Monday, December 20 1999

Florida's worst 'canes


By RIC RUSSO

Herald Research Director



Considering Florida is a panhandle state that jets out into the middle of two large bodies of water - the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico - it's natural for residents to be concerned during hurricane season.

Since the turn of the century some of the deadliest and most damaging hurricanes in history have hit land right here in Florida.

Last September, Hurricane Floyd sent residents in the eastern and central parts of the state scurrying for cover as it sat just off the coast in the Atlantic. Floyd was one of five Category 4 hurricanes - Bret, Cindy, Gert and Lenny were the others - spawned last year.

Floyd was the most destructive, killing more than 50 people and damaging some 12,000 homes. It inflicted most of its damage in North Carolina (an estimated $6 billion); luckily here in the Sunshine State cost was minimal.


COSTLIEST

  • Hurricane Andrew, 1992 - This storm did some $26.5 billion in damage when it hit the southern part of the state in August. Forty-one people lost their lives as an entire town (Homestead) was decimated. It remains the costliest natural disaster in United States history.

  • Hurricane Opal, 1995 - Opal made landfall at Pensacola Beach on Oct. 5 with 125 mph winds. Residents of the area were still trying to recover from Hurricane Erin, which struck two months earlier. Opal did an estimated $3 billion in damages to Florida. In addition to Opal and Erin, the 1995 hurricane season also brought Tropical storms Allison and Jerry to the state. In all 15 named storms came out of the Atlantic that year, second only to 1933 as the busiest season on record . Opal ranks as the fourth most damaging hurricane in U. S. history.

  • Hurricane Betsy, 1965 - On Sept. 4, Hurricane Betsy stalled off the Florida coast. During the last week of August it looked as though Florida would be spared her wrath. Instead the storm changed course near Jacksonville on the 4th and wound up hitting land in South Florida two days later. Betsy flooded Miami and Fort Lauderdale with six-foot tides. Damage was estimated at $1.4 billion for the state.

  • Hurricane Elena, 1985 - Labor Day weekend wasn't the party everyone in the Tampa Bay area had hoped for in '85. The reason: Elena sat right off the west coast and nearly 300,000 residents held their breath. Although the storm never came closer than 80 miles to the Tampa Bay area, winds and high tides wreaked havoc. The storm did an estimated $1.2 billion in damages to Florida. Four people died, 250 homes were lost and many more damaged.

  • Hurricane Donna, 1960 - This category 4 hurricane storm crossed Florida twice: After coming ashore on the East Coast, it flailed the Everglades, went into the Gulf of Mexico and then traveled up the West Coast, making landfall near Fort Myers. The storm wreaked havoc throughout the state and blasted out into the Atlantic near St. Augustine. Donna caused $387 million in damage. A similar storm today would cause in excess of $12 billion.


DEADLIEST

Note: Prior to 1941 storms were not given names.

  • 1928 Hurricane - Category 4 hurricane killed 1,842 people when it struck three parts of the state - Lake Okeechobee, Palm Beach and Panhandle - during August and September.

  • 1919 Hurricane - This category 4 storm killed over 600 people total when it hit land in the Florida Keys and South Texas in September.

  • 1935 Hurricane - Category 5 hurricane wreaked havoc in the keys beginning on Sept. 4, killing 427 people.

  • 1926 Hurricane - Category 4 hurricane hit Miami area killing 243 people.

  • Hurricane Andrew - 55 people in Florida lost their lives.




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