Hurricane Dennis was an early-forming major
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the record-breaking
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in history, until the record was broken 15 years later in 2020. The season broke numerous records at the time, with 28 tropical or subtropical storms recorded. ...
. Dennis was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the season. Forming in July, the hurricane became the strongest
Atlantic hurricane
An Atlantic hurricane, also known as tropical storm or simply hurricane, is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, primarily between the months of June and November. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of ...
ever to form before August at the time, a title it held for only six days before being surpassed by
Hurricane Emily.
Dennis made
landfall
Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...
in
Cuba twice as a Category 4 hurricane on the
Saffir–Simpson scale and made landfall on the United States'
Florida Panhandle as a Category 3 storm, coming less than a year after the devastating
Hurricane Ivan. Dennis killed 88 people in total and was responsible for $3.98 billion (2005
USD) in damages, of which $2.5 billion (2005
USD) occurred in the United States.
Meteorological history
The
tropical wave that became Dennis was identified by the
National Hurricane Center on June 26, 2005, well inland over Africa.
It later emerged over the Atlantic Ocean on June 29 and moved quickly to the west.
Dry conditions over the Sahara initially inhibited development, though the wave found more favorable conditions and intensified into a
tropical depression
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
on July 4 while nearing the
Windward Islands
french: Îles du Vent
, image_name =
, image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.
, image_alt =
, locator_map =
, location = Caribbean Sea North ...
.
The depression soon crossed the island country of
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and ...
before entering the Caribbean, where increasingly favorable environmental factors, such as low
wind shear and high
sea surface temperatures, fueled intensification. Turning west-northwest, the system achieved tropical storm status on July 5 and hurricane status the following day.
Formation of a well-defined
eye and
central dense overcast
The central dense overcast, or CDO, of a tropical cyclone or strong subtropical cyclone is the large central area of thunderstorms surrounding its circulation center, caused by the formation of its eyewall. It can be round, angular, oval, or irr ...
signaled Dennis's intensification into a
major hurricane on July 7.
The hurricane subsequently traversed the
Jamaica Channel
The Jamaica Channel is a strait separating the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola, in the Caribbean Sea. Along with the Windward Passage to its north. Due to its location about north-east of the Panama Canal, it is a main sea lane through which ...
, bringing deadly floods to both
Jamaica and
Haiti.
The powerful storm soon struck
Granma Province
Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns include Manzanillo (a port on the Gulf of Guacanayabo) and Pilón.
History
The province takes its name from the yacht '' Granma'', used by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro ...
, Cuba, as a Category 4 hurricane early on July 8; violent winds battered the province and caused extensive damage. Briefly weakening due to interaction with land, Dennis quickly regained its strength. Paralleling the southwestern coast of Cuba, Dennis reached its peak winds of . However, it soon weakened to winds of later that day as a result of an
eyewall replacement cycle before making a second
landfall
Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...
in the country, this time in
Matanzas Province
Matanzas () is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province.
Among Cuban provinces, ...
.
Interaction with the mountains of Cuba caused significant weakening; however, once Dennis emerged over the
Gulf of Mexico on July 9, it quickly reorganized in favorable conditions. The hurricane reached Category 4 strength for the third time on July 10 as it approached
Florida, attaining its lowest
barometric pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...
of 930
mbar
The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but not part of the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as exactly equal to 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), or slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea l ...
(hPa; ).
This ranked Dennis as the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic basin to form before August; however, this record was broken just six days later by
Hurricane Emily, which surpassed Dennis and attained Category 5 status. Weakening ensued as the hurricane approached the
Florida Panhandle, the storm ultimately making landfall over
Santa Rosa Island on July 10 as a Category 3. Weakening continued as the cyclone moved further inland, and the storm quickly lost tropical cyclone status. Dennis' remnant circulation remained, however, traversing the
Mississippi River Valley and
Ohio River Valley before finally dissipating over
Ontario on July 18.
Preparations
Caribbean
In
Haiti, officials evacuated residents along the coastline, but noted that many were not obliging.
In
Cuba more than 600,000 residents were moved from their homes to government shelters or other locations in anticipation of Dennis.
