Question for the Hurricane Historians

[HURAKAN]

Do you know which hurricane has been the most destructive in the last 50 years in the month of October for the Florida peninsula?

I just can come with King in 1950 or Opal in 1995.

Thanks in advance!

[LSU2001]

Most of these storms were not October storms but according to this FLorida had been spared for many years before 2004 and 2005.
TIm


Major storm timeline

2005 – Less than a month after Hurricane Katrina passed through South Florida, Hurricane Rita passed through South Florida as a Category 1 storm affecting 126,000 customers in six counties before growing to Category 5 in the Gulf and slamming into the Texas-Louisiana coast. Chronology.

2005 – Less than two months after dealing with a half million scattered power outages as the result of a close brush with Category 4 Hurricane Dennis, Southeast Florida is struck by Category 1 Hurricane Katrina. The 11th storm of an unusually active season swept through heavily-populated Broward and Miami-Dade counties on Aug. 25, affecting approximately 1.45 million customers. Chronology.

2004 – Just three weeks after Hurricane Frances, Florida ’s east coast is hit again by Hurricane Jeanne, a strong Category 3 storm with 120 mile-per-hour winds. Not since 1886 and Texas has a state experienced four hurricanes in a single season; Jeanne is the fourth hurricane to punish Florida in six weeks. FPL reports more than 1.7 million of its customers lost power as a result of Jeanne. Chronology.

2004 – Hurricane Ivan hit Alabama September 16, with destructive winds of up to 130 mph that knocked down power lines and trees and flooded streets. At least 12 people were killed, mostly by hurricane-spawned tornadoes in Florida. Much of Ivan’s heaviest damage hit the Florida panhandle region. Near Pensacola, a quarter mile section of the Highway I-10 bridge was washed away by storm surge.

2004 – Hurricane Frances follows closely on the heels of Charley and leaves 2.8 million FPL customers without power. With sustained winds of about 105 miles per hour, Frances was much larger than Charley with hurricane-force winds extending over much of Florida for the better part of three days. Chronology.

2004 – Hurricane Charley slams into Southwest Florida with sustained winds of 145 mph, carving a destructive path across the state before exiting at Daytona Beach. More than 25 lost their lives and 874,000 homes and businesses were without power. Chronology.

1999 – Hurricane Irene lashes Florida’s eastern seaboard from Miami-Dade to St. Johns County, putting 1.7 million FPL customers in the dark – the most outages of any storm ever faced by the company.

1992 – Packing winds of more than 160 mph, Hurricane Andrew slams into South Florida causing 29 deaths and property damage exceeding $25 billion. 1.4 million (45%) of our customers are without power.

1965 – Hurricane Betsy hits the upper keys with 140 mph winds, leaving 13 dead and 49% of FPL’s customers without electricity.

1964 – Hurricane Cleo passes over Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 110 mph winds cause $125 million in damage and put 68% of our customers in the dark.

1960 – Hurricane Donna roars across South Florida with an 11-foot storm surge, 150 mph winds and more than $300 million in damage. 13 people are dead and 51% of FPL’s customers are without electric service.

1949 – Major hurricane passes from Palm Beach to Lake Okeechobee with gusts exceeding 150 mph.

1928 – Another powerful hurricane comes ashore near Palm Beach and destroys dikes on Lake Okeechobee. Nearly 2,000 people die as a result of massive flooding.

1926 – With estimated gusts up to 150 mph, a hurricane damages or destroys most buildings in Dade and Broward counties. 243 people are dead.
SOURCE:

http://www.fpl.com/storm/contents/hurri ... tory.shtml

[Brent]

Do you know which hurricane has been the most destructive in the last 50 years in the month of October for the Florida peninsula?

I just can come with King in 1950 or Opal in 1995.

Thanks in advance!

Opal hit the Panhandle.

[Hurricanehink]

October Hurricanes that caused more than $1 million in damage to U.S. after September since 1950 (all damage figures are from the year they hit unless otherwise specified). Bold hurricanes are South Florida canes.

1950:
King- Miami, Florida ($28 million)

1951:
How- Florida, Outer Banks ($2 million)

1954:
Hazel- North Carolina ($250 million, $3-5 billion in 2005 dollars)

1956:
Greta (November)- (Eastern Florida beach erosion, remained away from land, caused $1.5 million)

1962:
Daisy- New England ($10 million)

1964:
Hilda- Louisiana ($126 million)
Isbell- South Florida ($20 million)

1968:
Gladys- North-central Florida ($6.7 million)

1971:
Ginger- North Carolina ($10 million)

1985:
Juan- Louisiana ($1.5 billion)
Kate- Florida Panhandle ($210 million)

1988:
Keith (November)- South Florida ($3 million)

1989:
Jerry- Texas ($35 million)

1990:
Klaus and Marco- Carolinas, New England (2 storms' remnants caused $57 million in damage)

1994:
Gordon (November)- South Florida as TS ($400 million in Florida, thousands of deaths in Caribbean)

1995:
Opal- Florida Panhandle ($3 billion)

1996:
Josephine- Florida TS, NC TS ($130 million)

1998:
Mitch- Florida TS ($40 million)

1999:
Irene- South Florida, NC ($800 million)

2000:
Leslie- South Florida (Pre-disturbance caused $950 million)

2002:
Kyle- North Carolina ($5 million)
Lili- Louisiana ($860 million)

[HURAKAN]

Thanks to everyone! Hurricanehink, after your research that is much appreciated, we can conclude that the most expensive hurricane to hit Florida in the month of October was Opal, 1995.