It quickly weakened as it crossed Mexico, and after briefly redeveloping into a tropical depression in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Anita dissipated on September 4 to the south of the Baja California Peninsula.

[2] Initially it threatened to strike Texas, though building high pressures to the north of the hurricane turned Anita to the west-southwest.

[2][3] It rapidly weakened over the mountainous terrain of Mexico, and on September 3, about 25 hours after moving ashore, Anita emerged into the eastern Pacific Ocean as a tropical depression.

[7] An official from the National Weather Service recommended evacuation for all residents east of Galveston, Texas living in an area below 5 feet (1.5 m) above sea level; about 20,000 left Cameron, Louisiana.

[10] As the precursor tropical disturbance crossed southern Florida, it dropped light rainfall of over 1 inch (25 mm) in the Miami area.

[11] Later, as a developing tropical depression, the system produced gusty winds and heavy rainfall in southern Louisiana;[5] one station near Galliano reported over 3 inches (76 mm) of precipitation.

[11] Hurricane Anita produced a storm tide of 2 feet (0.6 m) above normal in Grand Isle, which resulted in hundreds of families being asked to leave their homes.

[8] The northern periphery of Hurricane Anita produced light to moderate rainfall across the southern portion of the state, which peaked at 4.97 inches (126 mm) at Rio Grande City.

A station near where the hurricane moved ashore recorded 17.52 inches (445 mm) of precipitation in six hours, which resulted in severe flooding and mudslides.

The winds destroyed the roofs of most buildings near where the hurricane moved ashore,[14] and also caused widespread power outages which disrupted communications.

[16] In Texas, the combination of moderate rainfall and high tides in low-lying marshland led to a mosquito outbreak near Galveston following the storm.

[18] On account of the severe damage caused by the hurricane in the Atlantic basin, the name Anita was retired at the end of the 1977 season.