Hurricanes in Haiti



Tropical Storm Isaac

In Haiti, Hurricanes have a long and damaging history.  In 1816 a cyclone caused considerable damage in the countryside and the Gulf of Gonaives.  On the 12^th of November 1909 a cyclone hits with one-hundred fifty victims. On August 12, 1915, another cyclone on the southern peninsula devastates Jacmel and Jeremie. On the 21^st of October, 1935 a hurricane in the South and Southeast Departments killed over two-thousand and Hurricane Hazel killed several thousand people October 11-12, 1954. Hurricane Flora killed over eight thousand people in 1963. Hurricane Cleo hits the south coast and causes one-hundred and ninety-two deaths.  In 1966, on the 29^th of September, Hurricane Inez the South and West Departments.  Hurricane Gordon killed over one-thousand Haitians in 1994, and in 1998, Hurricane Georges killed over four hundred while destroying eight percent of all the crops in the country.  In 1980, Haiti still had twenty-five percent of its forests, allowing the nation to withstand Hurricane Emily, in 1987 without a single loss of life, but Hurricane Allen on the fifth of August caused approximately two hundred deaths. On the eleventh of September 1988, Hurricane Gilbert devastates the south coast.  Tropical Storms Jeanne and Gordon long with almost complete deforestation contributed to devastating floods which killed thousands. November 12 and 13, 1994 Hurricane Gordon enters the scene.  On the 23^rd of September 1998, Hurricane Georges causes one hundred forty seven deaths. 10 JUY 2005 16:15 UTC Hurricane Dennis.  And on the 17-18 of October Hurricane Wilma strikes the west and south coast of Haiti, on the 23^rd of October, Tropical Storm Alpha (they had run out of names Hurricane Jeanne of 2004 passed just north of the country as a tropical storm, dumping thirteen inches of rains on the nation's northern mountains. The resulting floods killed over three thousand people, mostly in the town of Gonaives, reporting two thousand eight hundred deaths. In May of 2004, three days of heavy rains from a tropical disturbance dumped more than 18 inches of rain in the mountains, triggering floods which killed over two thousand six hundred people.  The hurricane season of 2008 was a devastating and memorable natural disaster.  Four storms: Fay (16 AUG), Gustav (26 AUG), Hanna (1 SEP), and Ike (6 SEP) - rained heavily on a land ninety-eight percent deforested. Haiti suffered seven hundred and ninety-three people killed, with three hundred and ten missing and another five hundred and ninety-three injured. The flood destroyed seventy percent of agricultural crops, resulting in dozens of deaths of children due to malnutrition in the months following the storms. On the fifth of November 2010, Hurricane Thomas kills ten Haitians. Hurricane Isaac resulted in the loss of twenty-four individuals in August 2012. Hurricane Sandy, October 22, 2012 kills fifty-seven people in Haiti.relief.org

The question is why do so many hurricanes start in the Caribbean and the deadliest of those start off of the western coast of Africa?  Hurricane season is from June 1, to November 1.  The water must be 80 degree Fahrenheit down to one-hundred and fifty feet. But first, other conditions have to be right, such as a disturbance in the atmosphere, developing into an area of low atmospheric pressure.  Winds move to the center of the storm creating a funnel from surrounding areas if higher air pressure.  Warm water heats the air, making it rise, condensing as thunderstorms. This tropical depression becomes a storm under the right conditions into a swirling mass. Rising air in the center produces more heat and increasing the speed.  The air comes out of the top of the funnel like a chimney. Strong winds atop this funnel can slow a storm.  In the Northern Hemisphere, low pressure systems rotate counterclockwise and it is called the Coriolis Effect.   As storms cup up from the south, northern waters, or over land make the storm lose its strength (which it gains from the warm water), but gains speed and gust. livescience.org