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Hurricane Jeanne[Categories:
2004 Atlantic hurricane season, Atlantic hurricanes]
- This article deals with the 2004 Hurricane Jeanne. For
information on other storms of the same name, see Hurricane
Jeanne (disambiguation).
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 fourth hurricane and
fifth named storm of the season to affect 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 historyTropical 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.
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 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 pm EDT
September 25 (0350 UTC September 26), Jeanne made landfall on
Hutchinson Island, just east of Stuart,
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 is 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 at least 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.
ImpactThe 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 US$200
million in economic losses.
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 are reported dead
in Puerto Rico as a result of Jeanne.
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.
Heavy rains totaling about 13 inches (33 cm) 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, the official report counted 3,006 people dead, with
2,826 of those in Gonaïves
alone.
Another 2,601 people were injured.
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.
Millions in Florida were left without electricity but
casualty figures have yet to be determined. Early reports quoted 4
to 6 deaths and damage estimates of $6 to $8 billion. It will be
difficult to isolate this from damage caused by Hurricane
Frances (and, around Polk
County, Hurricane
Charley as well).
As the storm moved northward east of
the Appalachian
Mountains, it continued producing heavy rains and flash
flooding. Rainfall exceeded 6.00 inches
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.
External links
More Subjects form Category Hurricane
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Elena
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Gloria
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Tropical
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Joan
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Diane
Hurricane
Ione
Hurricane
Janet
Hurricane
Gracie
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