1998 — Sep 21 (PR), 25-29, Hurricane Georges, Puerto Rico, AL, FL, GA, LA, MS — >17

Internationally:          (602 direct)[1]

—      2  Antigua.  Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll from Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998.

—      1  Bahamas.  Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll from Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998.

—      6  Cuba.  Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll from Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998.

—  380  Dominican Republic.  Longshore. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes…Cyclones. 2008, 204.

—>265      “     Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll…Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998.

—  209  Haiti.  Longshore. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes…and Cyclones (New Ed.). 2008, 204.

—  172      “     Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll from Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998.[2]

—      4  St. Kitts.  Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll from Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998.

 

U.S. and Territories:  (17)

—>17  Blanchard tally of five U.S. mainland deaths and >12 in territory of Puerto Rico.[3]

—  11  Wikipedia. “Hurricane Georges.” 4-23-2014 modification.

—    5  Longshore. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes…and Cyclones (New Ed.). 2008, 205.

 

Alabama                     (    1)

— 1  Guiney. Preliminary Report. Hurricane Georges, 15 September – 01 October 1998, p. C5.

— 1  Mobile. Freshwater flooding. NWS WFO Mobile/Pensacola. Hurricane Georges…

 

Florida                        (    2)

— 1  Fire started by candles during power outage. (Longshore 2008, 205.)

— 1  Crestview. Vehicular accident on rain-slick highway. (Longshore 2008, 205.)

 

Louisiana                   (    2)

— 3  Wikipedia. “Hurricane Georges.” 4-23-2014 modification.[4]

— 2  Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “Coastal residents return to wet mess.” 9-30-1998, p. A12.

— 1  New Orleans. Heat stress while being evacuated; elderly female. (Longshore 2008, 205.)

— 1  Fire started by candles during power outage. (Longshore 2008, 205.)

 

Puerto Rico                (>12)

–12  Balletto, Barbara. Insight Guide Puerto Rico. 2003, p. 50.

–12  Blanchard tally based on locality and date reports below.[5]

–12  FEMA. The President’s Long Term Recovery Action Plan January 1999. Puerto Rico… p. 5.[6]

–12  Longshore. Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones (New Ed.). 2008, 204.

–12  Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “Coastal residents return to wet mess.” 9-30-1998, p.A12.[7]

–11  Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll from Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998.

—  8  CDC. “Deaths Associated with Hurricane Georges–Puerto Rico, Sep 1998.” MMWR.[8]

—  7  Wikipedia. “Hurricane Georges.” 4-23-2014 modification.

—  5  NYT News Service. “Georges buffets Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island.” 9-22-1998.[9]

—  4  (As of Sep 23). AP (Norton). “Georges storms Caribbean,” Altoona Mirror, 9-24-1998, C1.

—  4  (As of Sep 22). AP. “Hurricane roars into Dominican Republic.” Cedar Rapids Gazette.[10]

—  0  NCDC. Storm Events Database. Search Results for All (Zone), (Puerto Rico), Sep 20-22.[11]

Breakout by Locality (where we have been able to identify):

— 3  Bayamon (San Juan vicinity), Sep 21. Home roof collapse.[12]

— 1  Bayamon, Sep 24. Carbon monoxide poisoning, gas generator, family store; male, 46.[13]

— 4  Caguas, Sep 25. Fire, candles to light home; mother, 27, children aged 4, 6, 7.

— 1  Ponce, Sep 23. Carbon monoxide poisoning at home, gasoline generator; female, 28.[14]

— 1  San Juan, Sep 28. Electrocution, repairing storm-damaged cable; male, 49.[15]

— 1  Utuado, Sep 25 (Sep 22 inj.). Trauma, fell while removing water from home; male, 66.[16]

 

Narrative Information

 

CDC: “On the evening of September 21, 1998, Hurricane Georges struck Puerto Rico with estimated maximum winds of 115 mph (Category 3). It made multiple landfalls throughout the Caribbean, including Antigua, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hispaniola, and Cuba. On September 25, Hurricane Georges struck the U.S. mainland near Key West, Florida, and made final landfall on September 27 in Biloxi, Mississippi, as a Category 2 hurricane. This report presents preliminary data about deaths resulting from the hurricane in Puerto Rico. On September 23, all 78 civil divisions in Puerto Rico reported damage to homes, and 416 government-run shelters were housing approximately 28,000 persons. Approximately 700,000 persons were without water, and 1 million had no electricity.” (CDC 1998, p. 897.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press (Michael Norton). “Georges storms Caribbean,” Altoona Mirror, 9-24-1998, C1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=72959164&sterm=puerto

 

Associated Press (San Juan). “Hurricane Georges whirls into Puerto Rico; 3 killed.” Cedar Rapids Gazette, IA. 9-22-1998, p. 11A. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=153674076&sterm=puerto+rico+hurricane

 

Balletto, Barbara. Insight Guide Puerto Rico. Insight Guides, 2003, p. 50.

