The Nation : Hurricane Hits Texas Coast; One Killed

Hurricane Chantal roared ashore on the upper Texas Gulf Coast with 80-m.p.h. winds and driving rain, killing one person and leaving scattered power outages and flooding, but quickly lost its punch after hitting land. About three hours after the storm made landfall at High Island, it had weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm, and by nightfall the storm had been downgraded to a tropical depression. The storm was blamed for the death of a man who fell from a Chevron oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico south of New Orleans. No injuries were reported in Texas. About 20 miles off the coast, divers returned to another capsized Chevron oil rig to search for 10 missing crewmen despite 10-foot seas and 43-m.p.h. winds left behind by the hurricane. The rig, leased from Avis Bourg Co. of Folsom, had left the work site because of the threat of Chantal and capsized on the way.