This cache is located in the parking
lot of a local strip mall that was quite torn up by Hurricane
Charley. The National Guard was brought in within 12 hours
and had taken measure to fix this mall well enough for it to
be used as the staging area for all Emergency vehicles. Over
500 ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, search and rescue
and other vehicles we staged in this area to support the
local emergency system in their recovery from Charley.
National Guard and many others were living inside this strip
mall. Goofy spent long hours with her Ambulance crews working
out of this location. This cache is planted here as a thank
you to all of those who came to help in our hour of
need.
Hurricane Dennis was the fourth named tropical cyclone
and the first hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.
Dennis hit Cuba as a Category 4 storm and made landfall in the U.S.
as a Category 3 storm between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach,
Florida, at 2:25pm CDT (1925 UTC) on July 10, 2005.
Dennis set two records for early season activity, becoming
both the earliest fourth named storm when it became a tropical
storm on July 5, and the strongest storm ever to form prior to
August (although that distinction was very short-lived, as
Hurricane Emily took that record away just nine days later). It
affected Haiti and Jamaica with high winds and heavy rain before
hitting south-central Cuba at Category 4 intensity on July 8. As a
comparison to the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Alex
formed in early August and Hurricane Charley made landfall in Cuba
on August 12. It did briefly regain Category 4 status, but weakened
to a Category 3 before making landfall due to cooler water along
the coast.
Dennis caused at least 71 deaths in the United States and
Caribbean, and caused $5-9 billion in damage, about half of it in
the Caribbean. Damage was not as high as expected in the United
States, mainly because Dennis was more compact and moved through
quicker than initially forecast.
Storm history
Hurricane Dennis began as Tropical Depression Four in the
southeastern Caribbean Sea on the evening of July 4, the first
storm of the season to form away from Mexico and Central America.
On the morning of July 5, it strengthened into Tropical Storm
Dennis in the eastern Caribbean. The newly-named storm began moving
rapidly to the west-northwest.
It was very clear from early weather forecasting models that
Dennis had the potential to be a major storm, and it was predicted
to reach hurricane status while it was still "Atlantic Tropical
Depression Four". It reached hurricane strength on the afternoon of
July 6 while approaching the southern coast of Hispaniola as a
strong and well-organized Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Scale. The next day it strengthened rapidly to become a
Category 4 major hurricane, the earliest in the season that a storm
has reached this strength since Hurricane Audrey in the 1957
season. Dennis's track became slightly more northerly, bringing it
between Jamaica and Haiti on July 7.
As it approached Cuba and strengthened to just under Category
5 intensity, Dennis's track began to wobble. NHC meteorologists
state that "this type of erratic motion is not unusual for
intensifying major hurricanes." Its wind speed of 150 mph had by
then surpassed Audrey's maximum, and was the highest ever recorded
for a storm earlier than August (a record that lasted just nine
days). It slammed into south-central Cuba on July 8.
Dennis weakened to Category 1 intensity from the effects of
crossing the island. NHC forecasts, though, continued to point to
the possibility of a return to Category 4 status, after convection
had been re-established. This was borne out by Dennis's
reintensification on the afternoon of July 9, which was so rapid
that NHC forecasters described it as having occurred "at a rate
that bordered on insane." The storm reached Category 4 intensity
again on the morning of July 10 as it moved north-northwest towards
the central Gulf Coast, which had seen Tropical Storm Arlene in
June and Tropical Storm Cindy make landfall the previous
week.
On the morning of July 10, hurricane warnings were in effect
for the Florida Panhandle, Alabama and Mississippi, with tropical
storm warnings extending further. The NHC predicted a landing at
near full strength in the late afternoon. However, much like
Hurricane Ivan, which struck in the same area the previous year,
the storm weakened just before landfall, with its maximum sustained
winds weakening from 145 mph (235 km/h, Category 4 strength) to 120
mph (195 km/h, Category 3 strength).
