- Hurricane Lili (1996)
Infobox Hurricane| Name=Hurricane Lili
Year=1996
Basin=Atl
Category=cat3
Type=hurricane
Image location=Hurricane Lili (1996).jpg
Formed=October 14, 1996
Dissipated=October 29, 1996
1-min winds=100
Pressure=960
Damagespre=≥
Da
Inflated=-1
Fatalities=10
Areas=Central America ,Cuba ,Bahamas ,Ireland ,Great Britain
Hurricane season=1996 Atlantic hurricane season Hurricane Lili, a
Category 3 hurricane during the1996 Atlantic hurricane season , caused considerable damage acrossCentral America ,Cuba , and theBahamas , and left $300 million (1996US dollars ) in damage inGreat Britain .Meteorological history
A tropical depression formed off the coast of
Nicaragua on October 14, and moved slowly to the northwest. On October 16, it reached tropical storm strength and was named Lili. The storm reached hurricane strength on the 17th. Lili grazed theIsle of Youth on October 18 and then hitMatanzas Province ,Cuba as aCategory 2 hurricane. Despite the mountainous terrain, the storm barely weakened and Lili emerged over water twelve hours later on Cuba's northern coast. Lili further strengthened as it approached theBahamas . The eye passed overSan Salvador Island andGreat Exuma on the 19th before heading out into the North Atlantic. Over open water, Lili briefly reached Category 3 strength before being declared extratropical. The remnants of Lili maintained tropical storm force winds as it crossedIreland andGreat Britain on October 28.Impact
Lili killed ten people: eight in
Central America and two inGreat Britain . Damage figures forCentral America and theBahamas are unavailable but there was $662 million (1996US dollars ) in damages inCuba andGreat Britain .United States
Storm surge caused $150,000 (1996 USD) along the coast of
New Hampshire . Florida received up to a foot of rain in the days preceding Lili's passage as a frontal zone on its northern periphery led to moderate to heavy rainfall mainly along the Gold coast. [David Roth. [http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/lili1996.html Hurricane Lili Rainfall Page.] Retrieved on2007-04-23 .] Some areas of New England received up to convert|13|in|mm of rain in Rockingham County when a frontal zone drew moisture northward from the well-offshore hurricane.NOAA Satellite and Information Service. [http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~271087 Event Record Details.] Retrieved on2007-04-23 .]Cuba
Lili's strong winds and heavy rains forced the closing of
José Martí International Airport inHavana ; 247,000 people evacuated. Up to 747 mm/29.41 inches of rain fell across the island.cite web|author=Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidráulicos|year=2003|title=Lluvias intensas observadas y grandes inundaciones reportadas|language=Spanish|accessdate=2007-02-10|url=http://www.hidro.cu/hidrologia1.htm] InIsla de la Juventud , the winds plucked some 16,000 tons of grapefruit and oranges from trees while convert|20|ft|m|sing=on waves swept beach-side cottages out to sea. In Villa Clara, all 28 sugar refineries were severely damaged. InOld Havana , dozens of old, poorly built buildings simply collapsed in the storm's fury. The storm destroyed 2,300 buildings while damaging another 47,000. Much of the sugar, banana, coffee, and citrus harvests were ruined. Total damages were estimated at $362 million (1996 USD) [Roger A. Pielke, Jr., Jose Rubiera, Christopher Landsea, Mario L. Fernandez, and Roberta Klein. [http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/NHR-Cuba.pdf Hurricane Vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean: Normalized Damage and Loss Potentials.] Retrieved on2007-04-23 .] . There were no deaths.Bahamas
Damage estimates were unavailable but reports state that damage was considerable.Fact|date=April 2007
Great Britain
On the October 28 and October 29, 1996,
Great Britain was hammered by what "The Times " called "arrival from America of Hurricane Lili." Lili produced a 92mph (148 km/h) gust atSwansea ,South Wales , while bringing a four foot (1.20 m)storm surge that inundated theRiver Thames . InSomerset , 500 holiday cottages were severely damaged. AUnited States oil drilling platform, under tow in theNorth Sea , broke loose during the storm and nearly ran aground atPeterhead . On theIsle of Wight , a sailing boat was beached atChale Bay ; luckily all five occupants were rescued. The most damaging storm to have struck Great Britain since theGreat Storm of 1987 , Lili killed two people and left £150 million (1996 pounds) ($300 million in 1996US dollars ) in damage. The storm also broke a four-month drought over southwestEngland .Aftermath
Political fallout
Criticism followed after Hurricane Lili, mainly the disaster relief in
Cuba . ManyCuban exile s debated on whether to get involved with the disaster relief. On issues involving Cuba and the exile community, offering disaster relief is an emotional decision fraught with political implications.MANNY GARCIA. [http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/deb.dis.relief.html Lively debate on disaster relief for Cuba.] Retrieved on2007-04-23 .]Things became more complicated when two rescue planes were allegedly shot down and anti-Castro radio stations urging listeners to withhold relief money. Tomas Garcia-Fuste, WCMQ programming director said it violates the
Helms-Burton Act , which penalizes companies that do business with Cuba. Fuste also said Castro purposely exaggerated the damage done by the hurricane -- to get exiles to send much-needed food and medicine that they normally would not send. He and other advocates feared that Castro's government will steal the supplies.Foreign aid
President Bill Clinton approved humanitarian aid to the Cuban victims through the Catholic church.Ulises Cabrera. [http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/new.challenge.html LILI: THE CUBAN PEOPLE FACE A NEW CHALLENGE.] Retrieved on
2007-04-23 .]Comparisons
The fallout from Hurricane Lili was similar to the fallout from
Hurricane Flora of 1963,Hurricane Charley of 2004, as well as Hurricanes Dennis and Katrina of 2005. Political and historic tension and between the communist government and the exiles and U.S. had hampered relief efforts and aid to the victims. "Don't let politics blind you from helping us", said one victim.Lack of retirement
Despite the damage, the name Lili was not retired so it was used again in the 2002 season.
Hurricane Lili however "was" retired after the 2002 season and it was replaced by Laura for the 2008 season.See also
*
List of Atlantic hurricanes
* List of wettest tropical cyclones in Cuba since 1963ources
World Wide Web
Printed Media
* David Longshore. "Cuba: 1996, Hurricane Lili." Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones. David Longshore. New York: Facts on File, 1998, Pg; 81.
* David Longshore. "Europe: Hurricane Lili." Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones. David Longshore. New York: Facts on File, 1998, Pg; 116.External links
* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1996lili.html Hurricane Lili '96 report (NHC/NOAA)]
* [http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1996/LILI/track.gifHurricane Lili 1996 track (Unisys)]
* [http://stormcarib.com/hurr96.htm#lili Hurricane Lili 1996]
* [http://iys.cidi.org/disaster/96b/6j11.html Cuba:Hurricane Lili 1996]
* [http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/lili1996.html Hurricane Lili - October 12-19, 1996]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/weather/hurricane/poststories/lili.htm Hurricane Hits Central America]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/lili.strikes.html Hurricane Lili Strikes Cuban Mainland ]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/lili.cuba.html S. Florida dodges another one]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/deb.dis.relief.html Lively debate on disaster relief for Cuba]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/new.challenge.html LILI: THE CUBAN PEOPLE FACE A NEW CHALLENGE]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/thous.wait.help.lil.html Thousands of Cubans await help]
* [http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/commviewarticle.asp?id=189 The British Gale Season]
* [http://idol.union.edu/~garverj/Geo35/hurricane/Damage.htm SOME EFFECTS OF HURRICANE LILI (Oct 1996) ON SAN SALVADOR ISLAND, BAHAMAS]
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