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Hurricane Charley - US & Caribbean
Hurricane Frances - US & Caribbean
Hurricane Ivan - US & Caribbean
Hurricane Jeanne - US & Caribbean
Typhoons - Japan
Earthquake - Japan
Earthquake & tsunami - Indian
Ocean
Other events
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Catastrophe Report 6
July 21, 2004 - February 18, 2005 |
Hurricane Charley - US and Caribbean
| Territory: |
|
US and Caribbean |
| Region: |
|
Cuba and US (Florida and South Carolina) |
| Date: |
|
9 – 15 August, 2004 |
| Event: |
|
Hurricane |
| Impact: |
|
Hurricane Charley caused massive damage in Cuba’s
Havana Province and Havana City itself. Effective preparedness
limited deaths to five but physical damage was widespread. 8,300
houses were destroyed and a further 40,100 damaged, with infrastructure
such as hospitals, schools, water, telephone and power systems
also badly disrupted. Agriculture was severely affected, with
tobacco and banana plantations bearing the brunt of damage.
When it came ashore at Charlotte Harbour, Florida, Charley became
the most intense hurricane to strike the US since Andrew in
1992. It is also the second costliest, with economic losses
of US$ 13 – 15 billion and insured losses of US$ 7.4 billion.
Total economic losses for the storm are estimated at US$21.3
billion, with total insured losses set at US$7.6 billion. The
death toll is estimated at 32, with five in Cuba and 13 in the
US. |
| Summary: |
|
Hurricane Charley achieved tropical storm status
on 9 August and three days later it passed Grand Cayman as a
hurricane. After skirting southern Jamaica, Charley crossed
western Cuba as a category 3 storm on 13 August and headed north
to Florida, intensifying as it travelled. US landfall occurred
on the SW coast near Cayo Costa, with category 4 maximum sustained
winds of 233 kph, and peak gusts of 289 kph. Charley continued
to track across the state, with the eye-wall striking Port Charlotte
and Punta Gorda shortly after landfall. Maximum sustained winds
were still around 136 kph when the storm passed Kissimmee and
Orlando on the 14th, and Charley was still a hurricane when
it crossed the Atlantic coast of NE Florida near Daytona Beach.
As a category 1 storm, it made further landfalls again the same
day near Cape Romain and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,
before weakening to a tropical storm and becoming extra-tropical
over Virginia. |
| Data sources: |
|
National Hurricane Centre
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
ReliefWeb
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?openForm
|
| Additional sources:
|
|
Insurance Information Institute
http://www.disasterinformation.org/damageestimate.htm
Munich Re.
http://www.munichre.com/
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