Category 5 Hurricane Matthew 'extraordinary,' new report says
The National Hurricane Center released its final analysis of monster storm Hurricane Matthew on Tuesday, marking it as “extraordinary” for its unexpected strength, and deadly for killing the most people since 2005’s Hurricane Stan.
Matthew, which was a Category 5 storm with 166 mph winds at its peak, is directly responsible for the deaths of 585 people, including 34 in the U.S., according to the report.
Two Floridians died during Matthew. A Crescent City woman was killed when a tree fell on her camper, and a DeLand woman died when a tree fell on her while she was outside “feeding her animals,” the report said.
It reached hurricane strength at the lowest latitude in recorded history, and intensified by 86 mph in a 24-hour period.
“This intensity made Matthew the southernmost Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin, surpassing a record previously set by Hurricane Ivan in 2004,” the report notes.
Matthew rocked South Florida in October. It was the first major tropical cyclone residents had faced down since 2005’s Hurricane Wilma, and sent nearly 8,000 people to shelters.
But the region got lucky. Matthew turned north, sending no more than tropical storm-force gusts to Palm Beach County.
Palm Beach International Airport recorded a gust of 50 mph during the storm. Jupiter measured a gust of 66 mph.
Haiti suffered the most losses during Matthew with 546 deaths, 210,000 homes wrecked and an estimated $1.9 billion in total damage.
“During the aftermath, an outbreak of cholera developed due to the significant damage that Haiti’s life support infrastructure incurred, resulting in nearly 10,000 cases, according to the Pan American Health Organization,” the report says.
