 m ) above normal . elsewhere gale warnings were prompted from galveston , texas , through to grand isle , louisiana , at 18 : 00 gmt on august 28 . a confirmed tornado in hardin county , texas , damaged a trailer home and power lines . more than 6 inches ( 150 mm ) of rainfall was recorded within texas and 7 inches ( 180 mm ) in the beaumont – port arthur area caused minor street flooding . tides were 1 ft ( 0 . 30 m ) above normal at corpus christi , while tides at galveston were 2 . 2 ft ( 0 . 67 m ) above normal . a tornado spawned in turkey creek , mississippi , destroyed three mobile homes and a house , killing one person and seriously injuring another ; this tornado tracked on to crystal springs , mississippi . many rice stands were knocked over because of the gusts of wind from tropical storm debra . rainfall of more than 6 in ( 15 cm ) was recorded in locations across mississippi , missouri , and illinois . tornadoes were reported in memphis , tennessee ; little rock , arkansas ; starkville , springdale , and flora in mississippi ; livingston and ascension parishes and north lafayette in louisiana . one person was hurt in the memphis tornado . power was knocked out at four blocks of the memphis international airport , gas supplies were cut off in memphis , and downed trees and power poles blocked many streets . overall damage caused by debra was minimal .