Everything about Hurricane Dean totally explained
Hurricane Dean was a powerful
tropical cyclone of the
2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the most intense
Atlantic hurricane since
Hurricane Wilma of
2005, and tied for seventh most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded as well as the third most intense Atlantic hurricane ever at landfall. A
Cape Verde-type hurricane, Dean took a west-northwest path through the
Caribbean Sea, passing just to the south of
Jamaica on
August 20, making landfall in the
Yucatán on
August 21, and a second landfall near
Tecolutla,
Mexico, on
August 22 after crossing the
Bay of Campeche. At least 44 deaths have been reported and insured damage is estimated at about $6.6 billion (
USD). Although Dean was much larger than Andrew, its Category 5 landfall was in a more sparsely populated area and thus far less damaging.
Storm history
On
August 11,
2007, a
tropical wave moved off the west coast of
Africa, and, encountering favorable conditions, quickly developed into
Tropical Depression Four about 520 miles (835 km)
west-southwest of
Cape Verde. The depression moved briskly westward, and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Dean at 1500
UTC on
August 14. The storm's intensity continued to build although dry air and cooler air inflow from the north were slowing structural development.
Ragged bands formed on
August 15 and the formation of a partial
eyewall was observed later that day.
Intensification continued and the storm was upgraded to Hurricane Dean at 5 a.m.
EDT (0900
UTC)
August 16. The deep-layered ridge to the north continued to steer the system west, towards the
Caribbean Sea. The storm quickly strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The storm's development slowed slightly but a
reconnaissance aircraft discovered a closed eyewall on
August 17 as the storm passed through the Lesser Antilles. Data from the aircraft indicated that Hurricane Dean had strengthened to a
Category 3 hurricane and its trailing bands were still over the Lesser Antilles. During the evening of
August 17 Dean strengthened into a
Category 4 hurricane and continued to steadily grow in both size and intensifying through the night. On
August 18 the presence of a double eyewall was noted, indicating an
eyewall replacement cycle and causing short term fluctuations in intensity. These fluctuations didn't affect the storm's well defined satellite presentation. Operationally, Dean was thought to have only been a Category 4 on the 18th, but post-storm analysis shows that Dean had become a Category 5 that day before weakening. Dean weakened very slightly on morning of
August 19 as it finished the eyewall replacement cycle and began to interact with the island of Jamaica
Hurricane Dean passed south of Jamaica on the evening of
August 19 and began to intensify again that night. Its eyewall replacement cycle was thought to be completed. A concentric eyewall was briefly observed again on the morning of
August 20, but didn't last long. The hurricane, still tracking west-northwest under the influence of a strengthening deep-layered high pressure system to the north, moved over waters with extremely high heat content and began to strengthen once again. The eyewall became even better defined throughout the day, and, at 8:35 p.m.
AST on
August 20 (0035
August 21,
UTC), Dean restrengthened to a
Category 5 hurricane, the highest rating on the
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It made landfall as a Category 5 storm in
Quintana Roo's
Costa Maya region, some 65 km (40 mi) northeast of the border between
Mexico and
Belize, and weakened on its way over land, reemerging on the western side of Yucatán as a Category 1 storm. Dean regained strength as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, and made its second landfall as a Category 2 storm on
22 August, at around 11:30 CDT, near
Tecolutla,
Veracruz, to the south of
Tuxpan, whereafter it moved westward, losing strength and mostly disintegrating over central Mexico. A small remnant circulation did enter the far east Pacific, eventually moving northwestward around an
anticyclone, roughly parallel to the Mexican coast and finally back inland over the southwestern United States, where it completely dissipated on
27 August.
Preparations
About a dozen cruise ships altered their itineraries to avoid the hurricane.
Oil
futures moved sharply higher on
August 15 as analysts considered the impact of Hurricane Dean on refining capacity if it were to move into the Caribbean as predicted.
Transocean evacuated 11 "nonessential" workers late on
August 15 from an
oil rig located about 160 miles (260 km) southeast of
New Orleans. The company left about 125 personnel on board the structure. A day later,
Royal Dutch Shell evacuated 275 ancillary staff, following an evacuation of 188 due to
Tropical Storm Erin.
