'Hurricane Marilyn' was the fifteenth
tropical depression and thirteenth named
storm of the unusually busy
1995 Atlantic hurricane season, following closely on the heels of
Hurricane Luis. Hurricane Marilyn was the worst storm to hit the
Virgin Islands since
Hurricane Hugo of 1989.
Marilyn formed late in the
UTC day on
September 13, and reached hurricane strength soon thereafter. Marilyn struck the
Lesser Antilles on
September 14 at Category 1 strength, and intensified to nearly Category 3 strength by the time it reached the
U.S. Virgin Islands. A
Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance flight reported
hail, which is unusual for tropical cyclones. After heading north past
Bermuda, Marilyn weakened and became
extratropical on
September 22. The remnant circulation wandered the
Atlantic Ocean from
September 23 -
October 1, just south of
Nova Scotia. Marilyn peaked at 115 mph (185 km/h), but was predicted to reach 125 mph (205 km/h) (maximum Category 3-status).
Marilyn is directly responsible for thirteen deaths, most due to drowning on boats or offshore. Ten thousand people were left
homeless on the island of
St. Thomas, and estimated damages were set at $1.5 billion (1995 USD).
The same area would be struck by Hurricane Bertha the next year, while still repairing from Marilyn.
[2]
Storm history
Marilyn's beginnings originated from a tropical wave that formed off the
African coast to the eastern
Atlantic Ocean during
September 7 and
September 8. Large, low-level winds were included in the wave's circulation, but little convection existed.
[3] The system continued west for a few days at about 17 knots next to an anticyclonic aloft that was also moving westward. On
September 12, satellite pictures viewed the disorganized wave and declared it Tropical Depression Fifteen, after convection increased. TD-15 strengthen rapidly, become Tropical Storm Marilyn six hours later and Hurricane Marilyn four hours after that.
For the next few days, Marilyn's track was towards the west-northwest and soon to the northwest, towards a weakness in the subtropical ridge. Marilyn was a
Category 1-hurricane when the center of the storm passed 45
nautical miles north of
Barbados, then near
Martinique.
Marilyn passed over
Dominica, and just southwest of
Guadeloupe on
September 14. Marilyn continued moving, making landfall in the
U.S. Virgin Islands on
September 15, packing winds of 110 mph, Category 2-strength. The eyewall, ESE of the center of Marilyn, passed over
Saint Thomas. After passing over
Puerto Rico, Marilyn found itself back in the Atlantic Ocean on
September 16.
Marilyn
A low had formed near Marilyn, which may have had enhanced outflow from Marilyn. An eye started appearing in Marilyn and the storm reached a peak intensity of 949
millibars with winds of only 115
mph, a Category 3-major hurricane. At this time, Marilyn was to peak at 120-125 mph winds instead of 115.
[5][6][7][8]
Reconnaissance data found a concentric pair of eyewall wind maxima. Marilyn started weakening rapidly falling from peak-level winds of 141 mph down to 102 mph.
The central pressure also rose up 20
mbars in 10 hours. The rapid weakening was from shearing, decaying eyewall and upwelled waters from the previous storm,
Hurricane Luis. Marilyn sped up towards
Bermuda on
September 18, passing about 150
nautical miles west of the island on
September 19. Marilyn encountered more westerly shear and decayed Marilyn, becoming extratropical on
September 20.
The remnant circulation continued over the central tropical Atlantic Ocean for another 10 days before becoming absorbed in a frontal low.
A Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance flight reported hail, which is unusual for tropical cyclones.
Preparations
Seventeen watches and/or warnings were issued in association with Marilyn.
The first two were a tropical storm watch and a tropical storm warning issued on
Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenadines, St. Lucia and Grenada on
September 12 at 2200
UTC. Five hours later, a tropical storm watch was issued for
Trinidad and
Tobago. A tropical storm warning was issued for
St. Lucia,
St. Vincent,
Grenadines,
Grenada and Tobago at 900
UTC September 13.
[9][10] At 2100
UTC, a Hurricane Warning was issued for
Barbados,
St. Vincent,
Grenadines,
St. Lucia and a hurricane watch for
Dominica.
A hurricane watch as released for Martinique on the 14th. The 2100
UTC September 13 was extended for the Grenadines through St. Martin, except Guadeloupe, St. Barthelemy and French portion of St. Martin. At 1500
UTC, Puerto Rico was put under a Hurricane Watch.