All schools were closed, and most flights in the country were suspended or cancelled.
The
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the s ...
chapter of the Red Cross opened shelters on July 7 and placed 120 volunteers on standby. Schools and government offices closed for the duration of Dennis's passage.
United States
In the United States, the governors of Florida,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = " Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
,
Mississippi and
Louisiana all declared
states of emergency in their states. At 6 am CDT (2300 UTC) on July 9, 2005, all southbound lanes on
Interstate 65 from
Mobile to
Montgomery, Alabama, were closed. Traffic was redirected, making all four lanes northbound to allow evacuations.
In Alabama residents in all parts of
Mobile County
Mobile County ( ) is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the second most-populous county in the state after Jefferson County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 414,809. Its county seat is Mobile, w ...
, and those south of
I-10 in
Baldwin County, were ordered to evacuate.
Similar orders were issued in Mississippi for parts of
Jackson,
Hancock Hancock may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Hancock, Iowa
* Hancock, Maine
* Hancock, Maryland
* Hancock, Massachusetts
* Hancock, Michigan
* Hancock, Minnesota
* Hancock, Missouri
* Hancock, New Hampshire
** Hancock (CDP), New Hampsh ...
, and
Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or "Po ...
counties; and for coastal areas in the
Florida Panhandle stretching from
Escambia County to
Bay County Bay County is the name of three counties:
* Bay County, Florida, United States
* Bay County, Michigan, United States
* Baicheng County
Baicheng County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Bay County (pronounced l ...
.
Likewise, military installations such as
NAS Pensacola,
Whiting Field,
Eglin AFB,
Hurlburt Field
Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force Spe ...
and
Tyndall AFB
Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (325 ...
were all evacuated days before the storm. Additionally, Red Cross officials opened 87 shelters across the state which were able to hold about 14,000 evacuees.
In Florida, about 50,000 tourists in the
Keys were forced to evacuate by July 8.
The
MacDill Air Force Base in
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...
evacuated its aircraft to
McConnell Air Force Base
McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States., effective 2007-12-20 The airbase was named in ...
near
Wichita, Kansas.
700,000 people in the Florida panhandle were evacuated in the days prior to Dennis, 100,000 of them in Escambia County alone.
As a result of the large evacuations, more than 200 truckloads provided about 1.8 million gallons of gasoline.
The Red Cross also moved 60 mobile canteens capable of serving 30,000 hot meals each a day to the staging points of Hattiesburg and Jackson. National guardsmen were mobilized, and four emergency medical teams, each capable of setting up a small field hospital, were on standby. Also, at Eglin Air Force Base, about 20,000 military personnel were evacuated, and at Hurlburt Field, home to Air Force's 16th Special Operations Wing, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for all 15,000 airmen and their families.
Impact
Caribbean
Heavy rain from the outer bands of Dennis produced widespread flooding and landslides in Haiti. The resulting torrents killed at least 56 people, injured 36 others, and left 24 more missing.
At least nine of the fatalities occurred when a bridge collapsed in
Grand-Goâve
Grand Goâve ( ht, Grangwav) is a commune in the Léogâne Arrondissement in the Ouest department of southwestern Haiti.
The Rivière de Grand Goâve passes to the east of the town. It is bridged by National Route No. 2 to the south and forded ...
. Extensive property damage was incurred with 929 homes destroyed and another 3,058 damaged, leaving 1,500 families homeless.
Damage totaled US$50 million.
Dennis brought torrential rain to
Jamaica, with accumulations peaking at in
Mavis Bank—a
1-in-50 year event. Widespread flash flooding ensued, damaging or destroying numerous homes and businesses. The overflow of multiple rivers prompted evacuations in several towns and left many stranded.
Saint Thomas and
Portland Parishes were hardest-hit. Overall, one person died there and damage exceeded J$2.128 billion (US$34.5 million).
From there the storm moved to
Cuba, leaving 16 people dead and $1.4 billion in damages as it roared through the island, flattening houses and downing trees and power lines. Heavy rainfall fell across the country, with amounts reaching up to , making Dennis the wettest storm for the island since
Hurricane Flora
Hurricane Flora is among the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history, with a death total of at least 7,193. The seventh tropical storm and sixth hurricane of the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season, Flora developed from a disturbance in th ...
of 1963.
