1999 — Oct 15-16, Hurricane Irene, Cape Sable FL northeast through so. FL to Atlantic — 8

–8  National Weather Service, Miami-South Florida Weather Forecast Office. 1999 Irene.

–5  Electrocutions

–3  Vehicle-related drownings

–8  Williams and Duedall. Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms 1871-2001. 2002, p. 99.

 

Narrative Information

 

NWS: “After lingering as a broad area of low pressure in the western Caribbean Sea for four days, a tropical depression formed just after midnight EDT on October 13 and became tropical storm Irene in the northwest Caribbean later that morning. Irene moved north across western Cuba on October 14 and strengthened to hurricane intensity early on October 15 in the Straits of Florida. It then made its first landfall in south Florida in the lower Florida Keys around 9 am EDT October 15. After crossing Florida Bay, the center made landfall on the peninsula near Cape Sable around 4 pm EDT October 15 as a Category One intensity hurricane. It moved northeast across central Miami-Dade and Broward counties before exiting into the Atlantic just after midnight on October 16 near Jupiter in northeast Palm Beach County….

 

“There were no direct deaths from Irene, but eight persons died in the aftermath. Five were electrocuted by downed power lines, including three persons from one family. Three persons drowned in vehicle-related accidents….”

 

Sources

 

National Weather Service, Miami-South Florida Weather Forecast Office. 1999 Irene. Accessed 7-5-2018 at: https://www.weather.gov/mfl/1999_irene

 

Williams, John M. and Iver W. Duedall. Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms 1871-2001 (Expanded Edition).  Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2002.