Hurricane Inez

Hurricane Inez

Category 4 hurricane (SSHS)
Hurricane Inez seen from space near the Yucatán Peninsula on October 8, 1966
Formed	September 21, 1966
Dissipated	October 11, 1966
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 150 mph (240 km/h)
Lowest pressure	929 mbar (hPa); 27.43 inHg
Fatalities	Over 1,000 total
Damage	$432.5 million (1966 USD)
Areas affected	Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Cuba, Bahamas, Florida Keys, Yucatán, Mexico
Part of the 1966 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Inez was a deadly, destructive, powerful and very long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane that carved an erratic path through the Lesser Antilles, Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico in 1966. Forming unusually far east for late in the season, Inez is among the deadliest hurricanes on record, with an approximate death toll of over 1,000 people across several Caribbean countries. In addition to being exceptionally deadly and intense, Inez was the first solitary storm on record to affect the West Indies, Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico all on one track; 32 years later, Hurricane Georges would follow the same track and affect a dozen different countries.

Meteorological history

Storm path

Radar image of Inez

Inez originated as a weak tropical wave that moved off the west coast of Africa on September 18. The disturbance was tracked west-southwestward by satellite, and the cloud mass organized into a tropical depression on September 21 in the central tropical Atlantic. The depression began to move west-northwest on September 23, with little intensification until the afternoon of September 24, when significant development began to occur and the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Inez while located 800 miles east of Martinique. Upon reaching tropical storm status, a more westward course commenced, and Inez continued to intensify and became a hurricane on September 26. Conditions were favorable for intensification, and Inez rapidly intensified the next day, reaching Category 3 strength while passing through the islands, with the center of the hurricane passing directly over Guadeloupe, where tropical storm-force winds extended 125  miles from the center as hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles from the center. At the time, intensification temporarily halted due to interaction with mountainous Guadeloupe terrain, with the pressure rising from 960 millibars (28 inHg) to 965 millibars (28.5 inHg).

Intensification resumed after passing Guadeloupe, and Inez rapidly reached its peak of 150 mph while south of Puerto Rico on September 28. Shortly after peak intensity, Inez struck the Barahona Peninsula of the Dominican Republic on September 29, weakening to 140 mph while crossing the southwest peninsula of Haiti. Inez weakened significantly as it crossed the Haitian terrain, weakening to a 90 mph minimal hurricane as it emerged from the northwest coast of Haiti with a pressure of 987 millibars (29.1 inHg); however, the hurricane rapidly intensified over the Windward Passage to a major hurricane before striking the southeast Cuban coast near Guantanamo Bay on September 30. Inez became disorganized over the rugged terrain, and it quickly weakened to a 75 mph hurricane while slowly paralleling the south coast of Cuba under weak steering currents over the next 36 hours. In response to a ridge weakness, Inez moved inland over central Cuba and moved slowly northward, briefly losing hurricane intensity before emerging into the southwest Bahamas on October 2.

Rainfall Summary for Hurricane Inez

Turning north-northeast, Inez slowly stalled and gradually regained intensity over the Bahamas on October 2 and 3, with winds of 90 mph reported at West End on Grand Bahama. A building upper-level anticyclonic ridge from the western Gulf of Mexico slowly forced Inez to the southwest on October 4, where more conducive upper-level conditions for intensification set in. Inez crossed the Florida Keys on October 5 as a strengthening hurricane, delivering hurricane-force winds to all of the Keys. Inez moved west-southwest south of the Dry Tortugas, continuing to intensify to a major hurricane while brushing the Yucatán on October 7. Inez then began to curve into a weakness in the upper-level ridge over the western Gulf of Mexico, reaching its peak in the Gulf of Mexico with 140 mph winds and 948 mbar (hPa) on October 9. The threat to Texas increased, but Inez was forced southwest late on October 9 by rising heights to its north, and the storm weakened before making landfall near Tampico, Mexico, on October 10. Inez weakened rapidly after landfall, and the storm later dissipated over mainland Mexico the following day.

Impact

Impact by country

Country	Fatalities	Damage (USD)
Bahamas	5	$15.5 million
Cuba	5	$18 million
Dominican Republic	74	$5 million
Guadeloupe	33	$350 million
Haiti	480	$20 million
Mexico	1,000	$24 million
United States	48	Unknown
Total	1,637	$432.5 million

On Inez's very long track as a powerful major hurricane, passing through the Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Florida, and especially Mexico, killing 651 people.

Guadeloupe

The island of Guadeloupe was the hardest hit by the storm in the Leeward Islands as it cause extensive damage of the island's infrastructure, where about 30-60% of the homes, businesses were destroyed as the main hospital in Grande-Terre was severely impacted, this is including roads, power lines and trees that suffered very severe damage. The hurricane devastated also the sugar and banana crops at nearly 100%. President Charles de Gaulle did not appear on Guadeloupe until two days following the hurricane as he declared the islands a national disaster area, making it available to aid. However, in the meantime, significant looting, particularly of grocery stores, prevented and orderly distribution of food and water. Inez was directly responsible for about a hundred injured and thirty three deaths, especially in Pointe a Pitre. More than 10.000 people in the 300.000 inhabitants were greatly impact and left homeless here, most buildings sustained some damage and total damage was estimated at $350 million (1966 USD) .

The highest wind speed at landfall left by Inez over Guadeloupe was 125 mph (201 km/h). The storm surge reported was 6.3 feet (1.9 m) over the coast and according to forecaster and historians, The highest storm surge reached 6.5 feet (2.0 m) to 6.7 feet (2.0 m) in in Pointe-a-Pitre harbor and Basse-Terre Island. Rainfall totals reached about 10 inches in Guadeloupe and nearby islands. The highest estimated sustained winds were up to 80 mph (130 km/h) in Raizet as the highest reported gusts were at least 114 mph (183 km/h) in a nearby Automated Surface Observing System. The lowest pressure recorded at between 963-964 mbar (hPa) in the weather station.

At this time, Inez was far the costliest, the worst and the deadliest hurricane since the 1928 great hurricane, that devastated the same area.

Greater Antilles and Bahamas

According to the Monthly Weather Review report, Haiti fared the worst. More than 1,000 people perished in Haiti and 200 more in the Dominican Republic along with $12 million in damage. Cuba fared considerably better, with only 5 deaths despite $20 million in damage. Throughout the Bahamas, Inez killed five people and left roughly $15.5 million in damage.

United States

45 sailors died in shipwrecks in the Straits of Florida along with 3 on land.

Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricane names

Due to the extensive damage and extreme deaths in the Caribbean, the name Inez was retired and will never be used for an Atlantic hurricane again; this name was replaced by Isabel in the 1970 season.

See also

• List of Atlantic hurricanes
• List of retired Atlantic hurricane names
• List of Florida hurricanes

External links

• Storm path
• HPC rainfall page on Inez

Tropical cyclones of the 1966 Atlantic hurricane season
A 2 B C D E 7 F G H I J K L		Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale TD TS C1 C2 C3 C4 C5