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1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane

 
1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane

 
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1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
 
 
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The Fort Lauderdale Hurricane (or Pompano Beach Hurricane) was an intense Category 5 hurricane that affected the Bahamas
The Bahamas

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an independent, sovereign, English language-speaking country consisting of two thousand cays and seven hundred islands that form an archipelago....
, Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, and Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
 in September of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season
1947 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1947 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 16, 1947, and lasted until November 1, 1947. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
. The fourth tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm characterized by a large low pressure system center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain....
, third hurricane
Atlantic hurricane

North Atlantic tropical cyclones usually form in summer or autumn. Tropical cyclones can be broken down by intensity. Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph , while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained exceeding 74 mph ....
, and first intense hurricane
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a classification used for most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms, and thereby become hurricanes....
 of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season, it developed 230 miles (370 km) east of Praia
Praia

Praia , is the Capital and largest city of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal. It lies on the southern coast of Santiago, Cape Verde island in the Sotavento group....
, Cape Verde
Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde , is an archipelago nation located in the Macaronesia ecoregion of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa....
. It quickly strengthened to a hurricane on September 4. Later, it turned southwest on September 7, and it steadily resumed a northwest motion on September 10.






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The Fort Lauderdale Hurricane (or Pompano Beach Hurricane) was an intense Category 5 hurricane that affected the Bahamas
The Bahamas

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an independent, sovereign, English language-speaking country consisting of two thousand cays and seven hundred islands that form an archipelago....
, Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, and Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
 in September of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season
1947 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1947 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 16, 1947, and lasted until November 1, 1947. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
. The fourth tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm characterized by a large low pressure system center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain....
, third hurricane
Atlantic hurricane

North Atlantic tropical cyclones usually form in summer or autumn. Tropical cyclones can be broken down by intensity. Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph , while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained exceeding 74 mph ....
, and first intense hurricane
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a classification used for most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms, and thereby become hurricanes....
 of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season, it developed 230 miles (370 km) east of Praia
Praia

Praia , is the Capital and largest city of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal. It lies on the southern coast of Santiago, Cape Verde island in the Sotavento group....
, Cape Verde
Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde , is an archipelago nation located in the Macaronesia ecoregion of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa....
. It quickly strengthened to a hurricane on September 4. Later, it turned southwest on September 7, and it steadily resumed a northwest motion on September 10. A large, powerful hurricane, it attained its peak intensity of 160 mph (260 km/h) over the Abaco Islands
Abaco Islands

The Abaco Islands lie in the northern Bahamas and comprise the main islands of Great Abaco and Little Abaco, together with the smaller Wood Cay, Elbow Cay, Lubbers Quarters Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Great Guana Cay, Castaway Cay, Man-o-War Cay, Stranger's Cay, Umbrella Cay, Great Stirrup Cay, Walker's Cay, Moore's Island, and Sandy Point....
, and it made landfall
Landfall (meteorology)

Landfall is the event of a tropical cyclone or a waterspout coming onto land after being over water. When a waterspout makes landfall it is reclassified as a tornado, which can then cause damage inland....
 near Pompano Beach
Pompano Beach, Florida

Pompano Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, Florida, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean just to the north of Fort Lauderdale, Florida....
, Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
. It passed over southern Florida, and it eventually struck southeastern Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
 as a weaker Category 3 hurricane. It killed 51 people and caused $110 million (1947 USD
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
) in damage. The tropical cyclone is one of only five hurricanes to strike the United States with maximum sustained winds of at least 155 mph (250 km/h).

