Hurricane Eduardo

Hurricane Gert was a major category 5 hurricane that hit the Mid-Atlantic States full-force on August 10, 2015. The 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season was already devastating with Hurricanes Samuel and Clem, both of which devastated the Georgia/South Carolina coastline.

Hurricane Gert started out as a normal tropical depression off the Cape Verde Islands on August 1. The hurricane took two days to ascend into a tropical storm, and when it did, it was a weak tropical storm, with 45 mph (72 km/h) winds. The hurricane reached hurricane status on August 5, and then reached category 2 strength on August 6. By the end of August 7, the hurricane was a category 3, with winds reaching 115 mph (185 km/h).

On August 8, the hurricane was measured to be a category 5, with winds up to 160 mph (265 km/h). By August 9, the hurricane was at its strongest point, just 400 miles from Florida, with winds reaching 185 mph (300 km/h), a pressure of 890 millibars, and a wind swath that rivaled Katrina, with hurricane-force winds extending 100 miles (160 km), and tropical-storm-force winds extending 225 miles (360 km). Later that day, the hurricane was caught in a jet stream, which carried it north, toward the northern Atlantic States, particularly Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, and increased the hurricane's forward speed, from 15 mph (24 km/h) to 50 mph (80 km/h).

On August 9, at approximately 2140 hours EST, Hurricane Gert struck Norfolk and Virginia Beach as a category 5, with a pressure of 900 millibars and a wind speed of 175 mph (280 km/h). The hurricane hit with the force of an atomic bomb, destroying thousands of structures with high winds. The hurricane brought with it a storm surge of over 20 feet (6 meters), flooding over 50,000 structures and killing thousands more. The hurricane continued northwest, toward Washington, D.C., where the hurricane hit with 125 mph (200 km/h) winds, and it complicated matters even more by bringing with it a storm surge of 15 feet, which lead to massive amounts of flooding in Washington, D.C., killing over two thousand there. Hundreds more died in Baltimore, Richmond, Arlington, and other major cities.

By August 10, the hurricane had dissipated over parts of Pennsylvania, finally ending the destruction of Gert.

Gert had killed a total of 27,500 people. Of that number, 22,500 died in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Another 5,000 died in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and other cities. Damages exceed $200 billion, and since Washington, D.C. was affected by the hurricane, the government was forced to abandon the White House for several months.