HURRICANE

SOME OF FLORIDA'S HURRICANES

• 1926.... THE GREAT MIAMI HURRICANE came on the 17th of September, 1926. Hurricane warning flags had been hoisted in Miami, but the average Miami resident had never seen a hurricane flag. The hurricane that destroyed Miami in 1926 was a category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds of 140 mph.

• 1928.... THE GREAT LAKE OKEECHOBEE HURRICANE OF 1928 came on a Sunday December 16th and took the lives of over 2000 people. It did an estimated twenty-five million dollars worth of damage. On the north end of lake Okeechobee, the 150 mph winds had driven all of the water away so that the bottom of the lake lay bare. At the south end the water raised higher and higher where there was a dike that shut the lake off from the Everglades. When this dike broke the water overflowed leaving the residents with no refuse from the storm.

• 1935.... THE LABOR DAY STORM OF 1935 in the Florida Keys was a catagory 5. It killed 408 people. It was the most intense storm to hit the U.S.

• 1960.... HURRICANE DONNA had winds of 150 mph. She crossed the Florida Keys on the night of September 9, 1960. Donna passed over Florida Bay and over the Cape Sable area. The first town in its path was Everglades. She then moved up the southwest coast of Florida, battering Naples and Fort Myers, and then swept out into the Gulf.

• 1964.... HURRICANE CLEO reached Miami on August 26, 1964, packing winds of 135 mph. It had came through the Caribbean and Guadeloupe with winds of 140 mph on August 22.

• 1964.... HURRICANE DORA hit Florida on the 9th of September in 1964, coming in over the St.Augustine and Jacksonville area with 115 mph winds.

• 1965.... HURRICANE BETSY did considerable damage in the Bahamas and southern Florida, including the Keys, and then flooded New Orleans with winds of 125 mph. Betsy is famous for doing a loop when it was about 350 miles east of Daytona Beach, Fla. and on its way to the Carolinas. It turned back to the southwest, passing over the Bahamas where winds on Great Abaco Island reached 147 mph. The eye moved over Nassau, and stalled, allowing its winds to pound the city. On Sept. 7 Betsy continued moving toward the southwest to pass over Key Largo at the eastern end of the Florida Keys, and then continued west along the Keys and across the Gulf of Mexico turning toward the northwest, it grew into a category 4 storm with winds up to 155 mph heading toweards New Orleans. Betsy caused 75 deaths and became US's first billion dollar hurricane, tying for third in the most expensive.

• 1979.... HURRICANE DAVID was one of the most intense storms ever to cross the Caribbean. After wiping out the tiny island of Dominica with 150 mph winds, David hit the Dominican Republic at peak intensity on Aug. 30, with wind gusts over 200 mph. More than 1,200 people on the two-nation island were killed and over 80,000 were left homeless. Damage totaled more than $1 billion in the Caribbean alone. After the Bahamas, David headed to Florida, just north of the Gold Coast, with the eye touching Palm Beach but down to a catagory 2. It contiued up to Cape Canaveral heading to Georgia and the Carolinas as a catagory 1. David lasted August 25, through September 8, of 1979. It was a catagory 5 hurricane.

• 1992.... HURRICANE ANDREW, the most detructive hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland came August 16 through the 28th of 1992. The winds were up to 135 MPH and it was a catagory 5. It went though south Florida wiping out most of south Dade county including the city of Homestead. The damages exceeded $25 billion.

• 1994.... HURRICANE GORDON November 8 through 21, 1994 caused flooding and mud slides with a catastrophic loss of life in Haiti estimated at 1,122, 8 in Florida, 6 in Costa Rica, 5 in the Dominican Republic, 2 in Jamaica, and 2 in Cuba. Gordon's path was erratic, passing over the western Caribbean Sea and islands, Florida and the southwestern Atlantic.

• 1995.... HURRICANE ALLISON buffeted Florida's Panhandle south of Tallahassee with 75 mph wind the morning of June 5, 1995, whipping high tides into a storm surge that flooded streets, parking lots and marinas. While the storm's center crossed an offshore barrier island and hugged the coast, emergency officials in Dixie County reported a five-foot storm surge and said streets were flooded in Horseshoe Beach and Suwannee.

• 1995.... HURRICANE ERIN hit Florida twice, on Aug. 2 and 3, 1995. Erin first came ashore from the Atlantic near Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane with winds around 85 mph on the 2nd. It moved west across the state, weakening to a tropical storm over land. After moving back over the Gulf of Mexico, Erin regained hurricane strength before coming ashore again near Pensacola on the 3rd with sustained winds of 94 mph and gusts up to 103 mph. Four deaths were blamed on Erin, and another seven people were reported missing at sea.

• 1995.... HURRICANE OPAL came from the Gulf of Mexico and went inland Oct. 4. in western Florida near Pennsacola as a catagory 3 with 125 mph winds and slowed to a tropical depression. It was for a while a Category 4 with winds up to 150 mph.

• 1998.... HURRICANE GEORGES began Sunday, Sept. 20, 1998, leaving many northern Caribbean islands in shambles then headed to the northern U.S. Gulf Coast with more than two feet of rain.