Pemex, the state-owned Mexican oil company, made preparations to shut down oil production on
August 19 ahead of Dean, evacuating 13,360 workers from more than 140 oil platforms, using 55 boats and 29 helicopters. As the storm continued to intensify the number of evacuated Pemex workers increased to 18,000 on
August 20 and all 407 wells and drilling operations were abandoned. This reduced the worldwide production of oil and natural gas by 2.65 million barrels (311,000 m³) and 2.6 billion cubic feet (74,000 m³) per day, respectively.
Lesser Antilles
As Hurricane Dean approached the Lesser Antilles the local meteorological services issued
watches and warnings, advising residents to prepare for the storm.
Hurricane warnings were issued for
St. Lucia,
Dominica, and
Martinique and Guadeloupe and its dependencies.
Hurricane watches were issued for
Saba and
St. Eustatius.
Tropical storm warnings were issued for
Barbados,
Antigua,
Barbuda,
St. Kitts,
Nevis, and
St. Maarten St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, and the
British Virgin Islands.
Tropical storm watches were issued for
St. Maarten,
St. Vincent, Grenada and its dependencies,
Montserrat, and
Anguilla.
Airports were closed, local authorities set up shelters, and emergency service personnel were readied.
Greater Antilles
A hurricane warning was issued for all of
Jamaica, for
Haiti from
Port-au-Prince to the Dominican border, and for the
Dominican Republic from
Barahona to the Haitian border. Tropical Storm warnings were issued for the rest of
Hispaniola and for coastal Cuba between
Camagüey and
Guantánamo.
Hundreds of thousands were evacuated from vulnerable low-lying and coastal areas and disaster management programs were activated throughout the
Greater Antilles.
Belize
A hurricane warning was in effect for the coast and coastal islands north of
Belize City and
Belizeans prepared for winds of up to 150 miles per hour. On August 16 and 17 the newly created Coastguard met with emergency committees on
Caye Caulker and
Ambergris Caye to discuss the possibility of evacuating these islands by boat and plane. With tourists taking priority, the Belize National Emergency Management Organization’s coordinator for the islands, Jim Janmohamed, told
Great Belize Television he was confident that a full evacuation could be implemented in time should the need arise.
Estimates of damages in the nation rose from BZD$50 million to roughly BZD$200 million over the course of a week as reports of damages to houses and buildings in Corozal and Orange Walk came in. The sugar and papaya industries were severely affected.
Honduras
Honduras was put on a state of preventative alert for 48 hours, especially the
departments to the north of the country, with the
Bay Islands being on a state of red alert. There were places ready to accommodate 10,000 people for 15 days if necessary.
Mexico
On
August 17, at the request of the
Quintana Roo state government, the Civil Protection Office of
Mexico's federal
Interior Ministry declared a
state of emergency for the entire state, including the towns and cities of
Cancún,
Playa del Carmen, and
Chetumal as well as the islands of
Cozumel,
Isla Mujeres and
Holbox. On
August 18 authorities began evacuating people from parts of Quintana Roo, removing 2,500 people from Holbox Island and a further 80,000 tourists from elsewhere in the state. With 20,000 food packages ready, the state of
Yucatán, Quintana Roo's neighbour to the northwest, declared a green alert, and in Cancún shelter space was prepared for 73,000 people.
At 11 a.m.
AST (1500
UTC) on
August 19 a hurricane watch was issued on the
Yucatán Peninsula from Chetumal to
San Felipe.
United States
The
Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness activated its Crisis Action Team on
August 16 to monitor the storm and coordinate preparation.
Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco declared a
state of emergency early on the evening of
August 17 and asked for a presidential emergency declaration to give Louisiana access to federal funds prior to any landfall. Texas suffered
severe flooding from several June/July storms, and
Tropical Storm Erin ensured that the ground was still saturated. Governor Perry feared that more rainfall from Dean would cause additional flash flooding and had 250
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department crews on standby with boats to assist in potential evacuations. He was willing to deploy up to 10,000
Texas Military Forces soldiers, and did deploy several elements of the
Texas State Guard who set up emergency shelters, but the need never arose.
