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Hurricane Jeanne
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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.
ical 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.
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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.
Meteorological 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.
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 Sewall's Point, Florida, Stuart, Florida and Port Saint Lucie, Florida, at Category 3 strength. This is the same place 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 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.
Preparations
Puerto Rico
Preparations in Puerto Rico were generally light; few people used window shutters or went to shelters to ride out the storm.The entire power grid of Puerto Rico was shut down by the government as the storm approached to prevent electrocutions and infrastructure damage.
Haiti
After the 2004 Haiti coup the elected government were replaced with a new reigme which did not protect the asic survival needs of the Haitian population, this lead to particularly bad consequences of Hurricane Jeanne..
Florida
Preparations in Central Florida were rushed and sudden,as it did not become apparent that the storm would make a direct hit until the morning of the 23rd. Indeed, it had appeared the storm would pass safely offshore just the night before. Voluntary evacuations were advised on Thursday Friday, plans for opening shelters on Saturday were distributed to the public, and Florida Power and Light warned that power could be out "for an extended period of time". Canals were also drained on the same day.
On Friday, the Palm Beach Zoo prepared for the storm by moving small animals and birds into buildings such as restrooms and restaurants. Evacuations began in earnest, with many residents leaving for the Keys, noting that the islands were the only location definitely out of harm's way. For once, evacuation to the Keys made sense to some.
Impact
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico was impacted by tropical storm force winds and heavy rain, with flooding on a historic scale. The storm made landfall near Maunabo on the 15th at midday. It initially moved west over the island, but then made a turn back to the NNW, three hours later, it turned west again, exiting on the Northwest coast near the town of Mayagüez around 11PM the same day. It passed directly over the towns of Arroyo, Patillas, Guayama and Salinas on its trip over the Commonwealth. San Juan reported a wind gust to , Carolina reported gusts to , and rainfall ranged from in the city to over two feet in Vieques. This resulted in damage to roads, landslides, and collapsed bridges. This resulted in one death and the evacuation of 400 people near the Río Grande de Añasco. A total of eight people were reported dead in Puerto Rico as a result of Jeanne. Damages from the storm were estimated at $169.5 million (2004 USD).
Hispaniola
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. Another 2,601 people were injured,and 7 people died
In the Dominican Republic, the storm dumped torrential flooding rains and killing over two dozen. Damage totaled $270 million (2004 USD).
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 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
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.
See also
External links
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