At 1700
UTC, Guadeloupe,
St. Barthelemy, and French portion of
St. Martin were put under a hurricane watch. Four hours later,
Puerto Rico, U.S. and
British Virgin Islands, and Guadeloupe were put under a hurricane warning.
Throughout the night, several watches and warnings were discontinued. At 1500
UTC September 15,
Dominican Republic from
Cabrera to
Cabo Engano were put under a hurricane watch as Marilyn approached. During the night of
September 16, all currently active watches and warnings were discontinued. At around the same time, a new Hurricane watch was released for
Turks and Caicos and
Mayaguana,
Acklins, and the
Crooked Islands of the southeastern
Bahamas.
This warning was discontinued within 48 hours. At 1500
UTC September 18,
Bermuda came under a Tropical Storm Watch, which was upgraded to a warning in six hours. The warning was discontinued on
September 19.
The 250,000 residents of
Barbados spent the night of
September 13 in shelters.
[21]
Impact
Marilyn caused tremendous damage and 13 deaths throughout the
United States Virgin Islands and
Puerto Rico.
Rainfalls from Marilyn off of land were estimated from 4.0 - 7 inches from
September 13 and
September 14.
[22][23][24][25][26]
Martinique
Rainfalls in
Martinique peaked at 9.06 inches in Morne Rouge, 8.94 in Ajoupa Bouillon, 6.40 in Saint Pierre, ranging as low as 6.00 inches in Ducos. The highest wind gust reported was 8 mph in Trinite, the location of the only recorded sustained winds in Martinique, which was 58 mph.
Guadeloupe
Rainfalls over 12-hours in
Guadeloupe were 20.00 inches in Saint-Claude, 19.09 inches in Guillard-Basse-Terre and 17.63 in Gaba. The highest wind gust reported in Guadeloupe was 84
mph in Marie-Galante. The next ones were 70 mph in Raizet and 61 mph in Desirade. The highest sustained winds reported in Guadeloupe was 51 mph in Marie-Galante.
U.S. Virgin Islands
Marilyn damage in St. Thomas
The highest wind speed left by Marilyn after passing over the island of
St. Croix was 100 mph. The highest rainfalls reported were 11.67 inches in Annaly, 9.96 inches in Red Hook Bay and 5.25 in Granard.
The highest storm surge reported was 6.6 feet in
St. Thomas and 6.0 inches in
St. Croix. The highest reported gusts were 129 mph in a Noncommissioned Automated Surface Observing System and 95 mph gusts in Sailboat Puffin at Green Cay. The highest sustained winds were 105 mph in a Noncommissioned
Automated Surface Observing System.
Marilyn was directly responsible for seven deaths, most due to drowning on boats or offshore. Ten thousand people were left homeless on St. Thomas, and most buildings sustained some damage.
The island of St. Thomas was the hardest hit by the storm, where about 80% of the homes and businesses were destroyed, including the hospital and the water desalination plant; five people were killed. Storm surge in the
Charlotte Amalie harbor beached the ''
USCGC Point Ledge'' and damaged many smaller boats.
[27] Elsewhere in the territory, there was severe damage on
St. Croix and
St. John.
President
Bill Clinton declared the
U.S. Virgin Islands a
Federal Disaster Area, making it available to federal aid.
[28]
Marilyn Rainfall
Puerto Rico
The highest rainfalls reported in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Marilyn were 5.60 inches in Naguabo, 5.50 inches in Luquillo Pico Del Este (Luquillo Pico Of the East), 2.52 at Luis Munoz
International Airport, and 2.45 at
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station.
The highest gusts reported were 125 mph in Culebra, 60 mph at
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station and 50 mph at a non-commissioned
Automated Surface Observing System. The highest recorded sustained winds was 41 mph at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station.
Marilyn passed over the islands of
Vieques and
Culebra, where it caused much damage.
There were reports of extensive flash flooding across northern and eastern
Puerto Rico, and 12,000 people were forced to ride out the storm in shelters. One person was killed in Culebra.
President
Bill Clinton declared Puerto Rico a
Federal Disaster Area, making it available to federal aid.
Culebra Island
100 homes on Culebra Island, twenty miles east of Puerto Rico, were destroyed by Marilyn. Another two hundred homes on the island were damaged.
