Hurricane Jeanne
| Category 3 hurricane (SSHS) |
Hurricane Jeanne as a Category 3 on September 25, 2004, approaching Florida
|
| Formed |
September 13, 2004 |
| Dissipated |
September 28, 2004 |
Highest
winds |
| 120 mph (195 km/h)
(1-minute sustained) |
|
| Lowest pressure |
950 mbar (hPa; 28.06 inHg) |
| Fatalities |
3,035+ direct |
| Damage |
$7 billion (2004 USD)
$7.6 billion (2007 USD) |
Areas
affected |
U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico,
Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bahamas, Florida; flooding and damage in other eastern U.S. states |
Part of the
2004 Atlantic hurricane season |
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
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.
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
South Carolina 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
- See also: List of retired
Atlantic hurricanes
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
References
External links
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