The Texas fuel industry began surging fuel loads to all coastal counties to ensure adequate fuel in the event of Hurricane Dean causing a disruption to the fuel distribution system.
In preparation for an evacuation, the
Texas Department of Transportation began preparation for extra evacuation lanes and
contraflow.
NASA cut short the
STS-118 mission as a precaution in case Dean approached
Mission Control at the
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in
Houston. To that effect, mission managers cut the mission's final spacewalk short by two hours, allowing them to land a day earlier than originally planned.
Impact
Fifteen countries felt the effects of Hurricane Dean as its path through the
Caribbean Sea claimed 42 lives. The hurricane first brushed the Lesser Antilles on
August 17,
2007, and as it passed through the interior of the Caribbean its outer rain bands swept over the Greater Antilles. It passed Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane, and strengthened to a Category 5 storm as it made landfall on Mexico's
Yucatán Peninsula on
August 21. A second landfall on
August 22 was less devastating.
Lesser Antilles
Hurricane Dean entered the
Caribbean through the
Saint Lucia Channel between
St. Lucia and
Martinique on
August 17, while still a Category 2 hurricane. The storm killed three people, damaged buildings throughout the island chain and devastated the agricultural economies of St. Lucia, Martinique and
Dominica.
Greater Antilles
The storm passed to the south of most of the
Greater Antilles, but its outer rain bands passed over many of the islands and it delivered hurricane force winds to Jamaica. Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands were mostly spared, but Hurricane Dean passed 50-60 miles (80 - 97 km) south of Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane. In Jamaica the rain caused flooding on the eastern side of the island and landslides on the northeast. Buildings collapsed, roads were blocked, and at least two deaths were confirmed. Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which share the island of
Hispaniola were spared much of the hurricane's strength as it passed 270 km (170 miles) to their south. Nevertheless 15 people were killed on the island and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
Nicaragua
While no land effects have been reported in
Nicaragua, a 4-year-old girl drowned on a boat that sank amidst high winds and waves in the
Kukra River. Communication with the
Mayan communities near the landfall location was initially difficult, but news sources are reporting that Majahual, which has a population of 200, was "almost flattened" by the storm. Storm surge and high winds severely damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings. A spokesman for the busy Majahual port said that the harbor will likely be closed for six to eight months..
Petroleum production wasn't severely damaged and was expected to quickly return to normal.
At least 11 deaths have been reported from Hurricane Dean in Mexico. Rainfall amounts of 100-200 mm fell across the states of
Jalisco and
Nayarit. This rainfall caused one fatality in Jalisco after a
mudslide fell on 10 houses, killing one of the occupants. One person died in
Puebla after a wall crashed on him in his house, and five other deaths have been reported in Puebla due to mudslides. One person in
Veracruz was electrocuted after touching a
power line while doing roof repairs. In
Michoacán, a man was struck by
lightning under a tree in the outer bands of the storm, and two people died in
Hidalgo when the roof collapsed in their house.
Insured damage in Mexico is currently estimated at up to $400 million.
United States
While no land impacts of Dean as a tropical cyclone were reported in the
United States, heavy
surf and
rip currents were reported on the beaches of
Florida. One person drowned and at least 35 people had to be rescued from
Siesta Key due to rip currents.. The remnant circulation of Dean, after lingering off the Pacific Coast for some time, moved inland by
Santa Barbara, California, and brought heavy thunderstorms and localized flooding to coastal Southern California on the morning of
26 August, and crossed the
Mojave Desert on the morning of
27 August.
Las Vegas, Nevada, received a daily record of 0.58" of rain, with some flash flooding and minor damage .
Aftermath
Retirement
The name Dean was officially retired on
May 13,
2008 by the
World Meteorological Organization during its annual meeting in
Orlando, Florida. It was replaced by Dorian on List V of the
Atlantic hurricane naming lists, which will next be used in the
2013 Atlantic hurricane season.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hurricane Dean'.
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