Landfall was made at Santa Rosa Island, between Pensacola,
Florida and Navarre Beach, Florida, at 2:25 pm CDT (1925 UTC) on
July 10. Dennis was a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 to 120
mph (185 to 195 km/h). The highest official wind speed reported was
a 121 mph wind gust at Navarre Beach. It lost strength over the
day, and was a tropical depression by early on July 11. It
persisted however, and gained a little strength while stalled over
Illinois the next day. It finally dissipated on July 13, with
advisories ceasing a full three days after landfall.
Preparations
In the United States, the lower Florida Keys were placed under a
mandatory evacuation order, and a non-resident and mobile home
resident evacuation was ordered for the remainder of the Keys. This
evacuation was cancelled the night of July 8, as there was no
longer sufficient time for stragglers in the Florida Keys to safely
leave. Furthermore, the governors of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi
and Louisiana all declared states of emergency in their
states.
At 6 am CDT on July 9, 2005, all southbound lanes on
Interstate 65 from Mobile, AL to Montgomery, AL were closed.
Traffic was re-directed to all four lanes Northbound to allow
evacuations. In Alabama, residents in all parts of Mobile County,
and those south of I-10 in Baldwin County, were ordered to
evacuate. Similar orders were issued in Mississippi for parts of
Jackson, Hancock and Harrison counties; and for coastal areas in
the Florida Panhandle, stretching from Escambia County to Bay
County. Likewise, military installations, such as NAS Pensacola,
Whiting Field, Eglin AFB and Tyndall AFB, were all evacuated days
before the storm.
In Cuba, more than 600,000 residents were moved from their
homes to government shelters or other locations in anticipation of
Dennis. In Haiti, officials evacutated residents along the
coastline, but noted that many were not obliging.
Effects
Combined with Tropical Storm Cindy's landfall on the Gulf Coast of
the United States, uncertainty over Dennis helped push oil prices
to a record high of $61.28 a barrel on July 6, and again to $61.50
on July 7, although they dropped below $60 on July 8.
Insurers estimate that as of Monday, July 11, Hurricane
Dennis had done $3-5 billion in insured damage. The final damage
figure will likely come in between $5-9 billion since insured
damage is generally about half of total damage.
USA
During the height of the storm, Dennis left 680,000 customers
without electricity in four southern states. No significant damage
was reported to most structures, but insured damage from Dennis in
the United States is estimated to have ranged from $1.25 to 2.5
billion. Considering insured damage usually accounts for half of
all damage, total damage in the United States is expected to range
from $2-5 billion.
Dennis made landfall near where Hurricane Ivan had made
landfall 10 months before, but did not cause as much damage as
Ivan. Most officials were attributing the lessened damage to the
facts that a) Dennis was moving about 7mph faster than Ivan was at
landfall, and b) Dennis had hurricane-force winds that did not
extend as far from the center as Ivan's did (40 miles versus 105
miles, respectively).
In the United States, 10 storm-related deaths were reported,
including one in Walton County, Florida, two in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida and one in Decatur, Georgia. In the Gulf of Mexico, the
storm heavily damaged "Thunder Horse", a BP oil rig about 150 miles
(240 km) southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana, causing it to list
badly.
On the other hand, one beneficial effect as a result of
Hurricane Dennis was the rolling of the former USS Spiegel Grove.
Spiegel Grove was sunk in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary as
an attempt at creating an artificial reef. However, the ship turned
turtle and landed on the bottom upside down. Efforts to roll the
ship were partially successful, bringing it onto its starboard
side, but Hurricane Dennis was able to complete the roll, bringing
Spiegel Grove into its intended upright position.
Hurricane Dennis
Hurricane Dennis on July 9, 2005 at 2315 UTC
(Courtesy UWisc CIMSS.)
Duration: July 4 - 13, 2005
Highest winds: 150 mph (240 km/h)
Total damages (in USD): $5-9 billion
Total fatalities: 60 direct, 11 indirect
Areas affected: Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio Valley region