- Hurricane Keith
Infobox Hurricane
Name=Hurricane Keith
Type=hurricane
Year=2000
Basin=Atl
Image location=Hurricane Keith 30 sept 2000 2227Z.jpg
Formed=September 28 ,2000
Dissipated=October 6 ,2000
1-min winds=120
Pressure=939
Da
Inflated=0
Fatalities=40 direct
Areas=Much ofCentral America ,Belize ,Mexico
Hurricane season=2000 Atlantic hurricane season Hurricane Keith, the strongest
hurricane of the2000 Atlantic hurricane season , was a Caribbean hurricane that caused great damage acrossBelize and southernMexico .A tropical wave organized into a tropical depression north-northeast of
Cape Gracias a Dios ,Nicaragua , onSeptember 28 . Tropical Storm Keith came a day later. The newly upgraded cyclone began to intensify rapidly as it moved west, reaching Category 4 strength in a short amount of time. It weakened slightly after its eyewall passed overAmbergris Caye andCaye Caulker ,Belize onOctober 1 . It spent two days looping off of Belize's coast. During this time, it weakened dramatically and was only a tropical storm when it made landfall in Belize. It quickly passed over theYucatán Peninsula into theGulf of Mexico . The warm water strengthened Keith into minimal hurricane at its second landfall just north ofTampico . Dissipation occurred a day later.Keith is responsible for 40 deaths, 12 due to flooding in Nicaragua and 19 also from flooding in Belize. Monetary damage in Belize is estimated at $280 million (2000 USD, $399 million 2008 USD), and $38 million (2000 USD, $48 million 2008 USD) in Mexico.cite web |url=http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/mexico/4/LCMEXG4/keith1r_1.pdf |title=Belize: Assessment of the Damage Caused By Hurricane Keith, 2000|accessdate=2007-12-16 |author=
United Nations |date=November 30 ,2000 |publisher=CEPAL |format=PDF]Meteorological history
Hurricane Keith began as a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on
September 16 . It moved westward across the Atlantic without much development due to upper level shear. When it reached the westernCaribbean Sea , upper level winds became much more favorable, and the wave developed into Tropical Depression Fifteen onSeptember 28 , convert|60|mi|km northeast of Cape Gracias a Dios, Nicaragua. The newly-formed tropical cyclone drifted northwestward, and became Tropical Storm Keith on the 29th.cite web | author = Beven, Jack | publisher =National Hurricane Center | title = Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Keith | date =January 21 ,2001 | accessdate=2006-09-15 | url = http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2000keith.html]Conditions became nearly ideal for Keith's development on
September 30 , with little to no shear, a well developed anticyclone over it, and warm Caribbean water temperatures allowing for the storm to strengthen. Keith became a hurricane on the 30th, which was followed by rapid intensification to a 140 mph (225km/h ) Category 4 hurricane only 18 hours later. As it neared theBelize coast, high pressure blocked further westward progress, leading Keith to execute a small loop just off the coast. Land interaction weakened the hurricane to a strong tropical storm by the time it made its first landfall onOctober 3 . Keith became disorganized over theYucatán , but reintensified when it reached the Gulf of Mexico onOctober 4 . The storm was able to intensify to a convert|90|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on hurricane before making its final landfall nearTampico, Mexico on the 5th. Keith dissipated over northeasternMexico the next day.Preparations
In Corozal, Belize, the authorities evacuated the entire city of 10,000 people to numerous shelters in
Orange Walk .cite web |url=http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/rpts00/cr00hub2.pdf |title=Caribbean: Hurricane Keith - Information Bulletin #1|accessdate=2007-12-16 |author= |date=October 2 ,2000 |publisher=Red Cross ]Nicaragua also had officials evacuate more than 300 people from low-lying areas.cite web |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WEATHER/10/02/hurricane.keith/index.html |title= Sluggish Hurricane Keith swamps Central America with rain|accessdate=2007-12-16 |author=Associated Press |date=October 2, 2000|publisher=CNN ]In Mexico, 5,000 people from Chetumal and surrounding low-lying areas were forced to evacuate, and after the storm's second landfall, another 5,000 were forced evacuated from several municipalities in
Nuevo León , with 2,465 from Monterrey, and 1,900 from rural areas, with a cost of $400,000 (2000MXN ).cite book | publisher = Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres | author = Bitrán Bitrán, Daniel et al. | title=Impacto socioeconómico de los principales desastres ocurridos en la República Mexicana en el año 2000 | month = November | year = 2001 | accessdate = 2006-09-15 | edition = 1st ed. | id = ISBN 970-628-592-X | language = es icon | format = PDF | url = http://www.proteccioncivil.gob.mx/upLoad/Publicaciones/ised_2000.pdf]Impact
Keith was a very difficult hurricane to forecast. Its strength extremes and its stalling offshore Belize caused many problems to forecasters. This led to a deadly situation of waiting for the storm to finally recede.