 

Blake, Eric S., Christopher W. Landsea (NHC), and Ethan J. Gibney (NCDC, Asheville, NC). The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones From 1851 to 2010 (and Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts). Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, Aug 2011. Accessed 5-21-2014: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/nws-nhc-6.pdf

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Deaths Associated with Hurricane Georges – Puerto Rico, September 1998.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Vol. 47, No. 42, 10-30-1998, pp. 897-898. Accessed 5-21-2014 at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00055476.htm

 

Chicago Tribune. “Death Toll from Georges Rises to 172.” 10-7-1998. Accessed 5-21-2014 at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-10-07/news/9810070161_1_death-toll-dominican-republic-hurricane-georges

 

Federal Emergency Management Agency. The President’s Long Term Recovery Action Plan January 1999. Puerto Rico, Hurricane Georges, September 1998. Washington, DC: FEMA, Jan 1999.

 

Guiney, John L. (NHC). Preliminary Report. Hurricane Georges, 15 September – 01 October 1998. Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, NOAA, 1-5-1999. Accessed 5-21-2014 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1998georges.html

 

Longshore, David. “Georges, Hurricane. North Atlantic Ocean-Puerto Rico-Cuba-Southern United States, September 15-October 1, 1998,” Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones (New Edition). New York, NY:  Facts on File, 2008, pp. 203-205.

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Search Results for All (Zone), (Puerto Rico), between 09/20/1998 and 09/22/1998. Accessed 5-21-2014 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/listevents.jsp?eventType=ALL&beginDate_mm=09&beginDate_dd=20&beginDate_yyyy=1998&endDate_mm=09&endDate_dd=22&endDate_yyyy=1998&county=ALL&hailfilter=0.00&tornfilter=0&windfilter=000&sort=DT&submitbutton=Search&statefips=99%2CPUERTO+RICO

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office Mobile/Pensacola. Hurricane Georges: September 28, 1998. Accessed 5-21-2014 at: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mob/?n=georges

 

N.Y. Times News Service. “Georges buffets Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island.” The Orange Leader, TX, 9-22-1998, 6B. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=127395037&sterm

 

Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, Inc., Tallahassee, FL. Hurricane Georges Assessment: Review of Hurricane Evacuation Studies Utilization and Information Dissemination. For U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile and Jacksonville Districts, and FEMA Region IV, August, 1999. At (5-21-2014): http://orise.orau.gov/csepp/documents/planning/evacuation-documents/federal-reports/georges.pdf

 

Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “Coastal residents return to wet mess.” 9-30-1998, p. A12. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=28707432&sterm

 

Wikipedia. “Hurricane Georges.” 4-23-2014 modification. Accessed 5-21-2014 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Georges

[1] Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan, Inc., Tallahassee, FL. Hurricane Georges Assessment. August 1999, iii.

[2] Notes another 47 missing.

[3] We write “at least” 17 deaths in that we believe there were more than the 12 deaths we have noted in Puerto Rico.

[4] We are not using this number; it is the only source we have seen noting three fatalities and source is not cited.

[5] The CDC notes 8 specific deaths, the earliest of which was on Sep 23. The AP, as of the 22^nd, notes 4 deaths. Thus there would have been at least 12 deaths. The number could be as many as 17 if the NYT News Service/AP report of Sep 22 was accurate as to three mudslide and two heart attack in shelters fatalities.

[6] “Civil Defense measures, implemented well in advance, kept the human casualty toll to a minimum; indeed, most of the dozen storm-related deaths resulted from accidents involving heroic linesmen striving to restore electrical service after Georges was long gone.” (Message from the Governor, Pedro Rossello.)

[7] “At least three killed directly by the storm, nine others by heart attacks and other health complications.”

[8] “The medical examiner (ME) at the Institute of Forensic Sciences provided information about the number and causes of deaths associated with Hurricane Georges. The ME determined whether a death was hurricane-related, including deaths during the impact phase of the storm (i.e., associated with high winds, storm surge, or flash flooding), and during the post-impact phase (i.e., associated with hurricane-related effects such as structural damage, power outages, and injuries incurred during cleanup).”

[9] From The Orange Leader, TX. Writes that “The Associated Press reported that five people had been killed by the storm in Puerto Rico, three in a landslide outside San Juan and two who suffered heart attacks in shelters. A sixth person was reported missing in a separate landslide near San Juan.”

[10] “In Puerto Rico, officials lowered the death toll from five to four Tuesday [Sep 22].”

[11] Means there were no “direct” fatalities due to the hurricane.

[12] “The season’s most ferocious hurricane plowed into Puerto Rico on Monday [Sep 21], killing three people in a roof collapse….Mari Tere Pacheco, a spokeswoman for the civil defense authority in Puerto Rico, said the three died when their home’s roof collapsed on top of them in the San Juan suburb of Bayamon.” (AP (San Juan). “Hurricane Georges whirls into Puerto Rico; 3 killed.” Cedar Rapids Gazette, IA. 9-22-1998, p. 11A.)

[13] CDC. “Deaths Associated with Hurricane Georges – Puerto Rico, September 1998.” MMWR, 47/42, 1998, p.897.

[14] CDC. “Deaths Associated with Hurricane Georges – Puerto Rico, September 1998.” MMWR, 47/42, 1998, p.897.

[15] CDC. “Deaths Associated with Hurricane Georges – Puerto Rico, September 1998.” MMWR, 47/42, 1998, p.898.

[16] CDC. “Deaths Associated with Hurricane Georges – Puerto Rico, September 1998.” MMWR, 47/42, 1998, p.898.