Meteorological history

On September 2, an area of low pressure
Low pressure area

A low pressure area, or "low", is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower in relation to the surrounding area. Low pressure systems form under areas of upper level divergence on the east side of upper troughs, or due to localized heating caused by greater insolation or active thunderstorm activity....
 was detected over French West Africa
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
 in association with a tropical wave
Tropical wave

Tropical waves, or easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic region, are a type of atmospheric Trough , an elongated area of relatively Low pressure area, oriented north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics causing areas of cloudiness and thunderstorms....
. The system moved westward, and it moved offshore near Dakar
Dakar

Dakar is the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cap-Vert, on the country's Atlantic Ocean coast. It is Senegal's largest city. Its position, on the western edge of Africa , is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major regional seaport....
, Senegal
Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the S?n?gal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south....
. On September 4, the system quickly organized to a tropical storm
Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm characterized by a large low pressure system center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain....
, producing 3.36 inches (85.3 mm) of precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)

File:MeanMonthlyP.gifIn meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of Atmosphere water vapor that is deposited on the earth's surface....
 at the Pan American Airways
Pan American World Airways

Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal international airline of the United States from the 1930s until its collapse on December 4, 1991....
 meteorological station in Dakar. Operationally, the cyclone was not observed until the S.S. Arakaka noted a well developed system on September 10. On September 5 (00 UTC
Universal Time

Universal Time is a timescale based on the rotation of the Earth. It is a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time , i.e., the mean solar time on the meridian of Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and GMT is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for UTC....
), the tropical storm rapidly strengthened to a hurricane, moving westward on an average motion near 17 mph (25 km/h
Kilometres per hour

The kilometre per hour is a physical unit of both speed and velocity . The unit symbol is km/h or km?h-1; however, the colloquial abbreviations "kph" and "kmph" are sometimes also used in English-speaking countries, in analogy to mph, although these are not in accordance with international scientific standards....
). On September 7, the cyclone turned southwest; it lost 2.70 degrees of latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
 from September 7–9. On September 9, it strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane. On September 10, the hurricane resumed a northwest movement, and it attained maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on September 11. On September 15, the cyclone continued to strengthen, and its forward motion nearly stalled.

On September 16, the hurricane attained its peak intensity of 160 mph (260 km/h) 95 miles (155 km) east of Hope Town
Hope Town

Hope Town is one of the districts of the Bahamas of the Bahamas, on the Abaco Islands islands as well as a small village on Elbow Cay, located in Abaco....
, Abaco Islands. The storm crossed the northern portion of the Abaco Islands, where a weather station claimed a wind reading of 160 mph (260 km/h). As the storm passed over the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Current, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic Ocean ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, exits through the Straits of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland and Labrador before crossing the At...
, it lost some strength before landfall. The storm made landfall on September 17 near Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, known as the "Venice of America" due to its expansive and intricate canal system, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States....
 as a strong Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 155 mph (250 km/h). Winds of hurricane force extended out roughly 120 miles (195 km) from the center in all directions. The cyclone produced peak gusts of 155 mph (250 km/h) and sustained winds of 122 mph (195 km/h) at Hillsboro Inlet Light
Hillsboro Inlet Light

Hillsboro Inlet Light is located on the north side of Hillsboro Inlet, midway between Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Boca Raton, Florida, in Hillsboro Beach, Florida, Florida....
 near Pompano Beach; the reading was the highest measured wind speed
Wind speed

Wind speed is the speed of wind, the movement of air or other gases in an atmosphere. It is a scalar quantity, the magnitude of the Vector of motion....
 recorded in the state
U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
 of Florida until Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew is the second most powerful, and the last of three Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale hurricanes that made U.S. landfall during the 20th century, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969....
. The hurricane moved slowly inland near 10 mph (16 km/h), and it diminished to a Category 2 hurricane over the Everglades
Everglades

The Everglades are a tropics wetland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large Drainage basin....
. The cyclone entered the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
 near Naples
Naples, Florida

File:Sugden Community Theatre.jpgFile:Naples City Dock1.jpgFile:Naples Pier2.jpgFile:Naples Pier3.jpgNaples is a city in Collier County, Florida, Florida, United States....
, and it produced gusts of 120 mph (190 km/h) at Sanibel Island Light
Sanibel Island Light

The Sanibel Island Light is the first lighthouse on Florida's Gulf of Mexico coast north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas. It is located on the eastern tip of Sanibel Island, and was built to mark the entrance to San Carlos Bay for ships calling at the port of Punta Rassa, Florida, across San Carlos Bay from Sanibel Island....
 near Fort Myers
Fort Myers, Florida

Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, Florida, United States. Its population was 48,208 in the United States Census 2000....
.