Keith caused massive flooding over Belize and Mexico, as well as road destruction and landslides. The storm caused 40 direct deaths and an unknown amount of indirect deaths.
Belize
While Keith was offshore Belize, it actually caused a negative surge, draining water out of various waterways. Several places were said to have a water level convert|4|ft|m below average. The only actual storm surge was reported in
Caye Caulker , at only 4-5 feet. TheNational Hurricane Center also received reports of the water in theBay of Chetumal was temporarily blown out of the bay by northerly winds from Keith. Several people were courageous enough to walk onto the exposed ocean floor, not realizing that the water could return at any moment. Fortunately, nobody was injured or killed while on the ocean bottom.Belize City was buried under four feet of water and lost water supply and electricity. Some of the downed power lines sent sparks into the open, forcing most people to remain in their homes after the storm until the live wires were fixed or removed. Twenty homes were damaged to some degree in the capital, while many more suffered minor roof damage. 40 homes in Caye Caulker were destroyed, while the remaining buildings lost phone connection and electricity in Caye Caulker andSan Pedro, Belize . The lagoon area of San Pedro received the worst damage in the city. The localTexaco station was completely demolished. San Juan was spared, but the village of San Pedrito was significantly affected by Keith. Only twelve houses were reported to have stood up to the storm's wrath. The rest were flattened.Several areas in Belize received up to convert|10|in|mm of rain, but the
Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport in Belize City reported a total of convert|32.67|in|mm.The five Belizean deaths occurred after two
catamarans broke loose from what was holding them. An additional 14 people perished, likely due to flooding. Several injuries, mainly from flying debris, were reported in San Pedro, but fortunately, no fatalities. The major hurricane caused an estimated $280 million (2000 USD, $399 million 2008 USD) in damage in Belize.Rest of Central America
Damage estimates in Guatemala are unavailable, but heavy rains were reported to have caused flooding in ten towns and one person, a young girl, was reported to have become the first fatality from Keith in Guatemala.cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/953791.stm |title=Hurricane Keith batters Belize|accessdate=2007-12-16 |author=
BBC |date=October 3 ,2000 |publisher=BBC ] A 16-year-old boy in Nicaragua was swept away by the fast moving flooded river. The eleven other casualties caused by Keith were due to flooding from heavy rains. Thirteen communities in the country were completely isolated from the rest of the world after Keith made roads impassable.cite web |url=http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PED/keith-nic-oct3.htm |title=Floods in Nicaragua, 3 October 2000, at 0600 hrs. |accessdate=2007-12-16 |author=PAHO |date=October 3, 2000 |work= |publisher=Pan American Health Organization] Five of the fatalities in Honduras were the result of the disappearance of an aircraft nearRoatan Island . The other death was from heavy flooding. Damage estimates are unavailable. In El Salvador, a 20-year-old man drowned in a river and another 300 people were affected by flooding.Mexico
In
