Providing hurricane statistics for cities in the Atlantic basin for over 25 years
Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 10:49 PM

1998 Damage Reports



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These reports are not intended to be for up to the minute information, rather for future reference.




Tropical Storm Charley

  • Corpus Christi, Texas: Hit the morning of August 22nd with 60mph winds. Very heavy rain has caused flooding in Bee, Refugio & Brazoria counties as nearly 12 inches of rain have fallen so far. Several tornadoes have been spotted but no reports of damage as of yet. (more info will be provided as it becomes available) As of 8/24: Del Rio Texas is getting nailed by heavy rainfall from the remnants of tropical storm Charley. Up to 17" of rain have fallen so far. As of 9/7: Death toll now 19 and some still missing, flooding has damaged nearly 1,000 Del Rio homes & businesses. In Laredo 30 homes damaged by a surge of water.

Hurricane Bonnie

  • North Carolina: Damage reports as follows from south to north provided by AP as of 27th AM.

    • Brunswick County: South of Wilmington, sustained winds of 100mph from 10:00AM through 11:00PM, many trees down with blocked roadways, roof ripped off Columbia Brunswick Hospital, 5 homes with significant damage in Calabash, roof blown off bank in Sunset Beach.
    • New Hanover: Includes Wilmington & just north, 105mph sustained at 11:00PM, flooding & downed trees, 18" of water standing in some areas, windows blown in at New Hanover high school, cable tower blown down in Sea Breeze, siding & shingles blown off homes at Kure Beach.
    • Onslow County: Halfway between Morehead City & Wilmington. Roofs blown off buildings in Holly Ridge, trees down.
    • Carteret County: Includes Morehead City area. Winds sustained to 100mph, 150 ft section of the Iron Steamer Pier ripped away, also damage to Indian Beach pier. Electrical lines down.
    • Craven County: N.W. of Morehead City. A home in New Bern blown off foundation by a tornado. 8 other homes in area sustained significant wind damage from a water spout. Several flooded roadways.
    • Beaufort: 50 miles north of Morehead City. One confirmed tornado in an unpopulated area. New Bern river near flood stage.
    • Hyde County: Mainland west of Hatteras. Oyster Creek road & State Road 1143 flooded & shut down as of 8/26 pm.
    • Tyrrell County: North of Hyde County. 2 confirmed tornadoes, several storage buildings destroyed by tornadoes.
    • Currituck County: 12 year old girl killed by tree falling on home

  • Virginia Beach: Many had power knocked out, roof damage & trees downed, boats torn from moorings. Atlantic Avenue on the beach had windows blown out of store fronts as well as roof damage.

Hurricane Earl

  • Panama City: At 2 A.M. the center of hurricane Earl crossed the shoreline with 80mph winds, although we have not yet received any reports of hurricane force winds on land as of 8am. 2 boats have sunk south of Bay County when a 20 ft wave hit them & 2 bodies have been found. Very heavy rains have pelted the area with unconfirmed reports of 20 inches in some spots, 12" confirmed in Panama City. As Earl made landfall a pressure of 29.17 was reported in Panama City with north winds. (stay tuned for more details)
  • St. Helena Island, South Carolina: Several tornadoes reported, 1 touching down killing one person & injuring a few people & damaging some homes.
  • Port St. Joe, Florida: Concrete boulders spread on beaches after seawalls destroyed.
  • Carrabelle, Florida: A 7 mile stretch of highway 98 was washed out by storm surge.
  • St. Marks, Florida: At Shell Island fish camp, 15 dry docked boats were scattered like toys.
  • St. George Island, Florida: Several homes heavily damaged.
  • Destin, Florida: Harbor in more danger after rough seas shifted floor of harbor endangering vessels from future storms.
  • Gulf County, Florida: Sea turtle eggs destroyed 150 nests
  • Tampa, Florida: Sea turtle eggs - at least 90% destroyed

Tropical Storm Frances

  • Surfside, Texas: Several coastal homes have been heavily damaged. Up to 14" of rain have fallen in some surrounding areas as of 8AM Friday & tides were reported at 7 ft above normal
  • Galveston, Texas: Just north of here 10 businesses & 60 homes had major damage. (tides)
  • Louisiana: 1 killed, a 22yr old man & 6 injured by tornadoes (4)
  • New Orleans, Louisiana: Heavy flooding in the city as 13 inches of rain fell & is still coming down as of Saturday.
  • Houston, Texas: Same situation as the city was flooded stopping all normal business.
  • Mobile, Alabama: 2 feet of water standing in streets as of Saturday morning.

Hurricane Georges

  • Antigua: 103mph sustained with gusts to 115mph so far as of early on Sep. 21st. Some heavy damage reports, hundreds of roofs ripped off homes. 2 killed.
  • Guadeloupe: Some roofs torn off from strong west winds, overall damage not real bad.
  • Saint Kitts: Worst hit area so far Port Zante has been severely damaged, 1 woman killed so far as of 9/22, many roofs torn off, including public works building, hospital & airport hit hard. Utility poles & trees blown over. So far no reports of injuries.
  • Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands: Airport tower destroyed, overall damage not too bad.
  • Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico as of 9/29, 12 reported killed, damage over 2 billion, 28,000 homes destroyed & 60,000 damaged.

