Hurricane Lili (1996)

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Hurricane Lili (1996)
Category 3 hurricane ( SSHWS )
Hurricane Lili as a Category 3 storm over the Bahamas
Hurricane Lili as a Category 3 storm over the Bahamas
Emergence October 14, 1996
resolution October 29, 1996
Peak wind
speed
115  mph (185  km / h ) (sustained for 1 minute)
Lowest air pressure 960  mbar ( hPa ; 28.4  inHg )
dead 10
Property damage $ 662 million (1996)
Affected
areas 		Central America , Cuba , Bahamas , Ireland , Great Britain
Season overview:
1996 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Lili was a tropical cyclone classified as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale that caused notable damage to Central America , Cuba, and the Bahamas during the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season , and ultimately 300 to the UK Million US dollars .

Storm course

Train track from Hurricane Lili

On October 14th, a tropical depression formed off the coast of Nicaragua and slowly migrated northwest. On October 16, the low reached the strength of a tropical storm and was given the name Lili. The storm reached hurricane status on October 17th. The next day, Lili grazed Isla de la Juventud and then hit the Cuban province of Matanzas as a category 2 hurricane . Despite the mountainous terrain, the hurricane hardly weakened and came back over the water twelve hours later on the north coast of Cuba. Lili intensified further as the hurricane neared the Bahamas . The eye passed over San Salvador Island and Great Exuma on October 19 , before the hurricane set course for the open northern Atlantic Ocean ( North Atlantic ). There, Lili briefly achieved category 3 classification before the cyclone was declared extra-tropical . When the remains of Lili reached the British Isles nine days later , the storm was still the strength of a tropical storm.

Effects

Lili killed ten people, eight in Central America and two in the UK . The damage figures for Central America and the Bahamas are not known; in Cuba and the British Isles, property damage totaled 662 million US dollars.

Cuba

Lili's strong winds and rains caused the closure of José Martí Airport in Havana and 247,000 people were evacuated. On Isla de la Juventud , the wind shook more than 16,000 tons of grapefruit and oranges from the trees and six-meter-high waves washed houses on the shore into the sea. In Villa Clara all 28 sugar mills were severely damaged. In La Habana Vieja , dozens of old, poorly built buildings simply collapsed in the storm. The storm destroyed about 2,300 buildings and damaged another 47,000. Much of the sugar cane , banana , coffee beans and citrus crops were destroyed. The total damage in Cuba is estimated at 362 million US dollars (1996). People were not harmed.

United States

Rainfall through Lili in Florida

The storm surge caused $ 150,000 in damage along the New Hampshire coast . Up to 300 mm of precipitation fell in Florida when a front system caused by Lili brought heavy rain in the days before the passage. Some areas of New England fell as much as 330 mm of precipitation, such as Rockingham County , when a system of fronts drew in moisture from the offshore hurricane.

British Islands

On October 28th and 29th, the British Isles saw what The Times called it, when Hurricane Lili arrived from America . Lili was generating a gust of gusts in Swansea , South Wales that reached 148 km / h while the storm surge in the Thames Estuary reached 120 centimeters above normal. In Somerset , 500 cottages were badly damaged. An oil rig that was towed in the North Sea broke loose and nearly ran aground near Peterhead . A sailboat was thrown ashore on the Isle of Wight ; the five crew members could be saved. Lili was the most devastating storm to hit Britain since the "Great Storm of 1987". Lili killed two British people and left £ 150 million in property damage . The storm ended a four-month drought in south-west England .

Political Consequences

Hurricane Lili sparked a lot of criticism, mainly regarding disaster relief in Cuba . Many Cuban exiles argued over whether to participate. As far as Cuba and the Cuban exile community is concerned, the provision of disaster relief is an emotional decision-making issue with a political background.

The matter got complicated when two planes carrying aid supplies were reportedly shot down and anti-Castro radio stations asked listeners to withhold donations. WCMQ's program director, Tomas Garcia-Fuste, described aid deliveries as violating the Helms-Burton Act , which penalizes companies that do business with Cuba. In his words, Fidel Castro exaggerated in stating the hurricane damage in order to get the Cubans in exile to send the used food and medicine shipments that they would normally not send. He and others feared that Castro's government would misuse the supplies.

President Bill Clinton approved the delivery of relief supplies to the Cuban victims by the Catholic Church .

The political consequences of Hurricane Lili were similar to those of Hurricane Flora in 1963, Hurricane Charley in 2004, and the two hurricanes of the 2005 season, Dennis and Katrina . Political and historical tensions between the Communist Cuban government and Cubans in exile and the United States hampered rescue efforts and aid to the victims.

No deletion of the name

Because the damage caused by Lili was not extreme, the name Lili was not removed from the list of names of tropical cyclones , but was used again during the 2002 hurricane season , after which it was replaced by Laura.

swell

  1. ^ Hurricane Vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean: Normalized Damage and Loss Potentials. ( English , PDF; 764 kB) In: Natural Hazards Revue . NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. August 2003. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
  2. ↑ David Roth. Hurricane Lili Rainfall Page. ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 23, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov
  3. ↑ Event Record Details ( English ) NOAA National Climatic Data Center. August 28, 1996. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved on November 7, 2008.
  4. ↑ a b Manny Garcia: Lively debate on disaster relief for Cuba ( English ) The Miami Herald . October 20, 1996. Retrieved November 7, 2008.
  5. ↑ a b Ulises Cabrera: Lili: The Cuban People face a new Challenge ( English ) CubaNet. October 23, 1996. Retrieved November 7, 2008.

literature

  • David Longshore. "Cuba: 1996, Hurricane Lili." In: Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones. New York, 1998. page 81.
  • David Longshore. "Europe: Hurricane Lili." In: Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones. New York, 1998. page 116.

Web links