When spoken in the same sentence, the words ‘hurricane’ and ‘Haiti’ often create cold sweats and an abundance of worry in the minds of the nation’s residents, meteorologists and weather observers alike.
Haiti is one of the most fragile hurricane-prone countries on the planet.
To be clear, it does not take a hurricane, or even a tropical cyclone, to cause damage and destruction in Haiti. But hurricanes are the worst of the worst for the country, and a closer look reveals a turbulent history.
Here are just the hurricanes in the last 10 years…
The 2008 Hurricane Season
In an average hurricane season, the hurricanes that impacted Haiti would have made up one-third of the activity for the entire Atlantic Basin.
From the final report from the National Hurricane Center on Hurricane Ike:
Parts of Hispaniola, especially Haiti, were devastated by widespread flooding and mudslides from four consecutive impacts by Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike. Overall, 793 people died in Haiti from the four storms, with another 300 people reported missing. It is estimated that 74 deaths are directly attributable to the effects of Ike. Ike exacerbated the humanitarian disaster in Haiti, wiping out the food supply, shelter and transportation networks across the nation.
It is notable that four consecutive tropical cyclones impacted the nation. Hurricane Ike was a Category 3 or higher when it was impacting Haiti, although that hurricane never made direct landfall.
Deforestation efforts in Haiti have left the country’s hillsides naked and unable to withhold water. Hurricanes create the indirect result of human malnutrition in the country because any flooding that occurs often wipes away crops and livelihoods. Seventy percent of Haiti’s crops were wiped out in 2008 during the hurricanes. For more impacts of the 2008 hurricane season, see the link below.
(MORE: Haiti’s Tragic Hurricane History from Wunderground)
Tropical cyclones that have had impacts in Haiti recently.
Hurricane Tomas
Although Tomas went through the passages between Cuba and Haiti, the right-front quadrant of then Hurricane Tomas moved through Haiti. According to the National Hurricane Center, the worst of the winds remained offshore, but even so, the hurricane caused mudslides and flooding.
Hurricane Tomas caused 35 deaths in Haiti, without making landfall.
The GOES-13 satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Tomas (bottom) on Nov. 5 at 9:31 a.m. EDT centered over the southwestern tip of Haiti. The clouds to the north of Tomas are associated with a cold front off the eastern U.S. coast. (NOAA/NASA GOES Project)
(MORE: Latest forecast for Hurricane Matthew)
Erika
Although Erika was no longer a tropical storm when it reached Hispañola, rainfall on the island still caused mudslides, and the remnant circulation passed over.
Erika’s remnants are responsible for one death in Haiti.
Prior to 2008
Haiti’s bad hurricane history only goes back into the mid-1980s, when deforestation of the country began.
In 2004 and 1994, the early stages of Jeanne and Gordon, before they were hurricanes, caused thousands of people to lose their lives. Jeanne in particular killed more than 3,000 people in Haiti due to torrential rainfall. Both of those systems were tropical storms near Haiti that were hurricanes either prior to or well after interaction with the country.
Even before major deforestation began, hurricanes caused mass casualties. Early deforestation and Hurricane Hazel turned into a disaster in 1954. Although records are not great, the death toll from Hazel is estimated to be between 400 and 1,000 people. The amount of people left homeless from Hazel was likely two orders of magnitude higher.
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