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DATE: Late October, 1998 DURATION: Over a week - mainly stationary over Honduras REGION: Central America DEATH TOLL: ~10,000 (most deaths as a result of mud-slides) HOMELESS: ~2 million, prodominantly in Nicaragua and Honduras CATEGORY: 5 MEAN WIND STRENGTH: 300km/hr CENTRAL PRESSURE: 905HPa COST IN DAMAGE: $3 billion US (more than half gross domestic product of Nicaragua & Honduras combined) CHARACTERISTIC OF HURRICANE: Very heavy and sustained rainfall (75 inches of rain in a week) and serious landslides- worst flooding for over 200 years in parts. Hurricane almost stationary over Honduras for a whole week. AFTER EFFECTS: Damaged infrastructure, thousands developing illnesses such as dengue fever, cholera and malaria. Extensive damage to coral reefs. |
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DATE: Mid September, 1989 DURATION: 2 weeks REGION: Caribbean and Southeast U.S DEATH TOLL: At least 28 people in the Caribbean and a further 11 in the U.S. HOMELESS: 80,000 homeless (mainly in the Caribbean) CATEGORY: 4/5 MEAN WIND STRENGTH: 240km/hr CENTRAL PRESSURE: 918HPa COST IN DAMAGE: $2 billion US in Caribbean, and further $750 million in damage across U.S. CHARACTERISTIC OF HURRICANE: High extent and area of damage, leaving a 3,700 km trail of destruction from Guadeloupe to the Carolinas. The storm sent giant waves crashing onto the Eastern U.S. coasts. Surges five metres in height washed over Charleston, South Carolina. AFTER EFFECTS: Mainly damaged infrastructure. |