    • Fajardo: Dozens of homes have lost roofs as of 9/22 A.M, Conquistador hotel resort hit hard as roof collapsed & east side windows all blown out.

  • Hispaniola: As of 9/29 over 300 people killed in Dominican Republic so far. In Haiti 94 dead, many more missing, 100,000 homeless.
  • Matanzas, Cuba: 2 killed, electrocuted by touching water near fallen lines. Heavy flooding. Crops heavily hit. 5 killed, 20,000 homes damaged & 100,000 homeless due to flooding.
  • Florida

    • Lower Keys: Storm surge covers some spots of federal highway. Power all out in lower keys.
    • Key West: Houseboat row 20 houseboats destroyed, power lines down with some roof damage. Overall moderate damage.
    • SW Coast: Marco Island hurricane force gusts, some roof tile damage, trees down, power out.

  • Gulf Coast States

    • Louisiana: Tropical storm force winds out of the north causing some power outages, also heavy rain pelts the area, overall minor damage here.
    • Mississippi: We recorded 80mph sustained with gusts to 95mph just inland in Pascagoula Miss. Heavy damage to Mobile & Pascagoula as we surveyed the damage first hand, typical of cat 2 damage many signs either blown in or down. The further east you go the worse the damage was. Windows blown in, some roof damage, even some roofs gone. Storm surge damage on coast (overall heavy damage) curfew in affect.
    • Alabama: Mobile Bay heavy storm surge flooding, we witnessed the bridge over Mobile Bay submersed in several locations as well as homes & businesses under water. (overall heavy damage, mostly flooding)
    • Florida: Very heavy rains have fallen here, frequent squall lines with tornado touchdowns (overall moderate damage) from Pensacola to Panama City.


Hurricane Mitch

  • All of Central America: As of 12/3, reports confirm death toll near 9,071, as of 12/28, est 3 billion dollars damage
  • Honduras: 800,000 homes damaged with 5,657 killed & 12,272 injured. 8,058 people are still missing as of 12/3, most people are out of work due to crops being destroyed, specifically bananas. 1.4 million have been left homeless by Mitch. As of 12/11, est financial losses in Honduras amount to 1.2 billion, international help has pledged 1 billion. 1 million are still homeless.

    • Guanaja, Roatan, Utila: Island of Guanaja nearly 75% destroyed, no relief to this area as of 10/30. Other islands hit hard, total killed so far for all of Honduras & surrounding countries is approx 99 as of 10/29.
    • Puerto Cortes: From here & east thousands are missing as of 10/30, medicine is in short supply.
    • Santa Rosa de Aguan: 27 dead & rivers are all overflowing as of 10/30.
    • Comayagua: On south end of mountains town disappeared in flood waters.
    • Tegucigalpa: The capital reports 35 inches of rain. One major bridge collapses, homes sliding down mountains.

  • Nicaragua: As of 11/25, 3,045 dead & 36,000 homes either destroyed or damaged, 41,420 left homeless, 29 bridges destroyed.

    • El Porvenir: 134 of the 600 residents have survived as of 12/28, more than 2,000 died in the mountains near here.
    • Matagalpa: Hundreds killed here as of 11/1 due to mudslides.
    • Managua: 2 police officers killed in rescue attempt in flood waters.
    • Posoltega: 11/1 most deaths occurred here due to mudslides.
    • Guatemala & El Salvador: 11/1 several hundred killed so far as of 11/13.

  • The Fantome 4 mast ship:

    As of 11/12 the ship is considered sunk south of the Island of Roatan. The last transmission was at 5:30PM Oct. 27th, at the time Mitch was just NE of Roatan. 31 people are presumed dead & several lawsuits have been filed against the owners of the Fantome (Windjammer) claiming the ship should have stayed in port & not jeopardized the crew.
    Stats
    282 ft long x 40 ft wide
    676 tons
    Max capacity 128

  • Aerial Survey: 12/9, the Pentagon using OC-135B observation planes will fly over Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador & Belize. The plane will use high resolution cameras to chart changes of the landscape caused by hurricane Mitch.
  • Florida: Lowest pressure in Florida 29.37in south central Florida.

    • Monroe, Dade, Broward & Palm Beach Counties: 37,000 without power as of 6PM 11/5. Also 10 total tornadoes.
    • Key Largo area: 7, most F1s, one being a clockwise spin touched down injuring 22 people at 7PM 11/4.
    • Boynton Beach, Florida: 1 reported tornado touchdown around 8PM.
    • Pompano Beach, Florida: Total rainfall from Mitch here 10 1/2 inches.

  • Please donate to the red cross for victims of the Caribbean islands & Central America by calling 1-800-Help Now.
    These areas desperately need your help!

Hurricane researcher's ashes spread in hurricane

  • Jose Partagas received an honorable farewell as his ashes were spread in the eye of hurricane Danielle. Attended by 11 crew members & 6 scientists the ashes were dumped when conditions were just right. It was a moving experience for all aboard. Jose was a dedicated hurricane researcher at 62. Police found no relatives, so the National Hurricane Center claimed the remains & gave him the proper ceremony.