Hurricane Donna
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
 Storm Path |
|
| Duration | Aug. 29 - Sep. 14, 1960 |
| Highest winds | 160 mph (260 km/h) sustained |
| Damages | $3.3 billion (2005 dollars) |
| Fatalities | 148 direct |
| Areas affected | Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Bahamas, every state on the U.S. East Coast from Florida to Maine, Atlantic Canada (Most land areas ever affected by an Atlantic hurricane) |
| Part of the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Donna in the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season was a classic Cape Verde-type hurricane that interfered with the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, Cuba, The Bahamas, and every single state on the eastern seaboard of the United States.
Donna holds the record for retaining "major hurricane" status (category 3 or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) in the Atlantic Basin for the longest period of time on record. For nine days, September 2 to September 11, Donna consistently had sustained winds of at least 115 mph. From the moment it became a tropical depression to when it dissipated after becoming an extratropical storm, Donna roamed the Atlantic from August 29 to September 14, a total of 17 days.
After its voyage across the Gulf Stream, Donna made landfall in the community of Marathon, centered on Key Vaca in the middle Florida Keys, where its winds and storm surge destroyed buildings and vessels. The storm crossed into the Gulf of Mexico and its course shifted northward. Donna paralleled the southwest coast of Florida until it made landfall again on Florida between Naples and Fort Myers as a Category 4 hurricane. (Aug. 29-Sept 14)
After crossing the Florida peninsula, it continued and moved back out into the Atlantic Ocean near Daytona Beach. Donna headed up the East Coast, and made another landfall at Topsail Island, North Carolina. It then finished its trip by heading into New England, and a final landfall across Long Island, New York.
Florida suffered profound losses from Donna, and more than any other state. 35% of the state's grapefruit crop was lost, 10% of the orange and tangerine crop was lost, and the avocado crop was almost completely wiped out. The day after the storm hit, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared a disaster area from the Keys up to Central Florida.
Donna, unlike Hurricane Charley, which followed a similar track in 2004, was a slow-moving storm. In the southern half of the state, Donna dumped 10 to 12 inches of rain, about seven inches in the northern half. This by itself is a considerable amount, but on top of that the rain from the three weeks prior to Donna's landfall produced a six- to seven-inch surplus in rain just as the hurricane hit.
At its peak, Donna had wind gusts ranging from 175 to 200 mph, a minimum central pressure of 27.46 inHg (930 mbar), and a 13 foot storm surge when it slammed into Florida. Although weaker, it caused a lot of damage in North Carolina and New York. Donna was one of the few hurricanes to affect every state along the East Coast. In fact it is the only storm to produce "hurricane-force" winds on every inch of the coast from Florida to Maine. Its total damage cost was 370 million 1960 United States dollars while Donna left 50 people dead. In 2005 dollars, the total expense would be around 2.3 billion dollars.
On one occasion Donna barely achieved category 5 strength, but this occurred in its earlier days while in the mid-Atlantic.
The name Donna was retired and will never be used for a hurricane again; and the name was replaced by Dora in 1964.
| Top ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes since measurements began Hurricane intensity is measured solely by central pressure; source: NOAA |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Atlantic | Landfall U.S. | ||||||
| Rank | Hurricane | Year | Minimum pressure recorded mbar (hPa) |
Rank | Hurricane | Year | Minimum pressure at landfall mbar (hPa) |
| 1 | Wilma | 2005 | 882 | 1 | Labor Day | 1935 | 892 |
| 2 | Gilbert | 1988 | 888 | 2 | Camille | 1969 | 909 |
| 3 | Labor Day | 1935 | 892 | 3 | Katrina | 2005 | 918 |
| 4 | Rita | 2005 | 897 | 4 | Andrew | 1992 | 922 |
| 5 | Allen | 1980 | 899 | 5 | Indianola | 1886 | 925 |
| 6 | Katrina | 2005 | 902 | 6 | Florida Keys | 1919 | 927 |
| 7 | Camille | 1969 | 905 | 7 | Okeechobee | 1928 | 929 |
| 8 | Mitch | 1998 | 905 | 8 | Donna | 1960 | 930 |
| 9 | Ivan | 2004 | 910 | 9 | New Orleans | 1915 | 931 |
| 10 | Janet | 1955 | 914 | 10 | Carla | 1961 | 931 |
| Based on data from: The Weather Channel | Based on data from: U.S. National Hurricane Center | ||||||