[29]
Antigua
The highest reported
gust in
Antigua was 50 mph. The Antigua Meteorological Service reported that the island had extensive flooding and damage to banana trees. The other damage reported was from the wind.
Other areas
Bermuda reported sustained winds of 45
mph and a highest gust of 60 mph.
Antigua reported sustained winds of just 35 mph, tropical depression-strength. In
St. Maarten, sustained winds were 42½ mph and the peak gust was 61 mph. Rainfalls in
St. Maarten peaked at 3.35 inches in an unknown location.
''
The New York Times'' reported that the
British Virgin Islands had little to no damage from Marilyn.
The highest gust in
Saint-Barthelemy was 59 mph and the highest sustained winds of 45 mph was reported.
Economic impact
Beached sailboat on St.Thomas used as a billboard
The exact figure for damages in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico is not available, although the American Insurance Services Group set the combined damage at $875 million USD. However,
FEMA estimated the damage cost as $1 billion USD while an economic research group in the U.S. Virgin Islands estimated the damage to be at $3 billion USD. As of 1995, the estimated damages to the U.S. islands were set at $1.5 billion (1995 USD).
The economic impact to the islands was severe, particularly to St. Thomas and
St. John, which are heavily dependent on
tourism.
Aside from high winds and seas, one possible explanation for the storm's heavy damage may have been complacency on the part of local island populations. Marilyn followed on the heals of
Luis, a more powerful
Category 4 hurricane initially predicted to pass very close to St. Thomas. This prediction prompted locals to be particularly thorough in their pre-storm preparations; however, the hurricane passed further away from the island and caused relatively moderate damage. This may have caused islanders to prematurely relax, as Marilyn was a much smaller
hurricane in appearance than Luis.
Aftermath
Puerto Rico
Relief supplies in the wake of Hurricane Marilyn were sent to
Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. Officials of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency set up camps on the islands to give out food, water and shelter supplies.
[31]
U.S. Virgin Islands
80% of the homes on St. Thomas were destroyed or damaged, 1/2 being uninhabitable. Also, 20-30% of businesses were destroyed. Five supply distribution sites were being operated by the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VIETMA). More than 2,100 federal agency personnel had been deployed to help out with the cleanup from Hurricane Marilyn. Four contracts were quickly accepted for immeadiate building repairs.
Diving teams were sent to check for harbor damage and
Navy Seabees started working on repairing public buildings. Military and security forces included about 500 Army, Air Force, and Navy personnel, 500 National Guardsmen, and 500 federal law enforcement personnel. The airport in St. Thomas was open for flight using a mobile control tower. The St. Thomas hospital was open, but was running on generators.
[32]
The first FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers opened on
23 September on
St. Thomas. A reported indicated that by
11 October, 1500 loans were granted for home repair, mostly for under $2500. Over 19,000 disaster housing applications were filed with over 2800 being accepted. About 5000 of 15,000 assigned inspections were completed. Over 7800 applications for Individual and Family Grants had been received and, of the 4,000 SBA loan applications filed, 43 had been approved for a total of $744,100 - an average loan of $17,300.
In all, Marilyn caused $1.5 billion (1995 USD) in damage, killing 13 people in its path.
Retirement
The name Marilyn was
retired in the spring of 1996 and will never again be used for an
Atlantic hurricane. It was replaced with the name
Michelle.
See also
★
List of notable Atlantic hurricanes
References
1.
2. Hurricane Bertha Update
3.
4. Tropical Storm Marilyn Discussion 3 Richard J. Pasch
5. Hurricane Marilyn Discussion 18 Lixion A. Avila
6. Hurricane Marilyn Discussion 19 Edward N. Rappaport
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27. United States Coast Guard Chronology U.S. Coast Guard
28. Marilyn slams St. Thomas;Likely to miss Florida Donna Gherke
29. Marilyn Jeff Nelson
30. Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1995 Miles B. Lawrence, Edward N. Rappaport, B. Max Mayfield, Richard J. Pasch and Lixion A. Avila
31. Relief effort not yet helping hurricane victims
32. Early Relief Efforts
External links
★
NOAA storm data on Hurricane Marilyn
★
HPC page on Hurricane Marilyn
★
NWS Service Assessment
★
Marilyn path by UNISYS
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