Tropical Storm Alpha (2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- This article is about the 2005 tropical storm. For other storms named Alpha, see Tropical Storm Alpha (disambiguation).
 Tropical Storm Alpha making landfall near Barahona in the Dominican Republic |
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| Duration | Oct. 22 - 24, 2005 |
| Highest winds | 60 mph (95 km/h) sustained |
| Damages | not yet available |
| Fatalities | 24 direct, 2 indirect |
| Areas affected | Haiti, Dominican Republic |
| Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Tropical Storm Alpha was the 22nd named storm in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, setting a new record for seasonal activity. It caused some damage and has caused 26 confirmed deaths in the Hispaniola countries of Dominican Republic and Haiti.
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Naming
Since all the 21 predetermined hurricane names were exhausted after Hurricane Wilma, the Greek alphabet was used and the storm was designated Alpha once it reached tropical storm status. The name Alpha has been used before in the Atlantic for a subtropical storm (see Tropical Storm Alpha (disambiguation)), but 2005 was the first season to have a tropical storm Alpha.
Records
Alpha broke the 1933 season's record for most storms in a single season by being the 22nd storm of the season. Alpha was also the first tropical storm to be assigned a Greek-alphabet name after the list of hurricane names was exhausted. This is just one of many records set by the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.
Storm history
A tropical wave, which had started out from Africa about October 15, organized into a tropical depression in the eastern Caribbean Sea on October 22. Later that day, despite shear from powerful Hurricane Wilma nearby, it strengthened into a tropical storm as it moved west-northwestward. On the morning of October 23, it made landfall near the city of Barahona in the Dominican Republic with 60 mph (95 km/h) winds, then moved over Haiti.
As it crossed Hispaniola, Alpha was weakened to a tropical depression by the island's steep mountains. A front pulled Alpha northward where it emerged into the Atlantic Ocean and began to accelerate alongside Hurricane Wilma to the southwest.
On the afternoon of October 24 Alpha degenerated into a trough, after which no further tropical reports were issued. Soon after the storm was absorbed by Hurricane Wilma. When Wilma became extratropical on October 25, the remnants of Alpha were still distinct from the core of Wilma on satellite images.
Impact
Death toll
| Country | Total | Direct deaths |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominican Republic | 9 | 9 | ||||
| Haïti | 17 | 15 | ||||
| Totals | 26 | 24 | ||||
| Because of differing sources, totals may not match. | ||||||
A total of 26 people have been reported dead because of Tropical Storm Alpha [1], 24 of them through the direct effects of the storm.
Haiti
A river overflowed its banks and flooded a neighborhood in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Carrefour, killing 17 [2]: two were electrocuted, one drowned, and five were swept to their deaths by the water. [3] Additionally, 23 people are reported missing, including 19 from the town of Leogane. This is a much lower death toll than initially feared; tropical systems which affect Haiti such as Hurricane Jeanne of 2004 are usually among the deadliest as the badly-deforested Haiti is extremely prone to mudslides and lacks virtually any form of tropical alert system.
At least 400 homes were damaged by the storm, including 23 homes that were washed away.
Dominican Republic
Authorities in the Dominican Republic ordered the evacuation of at least 30,000 people living in areas where flooding was possible. About 1,000 people remain in shelters. Nine deaths have occured there [4], including two fishermen who went missing at sea during the storm and a 14-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters in the town of Guaricanos [5].
External links
- The NHC's archive on Tropical Storm Alpha.
- http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/10/24/alpha.ap/index.html
- The Register TS Alpha flooding news article
