(Redirected from Hurricane Jeanne)
'Hurricane Jeanne' was the tenth named
storm, the seventh
hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the
2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the third hurricane and fourth named storm of the season to landfall in Florida. Jeanne affected the
U.S. Virgin Islands,
Puerto Rico, the
Dominican Republic,
Haiti, the north-eastern
Bahamas, and the
U.S. state of
Florida. The worst damage occurred in Haiti, where over 3,000 people died as a result of flooding and mudslides caused by the storm.
Storm history
Tropical Depression Eleven formed from a tropical wave 70 miles (110 km) east-southeast of
Guadeloupe in the evening of
September 13, and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Jeanne the next day. Jeanne passed south of the
U.S. Virgin Islands on
September 15 and made
landfall near
Yabucoa, Puerto Rico later the same day. After crossing
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 as it moved inland across the Dominican Republic. Jeanne continued to move slowly over the Dominican Republic on
September 17 before finally leaving the island late that afternoon. By that time, Jeanne had declined one more level, to tropical depression strength. Even though it did not strike Haiti directly, the storm was large enough to cause flooding and mudslides, particularly in the northwestern part of the country.
Hurricane Jeanne infrared satellite image, taken at landfall on the
Florida coast (
September 26,
2004 at 12:15 a.m. EDT).
On
September 18, while the system was being tracked near
Great Inagua and
Haiti, a new center formed well to the north-east and the previous circulation dissipated. The new center strengthened again, becoming a hurricane on
September 20. Jeanne continued to meander for several days (making a complete loop in the process) before beginning a steady westward motion toward the
Bahamas and
Florida.
Jeanne continued strengthening as it headed west, passing over
Great Abaco in the Bahamas on the morning of
September 25. Shortly thereafter, it reached
Category 3 strength. It maintained this intensity as it passed
Grand Bahama during the remainder of the day. At 11:50 p.m. EDT
September 25 (0350 UTC
September 26), Jeanne made landfall on
Hutchinson Island, just east of
Stuart, Florida and
Port Saint Lucie, Florida, at Category 3 strength. This is only about two miles (3 km) from Sewall's Point, where
Hurricane Frances struck Florida three weeks earlier.
Jeanne was the first major (Category 3 or higher) storm to make landfall on the east coast north of
Palm Beach, Florida and south of the mouth of the
Savannah River since 1899.
Jeanne's track continued to follow within 20 miles of that of Frances until it reached
Pasco County. It then swung more rapidly to the north, and the center remained over land all the way to the
Georgia state line, unlike Frances which exited into the
Gulf of Mexico. It became extratropical over
Virginia on
September 28 and the remnant returned to sea off the
New Jersey coast the next day. The last advisory was issued when it was 200 miles (320 km) east of
New York City and heading east-northeast over the
Atlantic.
Impact
'Hurricane Jeanne' making landfall on the east coast of Hispaniola, Sept. 16.
Puerto Rico
The entire power grid of Puerto Rico was shut down by the government as the storm approached to prevent electrocutions and infrastructure damage. This power outage has been credited with indirectly causing three deaths and over $100 million (2004 USD) in damage.
[1] Around 600,000 were left without running water. Landslides caused a large amount of damage to the exotic vegetation in the
Caribbean National Forest.
U.S. President George W. Bush declared the territory a federal disaster area and sent over $2 million in relief. A total of seven people were reported dead in Puerto Rico as a result of Jeanne.
Dominican Republic
During its slow progress over the northern
Dominican Republic, the storm damaged many homes in the town of
Samaná. At least 18 deaths were attributed to Jeanne in this country.
[2] Damage totaled $270 million (2004 USD).
[3]
Haiti
Flooding in Haiti
By
September 17, heavy rains totaling about 13 inches (330 mm) in the northern mountains of
Haiti caused severe
flooding and
mudslides in the
Artibonite region of the country, causing particular damage in the coastal city of
Gonaïves, where it affected about 80,000 of the city's 100,000 residents. As of
October 6,
2004 the official report counted 3,006 people dead, with 2,826 of those in
Gonaïves alone.
[4] Another 2,601 people were injured.
Flooding in Haiti
Many of the dead remained unburied for days and relief workers had to bury bodies in mass graves in an attempt to avoid the spread of disease. Some bodies washed out to sea and may never be recovered. The flooding occurred well after the center of the storm had left Haiti, and outside the areas covered by storm warnings. Widespread looting was reported in the hardest hit areas and UN peacekeepers sometimes had to fight off armed crowds at relief distribution points.
United States
Millions in Florida were left without electricity, some for the third time in a month. There were only five direct deaths in the mainland United States, three in
Florida, one in
Storm total Rainfall from Jeanne
and one in
Virginia. The final US damage was determined to be around $6,900,000,000, making it the 13th costliest hurricane in United States history. It was difficult to isolate this from damage caused by
Hurricane Frances (and, around
Polk County, and
Highlands County, and from
Hurricane Charley as well). While Jeanne was highly destructive, it was less so than either Frances or Charley, partly because much of the damage possible had already been done by those storms.
As the storm moved northward east of the
Appalachian Mountains, it continued producing heavy rains and flash flooding. Rainfall exceeded 6.00
inches (150 mm) as far north as
Trenton, New Jersey, resulting in severe flash flooding in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and its
Pennsylvania and
New Jersey suburbs on
September 28. Tornadoes also touched down in
Wilmington, Delaware and
Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Retirement
The name Jeanne was retired in the spring of 2005 by the
World Meteorological Organization and will never be used for an
Atlantic hurricane again. It was replaced with Julia for the
2010 season.
Media
See also
★
List of notable Atlantic hurricanes
★
List of retired Atlantic hurricanes
★
List of Florida hurricanes
References
1. National Climatic Data Center. September 2004 Storm Data. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
2. Dominican cocoa farmers recover with United Methodist help
3. World Meteorological Organization. Twenty-Seventh Session RA IV Hurricane Committee. Retrieved on 2007-02-15.
4. USAID. Hurricane relief. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
External links
★
NHC Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Jeanne
★
NHC's public advisory archive on Hurricane Jeanne
★
HPC's public advisory archive on TD Jeanne
★
Puerto Rico Hurricanes & Tropical Storms
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