Hurricane Dean Report

by koresh (student)

Hurricane Dean report

Name of event

Hurricane Dean

Where and when it happened

Hurricane Dean formed on the 13th of August 2007 and eventually fully dissipated on the 23th of August. The hurricane formed over the Atlantic ocean and eventually increased in power and strength over the Caribbean sea. It eventually passed through the south of Jamaica, causing huge problems within the farming society and damaging small towns and villages spread across the country. However the hurricane also had very minor effects on countries such as Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Mexico as it passed through these countries. However the vast majority of the damage was caused in Jamaica.

What caused it to be an extreme weather event

Firstly, Hurricane Dean was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, scaling in at ‘5’ on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale during its peak strength. It also reached up to a max wind speed of 175mph for a sustained time of around one minute. It was also measured on its cost in damage to the countries that it effected, reaching a total of around $1.6 Billion. Hurricane Dean was also recorded to be the 7th most powerful hurricane within the hurricane seasons, coming out with the same recorded strength ...

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What caused it to be an extreme weather event

Key impacts on people/human activities

To start, the hurricane caused 45 casualties spread out over the south of Jamaica, with 40 of the farmers and residents being killed directly by the hurricane and it’s destruction and 5 of them being killed indirectly from the aftermath that the hurricane had left. This included factors like the lack of clean running water, with Jamaica being an LEDC as it is, the amount of fresh drinking water was already at a low, causing it to drop to critical amounts after the hurricane had hit the country. This then lead to more problems related with farming and agriculture. Jamaica is known for having one of the worlds largest supply and distribution of bananas across the globe, however after hurricane Dean hit the south of the country, banana production rapidly and harshly dropped due to the water damage across thousands of farms and the need for help across the rest of the country. Records show that this effect lasted just over 2 years, and almost took 3 years for the rate of banana production and selling to get back to it’s original figures before the hurricane hit the country. Across the majority of the countries that the hurricane hit, it also created landslides in many farmland and grassland areas, causing huge problems for buildings and structure as most were torn down from the landslides and strong winds. Although no number was ever confirmed, it was also thought that tens of thousands of people across the countries and islands effected were to be homeless for up to 5 months as the damage and cleanup were taking place. Having huge effects on many of the countries society’s and economies.