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Hurricane Fifi

 
Hurricane Fifi

 
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Hurricane Fifi (or Hurricane Fifi-Orlene) was a catastrophic storm during the 1974 Atlantic hurricane season that made landfall in Belize. Fifi was one of the costliest hurricanes in history, causing $3.7 billion (2005 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. It was also one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes, killing as many as 10,000 people. Fifi was one of several storms that crossed from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean.

Hurricane Fifi A tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on September 8 became a tropical depression in the eastern Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
 on September 14.






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Hurricane Fifi (or Hurricane Fifi-Orlene) was a catastrophic storm during the 1974 Atlantic hurricane season that made landfall in Belize. Fifi was one of the costliest hurricanes in history, causing $3.7 billion (2005 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. It was also one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes, killing as many as 10,000 people. Fifi was one of several storms that crossed from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean.

Meteorological history


Hurricane Fifi

A tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on September 8 became a tropical depression in the eastern Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
 on September 14. It moved westward, slowly strengthening to a tropical storm on the 16th. Conditions became favorable for further development, and Fifi became a hurricane on the 17th.

Fifi reached a peak of 110 mph
MPH

mph is a three-letter acronym that refers to miles per hour, a measurement of speedMPH may also refer to:* Master of Public Health, a Master's degree in public health...
 (230 km/h) winds, just before skimming the northern coast of Honduras on the September 18 and 19. The hurricane made landfall as a Category 2 storm in Belize on the 19th, and continued through Guatemala and Mexico as a tropical system. After weakening to a depression, Fifi emerged into the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first crossover storm since Hurricane Irene-Olivia
1971 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1971 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1971, and lasted until November 30, 1971. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
 in 1971.

Hurricane Orlene

The remnants of Fifi encountered a depression and interacted with it. This triggered the development of another system. After it was named Orlene, it paralleled the coast of Mexico before reaching hurricane intensity on September 23. 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 its secondary peak strength on September 23 southeast of Culiacan and dissipated shortly after that.

Impact


Honduras

Fifi, considered a Category 3
Category 3

Category 3 can refer to:*Category 3 cable, a specification for data cabling*British firework classification*Category 3 Tropical Cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale....
 hurricane at the time but finally classified as a Category 2
Category 2

Category 2 can refer to:*Category 2 Tropical Cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.*Category 2 Pandemic on the Pandemic Severity Index...
 hurricane, skirted the north coast of Honduras, causing massive flooding from the inflow of southerly winds. It was reported that 24"/610 mm of rain fell in 36 hours across northeast Honduras. The rains collected in rivers, which caused enormous amounts of physical and economic damage to poor villages, small towns, and commercial banana
Banana

File:Banana and cross section.jpgBanana is the common name for a fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa which produce this commonly eaten fruit....
 plantations when it skimmed Honduras. Most of the country's fishing fleet was destroyed. Roughly half of food crops, including up to 95% of the banana crop, was wiped out. Fourteen bridges were washed away. The cities of Choloma, Omoa, and Trujillo and the island of Roatan were virtually destroyed. The Ulua river valley became a lake about 20 miles wide for several days following Fifi. About 20% of railroad lines survived the cyclone. Although estimates of the number killed range from 3,000 to 10,000, a figure of 8,000 dead is generally accepted. Most deaths appear to have been caused by flash flooding from the rainfall that accompanied the hurricane.

Hurricane Fifi is usually considered the fourth deadliest hurricane in history, though uncertainty about the number of deaths caused by Fifi and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900
Galveston Hurricane of 1900

The Hurricane of 1900 made Landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas, Texas on September 8, 1900. . ; .It had estimated winds of 135 miles per hour at landfall, making it a Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale#Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale....
 could place it as the third deadliest ever. Fifi caused a total of $900 million (1974 USD, $3.7 billion 2005 USD) in damage.

Mexico

The Orlene part of Hurricane Fifi-Orlene caused no reported casualties. Nothing was reported from ships either, although it is likely to have happened. Rainfall of over 11 inches was reported in Acapulco, however. The storm hit near Mazatlan as a category 2 storm, but no deaths were reported, and damage is unknown.

Retirement

The name "Fifi" was retired following this storm, and will not be used again in this basin, but due to a change to the lists in 1979, there was no replacement name. Fifi was the first category 2 hurricane to be retired until then, and only 2 others joined it since then, which were Hurricane Diana
Hurricane Diana

Hurricane Diana was the fourth named storm and second hurricane of the 1990 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed in August in the Caribbean Sea and made landfall over the Yucat?n Peninsula as a tropical storm....
 in 1990 and Hurricane Juan
Hurricane Juan

Hurricane Juan was a significant tropical cyclone that struck the southern part of Atlantic Canada in late September 2003. It was the tenth named storm and the sixth hurricane of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season....
 in 2003.

See also

  • List of Atlantic hurricanes
  • List of Pacific hurricanes
  • Hurricane Orlene
    Hurricane Orlene

    The name Orlene has been used for four tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.* 1970 Pacific hurricane season* Hurricane Fifi – a continuation of Hurricane Fifi which crossed into the Pacific...


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