On September 18, the hurricane's maximum sustained winds diminished to 90 mph (145 km/h). It turned west-northwest, and its forward motion increased to 15 mph (25 km/h). On September 19, the hurricane moved ashore over Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana as a major hurricane. The hurricane weakened as it moved over the New Orleans metropolitan area
New Orleans metropolitan area

New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner is a List of United States metropolitan areas designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans, Louisiana....
, although its strong winds gusted to 110 mph (175 km/h) in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans metropolitan area metropolitan area, the largest metro area in the state....
. Its winds decreased to 85 mph (135 km/h) near Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital city and the second largest city of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish which contains 430,812 residents....
, and the cyclone diminished to a strong tropical storm over central Louisiana. On September 20, it weakened to a tropical depression over northeastern Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
. The remnant circulation turned northeast over southeastern Oklahoma
Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
 and northwest Arkansas
Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
. On September 21, it dissipated over southern Missouri
Missouri

Missouri is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska....
.

Preparations

Hurricane warnings
Tropical cyclone warnings and watches

Warnings and watches are two levels of alert issued by national weather forecasting bodies to coastal areas threatened by the imminent approach of a tropical cyclone of tropical storm or hurricane intensity....
 were issued for the Florida east coast from Titusville
Titusville, Florida

Titusville is a city in Brevard County, Florida, Florida, United States. The population was 40,670 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city had a population of 42,614....
 to Miami
Miami, Florida

Miami is a global city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, the most populous county in Florida....
. Northern commercial flights
Airliner

An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers and carrying cargo. Such planes are owned by airlines....
 were grounded at Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Duval County, Florida. Since 1968, as a result of the Consolidated city-county of the city and county government , Jacksonville has been the List of United States cities by area city in land area in the continental United States....
. 1,500 National Guard troops were ready for mobilization if "deemed necessary" by Florida Governor Millard Caldwell
Millard F. Caldwell

Millard Fillmore Caldwell was an Politics of the United States. He was the 29th List of Governors of Florida and served in all three branches of government at various times in his life, including as a United States House of Representatives and Florida Supreme Court justice....
.

Impact


Bahamas

Damage and deaths in the Bahamas
The Bahamas

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an independent, sovereign, English language-speaking country consisting of two thousand cays and seven hundred islands that form an archipelago....
 are unknown. Green Turtle Cay
Green Turtle Cay

Green Turtle Cay is an island in the Bahamas. It is located in the "Abaco Out Islands" and is long and 1/2 mile wide. It was named after the abundance of green turtles that inhabited the area....
 was flooded by 2 feet (610 mm) of water. The cyclone's strong winds damaged or destroyed many homes on the western end of Grand Bahama
Grand Bahama

Grand Bahama is one of the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, and the closest major island to the United States, lying just 55 mi off the state of Florida....
; all docks received damages.

Florida

At the storm's first landfall, an storm surge was reported along the Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 coast. Large stretches of State Highway A1A between Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida

The Town of Palm Beach is an upscale incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach, Florida and Lake Worth, Florida....
 and Boynton Beach
Boynton Beach, Florida

Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Florida, United States. The population was 60,389 at the 2000 United States Census. As of 2006, the city had a population of 66,714 according to the University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research....
 were washed out by the wave action. The Boca Raton Airport
Boca Raton Airport

Boca Raton Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located two miles northwest of the central business district of Boca Raton, Florida, a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Florida, United States....
, known then as Boca Raton Army Air Field, received significant damage from the storm, reporting $3 million in damages. The hurricane was unusually large: some reports indicate hurricane-force winds may have extended out from the eye center (from Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Cape Canaveral is a city in Brevard County, Florida, Florida, United States. The population was 8,829 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 10,523....
 to Coral Gables
Coral Gables, Florida

Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Florida, southwest of Miami, Florida, in the United States. The city is best known globally as the home of the University of Miami....
).

At Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee

Lake Okeechobee, locally referred to as The Lake or The Big O is a freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the second-largest freshwater lake wholly within the continental United States, second only to Lake Michigan and the largest in the southern United States....
 a 20 foot (6 m) storm surge was reported along the south shore between Clewiston
Clewiston, Florida

Clewiston is a city in Hendry County, Florida, Florida. The population was 6,460 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 7,173....
 and Moore Haven
Moore Haven, Florida

Moore Haven is a city in Glades County, Florida, Florida, United States. The population was 1,635 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S....
, nearly overrunning the Herbert Hoover Dike
Herbert Hoover Dike

The Herbert Hoover Dike is a dike around the waters of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.Over the years the quality of the flood control around the lake has grown....
 that surrounded the lake. Unlike in the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane
1928 Okeechobee Hurricane

The Okeechobee hurricane, or Hurricane San Felipe Segundo, was a deadly tropical cyclone that struck the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Florida in September of the 1928 Atlantic hurricane season....
, the dike held and a much larger catastrophe was averted. However, this 1947 storm prompted a further strengthening of the dike in the 1960s.

The storm was also slow-moving (about 10 mph) and dropped a prodigious amount of rain over the area–records for single-month rainfall were set in many areas, some of which still stand today (others were broken in the 1992
1992 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1992 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1992, and lasted until November 30, 1992. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
 or 2004
2004 Atlantic hurricane season

The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 2004, and lasted until November 30, 2004. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
 seasons), and flooding was among the worst in southern Florida's history. The storm killed 17 people in Florida. The hurricane damaged Citrus
Citrus

Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae, originating in tropical and subtropical southeast regions of the world....
 crops in the Fort Pierce
Fort Pierce, Florida

Fort Pierce is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, Florida, United States. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Sunset City....
 area, and losses were estimated at $4,000,000.

Gulf Coast

A large part of Greater New Orleans
New Orleans metropolitan area

New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner is a List of United States metropolitan areas designated by the US Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans, Louisiana....
 was flooded, with two feet of water shutting down Moisant Field
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport , formerly known as Moisant Field, while other names for it are Louis Armstrong International Airport and New Orleans International Airport, is located at 900 Airline Drive, Kenner, Louisiana and is the primary commercial airport for the New Orleans metropolitan area and of s...
 and six feet of water in parts of Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

Jefferson Parish is a Parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana. The County seat government is Gretna, Louisiana....
. The storm produced an estimated 100 million US dollar
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
s worth of damage to the city.

A storm surge was reported along the western half of the Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
 coastline, causing heavy damage in Bay St. Louis
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Bay Saint Louis is a city located in Hancock County, Mississippi. It is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi–Biloxi, Mississippi, Mississippi Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area....
 (which received a storm surge), Gulfport
Gulfport, Mississippi

Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson, Mississippi. It is the larger of two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area....
, and Biloxi
Biloxi, Mississippi

Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2000 United States Census recorded the population as 50,644....
.

Although the storm had weakened by its second landfall, the hydrology
Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources....
 of this location makes it particularly vulnerable to hurricanes. 12 people were killed in Louisiana and 22 in Mississippi.

Aftermath

Coming as it did shortly after the end of World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 and at the start of the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
, and striking an area that had recently been hit by other, even more destructive hurricanes, this hurricane was largely forgotten. Building codes and hurricane awareness had improved in Florida since the destructive hurricanes of the 1920s, limiting both damage and loss of life. Yet if this same storm were to hit today it would probably do around $11.72 billion (2004 USD
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
) in damages.

See also

  • List of tropical cyclones
  • List of Atlantic hurricanes
  • List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes
    List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

    This is a list of all recorded Atlantic hurricanes that have reached Category 5, the highest classification of tropical cyclone intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale....


External links