According to reports from the Cuban government, 120,000 homes were damaged, 15,000 of which were destroyed. The citrus and vegetable industries were also devastated as Cuba's primary agricultural regions were the hardest hit. Nonetheless,
Fidel Castro publicly refused US aid after the storm in protest of the ongoing US trade embargo against Cuba, stating that, "If they offered $1 billion we would say no."
Relayed reports from Cuban meteorologists stated that a gust up to was detected at
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especia ...
, 85% of the power lines were down, and extensive damage to the communications infrastructure had occurred. Dennis was more destructive than the previous year's
Hurricane Charley and was widely regarded as the worst hurricane to strike Cuba since
Hurricane Flora
Hurricane Flora is among the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history, with a death total of at least 7,193. The seventh tropical storm and sixth hurricane of the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season, Flora developed from a disturbance in th ...
in the
1963 season.
United States
In the United States, damage was not as high as originally expected, mainly because Dennis was more compact and moved more quickly than initially forecast. Dennis made landfall approximately to the east of where
Hurricane Ivan had made landfall 10 months before, but did not cause as much damage as Ivan, due to its compact size, quicker path, and because the area was not fully rebuilt from the prior year. Dennis moved about faster than Ivan at landfall, and had hurricane-force winds that only extended from its center, compared to Ivan's 105-mile radius (170 km).
During the height of the storm, Dennis produced storm surges as high as in the
Apalachee Bay
Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin cou ...
region, and as high as on the
Florida Panhandle,
and left 680,000 customers without electricity in four southern states.
In southern Florida, damage was mostly limited to moderate wind gusts; in
Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
, gusty winds knocked out several traffic lights along
U.S. 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...
, the only route to and from the
Florida Keys.
A man died in
Fort Lauderdale when he stepped on a downed electrical wire and was electrocuted.
Damage was mostly minor and limited to outer rainbands and tornadoes in Central Florida. In the
Tampa Bay area, several tornadoes were reported to have touched down causing minor damage such as downed trees and power lines.
The most severe damage occurred on the Florida Panhandle. At
Navarre Beach
Navarre is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County in the northwest Florida Panhandle. It is a major bedroom community for mostly U.S. military personnel, federal civil servants, local population, retirees ...
, sustained winds of were reported with a peak gust of , while a tower at the
Pensacola Airport reported sustained winds of and a peak gust of .
Milton received of rain, the highest reported rainfall total in Florida caused by Dennis.
No significant damage was reported to most structures; however, insurers initially estimated that Dennis caused $3–$5 billion in insured damage,
or approximately $6–$10 billion total (insured damage estimates are generally held to be approximately one-half of total damages). However, the NHC reported total damage in the United States as only $2.5 billion with $1.115 billion of insured damage.
In
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = " Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
, sustained winds reached minimal hurricane force in the interior of the state.
In total, 280,000 people in Alabama experienced power outages during the storm. No deaths occurred, although Dennis caused three injuries
and total damage amounted to $127 million (2005 USD),
mostly due to structural damage. There was also severe damage to cotton crops.
In
Mississippi, damage was not as severe as previously anticipated. As Dennis impacted the state, a
storm tide
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the no ...
of – above normal was reported.
Rainfall from the hurricane averaged between ,
and minimum barometric pressure of 994.2 mb was reported near
Pascagoula
The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River.
The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Mobilian Jargon term meaning "bread people". Choctaw n ...
.
Wind gusts peaked at causing several hundred trees to uproot or snap, damaging a total of 21 homes and businesses.
Dennis caused at least 10 tornadoes in the U.S., although only one of them reached F1 status on the
Fujita scale.
The storm dropped over of rain in some areas of Alabama and Georgia (see the
rainfall graphic). Parts of Georgia, which had received heavy rain just days earlier from
Hurricane Cindy, suffered heavy flooding, and flash-floods were reported on the outskirts of the
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
metropolitan area.