• 2000.... HURRICANE GORDON. September 14 through 18, 2000 formed near the Yucatan peninsula causing 19 deaths in Guatemala, and crossed the Gulf of Mexico. It maximum winds were 75 mph. It made landfall along northwest Florida.

• 2004.... HURRICANE CHARLIE, a Category 4 storm, swept across Southwest Florida on Friday, August 13th. The storm caused massive damage to homes, throughout the region and is blamed for 19 deaths. Charley made landfall with winds of 145 mph. At its worst, wind gusts topped 180 mph in Punta Gorda, Florida. The storm continued across central Florida, hitting Orlando before heading into the Atlantic Ocean at Daytona Beach.

• 2004.... HURRICANE IVAN. SEPT 2 - 24, 2004 formed as a tropical depression southwest of the Cape Verde islands. On September 5 Ivan's winds reached East SE of the Lesser Antilles. By 5pm Ivan was a strong category 3 hurricane with winds of 125 mph. Ivan struck Grenada mid-day September 7. It travelled across the Caribbean Sea, reaching Category 5 before passing close to Jamaica and Grand Cayman and crossing the western tip of Cuba. Back in the Gulf of Mexico it lessened to a Category 4, 135 mph. and continued towards the U.S., making landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama. It moved north and then turned east, bringing heavy rain to the south-eastern United States. It then looped south and through Florida, and regenerated into a tropical storm for a short time in the gulf and moved into Louisiana and Texas. Ivan was directly responsible for 92 deaths.

• 2004.... HURRICANE FRANCIS. 25 August - 8 September 2004 Frances was a Cape Verde-type hurricane that reached a peak intensity of category 4. It affected the Bahamas as a category 3 hurricane and the Florida east coast as a category 2 hurricane. The maximum sustained wind speeds were 145 mph category 4. The eye passed over San Salvador Island and very close to Cat Island in the Bahamas, and also affected Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. Frances moved very slow,(5 to 10 mph) crossing the gulf stream to Florida. It remained at category 2, coming ashore between Fort Pierce and West Palm Beach, on September 4. It took to 11pm, for the western edge of the eye to move onshore. Because of the large eye of roughly 80 miles across and slow movement, the center remained offshore for several more hours. At 1 am on September 5, the center of the eye finally was at Sewall's Point, Stuart, Jensen Beach and Port Salerno, Florida. Most of Florida's power was out due to line losses at and around the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. The storm weakened over night, but it remained a very dangerous Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds. Francis moved briefly over the Gulf of Mexico on the other side of Florida, and made a second landfall at the Florida Panhandle. The total damage was estimated to be about $9 billion, making it the fourth costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Civilian damage was approximately $8,830,000,000 and $100 million damage done to space and military facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Direct storm deaths were 7 with 42 more attributed to the storm. Because of the impact the storm, the name "Frances" was retired in the Spring of 2005.

• 2004.... HURRICANE JEANNE. SEPT 13 - 28, 2004 formed from a tropical wave 70 miles East-SE of Guadeloupe in the evening of September 13, and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Jeanne the next day. It passed S of the U.S. Virgin Islands on September 15, making landfall near Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. It reached hurricane strength on September 16, near the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola , but fell back to tropical storm strength later that day. It moved across the Dominican Republic on September 17, then lessening to tropical depression strength. Passing near Haiti it caused flooding and mudslides, particularly in the northwestern part of the country causing over 3000 deaths. After becoming a hurricane on September 20, Jeanne continued for several days before beginning westward toward the Bahamas and Florida. The eye reached Florida, following the path of Francis, just miles from Stuart Sunday, September 26, 2004 12:18 AM. A category 3 storm, with top sustained winds near 115 mph. Millions in Florida were left without electricity, some for the third time in a month. The US damage was US $6,900,000,000, making it the eighth costliest hurricane in U. S. history. It was difficult to isolate this from damage caused by Hurricane Frances and Charley. Since hurricane information has been recorded, Florida has never been hit by four hurricanes in the same year. The earlier storms compounded problems from Jeanne because the ground was saturated and structures were weakened by the previous storm surges. Besides the 3000 from Haiti's mudslides, 1 death was reported in Puerto Rico, 3 in Florida, and 1 from South Carolina. The name 'Jeanne' was retired in the Spring of 2005.

• 2005.... HURRICANE WILMA Octrober 15 - October 25, 2005. Wilma was the most intense hurricane recorded in the Atlantic Basin and the third Category 5 to develop in the month of October. Wilma made several landfalls, with the most destructive in Mexico's Yucatan Penisula. It then proceded to Cuba, and Florida. The damage was estimated at over $24 billion. October 21, Hurricane Wilma made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 150 mph. Wilma's southeast eyewall passed near the island of Key West in the lower Florida Keys early on the morning of October 24, 2005. It made its third landfall just north of Everglades city on October 24 as a Category 3. Wilma had sustained winds of 120 mph . Passing over the Florida peninsula, Wilma weakened slightly to a Category 2 It total deaths were at least 62.
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