Nuevo León , nearMonterrey , Keith caused torrential rainfall, with the average precipitation on the state being 5 in (120 mm), causing mudslides on several cities, including San Pedro, Guadalupe and Escobedo. The swift currents, caused by theflash flood after the storm, rose up to 9,000 ft³/s (250 m³/s), and dragged 130 people into local rivers; however, all were rescued, and none of them were killed. The rivers also dragged 30 vehicles, all of which were moderate to total losses. The storm runoff caused the El Cuchillo dam to receive 105,000acre-feet (130 million m³) of water daily, and the La Boca dam to receive 810 acre-feet (1 million m³) per hour. 13,000 residents also lost power. The total damages in the state rose to $115.6 million (2000 MXN, $12.2 million 2000 USD), with the damage to urban infrastructure being the most expensive portion of the damage, with $44.2 million (2000 MXN, $4.6 million 2000 USD) used to repair damage in eight municipalities; in particular,San Pedro Garza García received approximately three quarters of the infrastructure damage, with $30.8 million (2000 MXN, $3.3 million 2000 USD). Additionally, about 460 homes were damaged or destroyed, and 300 families had to be relocated to safer areas.In
Tamaulipas , the storm caused as much, if not more rainfall than in Nuevo León. In a reporting station in the municipality of Gómez Farías, thepluviometer reported a 24-hour rain total of 13.24 in (336.5 mm), and a storm total of 18.44 in (468.5 mm), which broke the precipitation record for that location, which counted with 35 years of data. This rain also caused rivers to reach record levels, as theSabinas River rose 10.95 m (35.93 ft) onOctober 6 , to a new historical peak, and theGuayalejo River rose 77.46 ft (23.61 m), slightly under the 1976 record. This rainfall caused the Las Ánimas dam to catch 525,000 acre-feet (64.8 million m³) of water betweenOctober 5 andOctober 17 ; however, some of this water had to be released, as the upstream face of the dam was damaged by debris, and had to be repaired. Overall, the storm produced $117.8 million in damage (2000 MXN, $12.4 million 2000 USD) in the state.In other states, damage was lighter, but still significant. In
Sonora , total damages rose to $64.4 million (2000 MXN, $6.8 million 2000 USD); inQuintana Roo , $42.2 million (2000 MXN, $4.5 million 2000 USD) were incurred, and inChiapas , $25.6 million (2000 MXN, $2.7 million 2000 USD) of property damage were caused by the storm. This brings up the total damage in Mexico to $365.9 million (2000 MXN, $38.7 million 2000 USD).The one reported death in Mexico associated with Keith was due to flooding from heavy rains.
Aftermath
Several emergency teams were sent to
Caye Caulker and San Pedro inBelize as soon as weather conditions permitted it. Widespread road repairs also began almost immediately after Keith's occurrence. The Belize International Airport was back online by the morning ofOctober 4 , only a single day after the severe tropical cyclone passed through the area. A donation account to help the relief effort, titled "Hurricane Keith Relief Fund", was set up by the town of Placencia, in the local Atlantic Bank. The Belize Consulate inCalifornia also set up a donation fundraiser. Placencia also delivered a boat full of donated food, clothing, and building supplies to the San Pedro and Caye Caulker area.cite web |url=http://www.destinationsbelize.com/2000.htm |title=2000:Hurricane Keith |accessdate=2007-12-16 |author=Destination Belize |year=2000 |publisher=Destination Belize]United Nations Development Programme received $30,000 (2000 USD, $38,000 2008 USD) from theGovernment of Norway to give immediate relief to the country of Belize.United Nations Children's Fund also gave out $150,000 (2000 USD, $188,000 2008 USD) for relief in areas not focused on by other relief groups.cite web |url=http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PED/keith-unresponse.htm |title= The U.N. Response to Hurricane Keith Situation Update: October 11, 2000|accessdate=2007-12-16 |author=PAHO |date=October 11 ,2000 |publisher=Pan American Health Organization]The name Keith was retired in the spring of 2001 and was replaced with Kirk, but the name Kirk has yet to be used, as the
2006 Atlantic hurricane season did not have enough storms to reach the name.See also
*
List of Atlantic hurricanes
*List of retired Atlantic hurricane names References
External links
* [http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/keith2000.html HPC Rainfall Page for Keith]
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