In the United States, 15 storm-related deaths (14 in Florida) were reported, including one in
Walton County,
three in
Broward County
Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...
,
three in
Charlotte County, one each in
Nassau and
Escambia Counties
and one in
Decatur, Georgia.
In the Gulf of Mexico, the storm caused ''
Thunder Horse PDQ
''Thunder Horse PDQ'' is a BP plc and ExxonMobil joint venture semi-submersible oil platform on location over the Mississippi Canyon Thunder Horse oil field (Block 778/822), in deepwater Gulf of Mexico, southeast of New Orleans, moored in wate ...
'', a
BP oil rig
{{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox
An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling.
Kinds of oil rig include:
* Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling
* Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling
* ...
about southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana, to severely list.
Aftermath
Because of the great amount of damage and deaths in the Caribbean and United States, the name ''Dennis'' was retired in the spring of 2006, and will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. It was replaced by ''Don'', which was first used during the
2011 hurricane season. Dennis was one of five names to be retired in 2005—alongside
Katrina,
Rita
Rita may refer to:
People
* Rita (given name)
* Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984)
* Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962)
* Rita (Japanese singer)
* Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita
Places
* Djarrit, also known as R ...
,
Stan, and
Wilma; this is the greatest such number since the implementation of retirement in 1955.
See also
*
Tropical cyclones in 2005
*
List of Florida hurricanes (2000–present)
*
List of retired Atlantic hurricane names
*
List of wettest tropical cyclones in Cuba
*
List of wettest tropical cyclones in the United States
Tropical cyclones move into the contiguous United States from the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Pacific Ocean. The highest rainfall totals in the country have been measured across the Gulf Coast and lower portions of the Ea ...
*
List of Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes
Category 4 hurricanes are tropical cyclones that reach Category 4 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Category 4 hurricanes that later attained Category 5 strength are not included in this list. The Atlantic basin inclu ...
*
Hurricane Opal
Hurricane Opal was a large and powerful Category 4 hurricane that caused severe and extensive damage along the northern Gulf Coast of the United States in October 1995. The fifteenth named storm, ninth hurricane and strongest tropical cyclo ...
(1995) – A powerful Category 4 hurricane that affected the similar areas as a Category 3 storm
*
Hurricane Georges (1998) – Another Category 4 hurricane that produced similar effects in the Gulf Coast Region as a Category 2 storm
*
Hurricane Ivan (2004) – A Category 5 hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast less than a year earlier as a Category 3 storm, causing devastating damage
*
Hurricane Gustav
Hurricane Gustav () was the second most destructive hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Gustav caused serious damage and casualties in Haiti, ...
(2008) – A Category 4 hurricane that took a similar track before striking southern Louisiana as a Category 2 storm
*
Hurricane Michael (2018) – A Category 5 hurricane that became the strongest tropical cyclone ever to strike the Florida Panhandle
*
Hurricane Sally
Hurricane Sally was a destructive and slow-moving Atlantic hurricane, which was the first hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Alabama since Ivan in 2004, coincidentally on the same date in the same place. The eighteenth named sto ...
(2020) – A slow-moving Category 2 hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Florida Panhandle
*
Hurricane Elsa
Hurricane Elsa was the earliest-forming fifth named storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, surpassing Edouard of the previous year, and was the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed over the central tropical Atlantic ...
(2021) - A Category 1 hurricane that had a similar path, and affected similar areas.
References
External links
* – A final report issued by the National Hurricane Center regarding Hurricane Dennis, including synoptic history, meteorological statistics, casualties and damage, forecasting critique, and information tables.
The National Hurricane Center's archive on Hurricane DennisRadar animation of landfall in Florida (credit to Brian McNoldy, RSMAS/Univ of Miami)The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center's archive on Hurricane Dennis
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20051217042252/http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/photo_exhibits/hurricanes.cfm Historic Images of Florida Hurricanes (State Archives of Florida)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis (2005)
Retired Atlantic hurricanes
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes
Hurricanes in Cuba
Hurricanes in Florida
Hurricane Dennis
Hurricanes in Tennessee
Tropical cyclones in 2005