Hurricane Hayley

urricane Hayley was a hurricane that formed near the coast of Africa on September 10th. Moving at about 8 miles per hour, it quickly gained strength. The path of the hurricane was very unpredictable sparking fear into the Caribbean Islands and the east coast of America. On September 16th, Hayley finally made landfall in Cuba. When it made landfall, wind speeds we're up to 182 MPH. This made Hurricane Hayley the worst hurricane to ever be recorded in history. Florida was also hit on the same day at about 4:20 in the morning. Many Americans woke up and watched as Hayley battered Miami on TV. Over 30 inches of rain was accumulated in some parts of Cuba and Florida. 8,000 were killed just from the original landfall. Cuba and most of the Caribbean Islands looked almost unrecognizable and Miami was more than devastated. About 3 buildings had collapsed and dozens of buildings had been severely damaged. The Test Track attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort built to withstand severe hurricanes had been completely destroyed along with many other rides. The Key West had been almost completely flooded. Other places including Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama had gotten severe rain storms and wind. Trees fell and so did powerlines. Hayley would move at about 2 miles an hour before moving on. Florida residents considered this as a "permanent hell" Florida and Cuba had suffered the effects of a category 5 hurricane for 3 days. Hayley moved into the Gulf of Mexico slowly gaining strength. It made landfall again in Houston,Texas on September 14th at about 2:50 AM. The same effects that the Caribbean Islands and Florida had felt was also felt by Texas and a few other west coast states. About 2,000 more people died in the second landfall. $80 billion in damage had added on to the already overwhelming damage cost. Hayley continued to move through the middle of Texas eventually weakening to a tropical storm. Near the border of South Dakota and North Dakota. A hurricane had never traveled that far in the United States of America in history. Tropical Storm Hayley eventually dissipated in the Canadian providence of Manitoba on September 16th. Hurricane Hayley lasted for nearly an entire week (5 days). The total death toll was 9,879 and the total cost of the storm in damage was $212 billion. Emergency services from all over Canada and every single state in America traveled to the south and east coast of the country to begin the largest search and rescue mission in history. Youtubers and social media influencers even pitched in to help the emergency services. Before the hurricane made landfall. About 9 states had ordered their citizens to evacuate. This caused a major problem which resulted in such a high death toll. All of the national highways on the east coast had been jammed. Shelters we're jammed but we're also destroyed in the states that we're hit. All of the schools in 19 states had closed for an entire week because of this. Many of them we're converted into shelters for those who were able to beat the traffic. Many people were also so tied to their homes, pets, and belongings that they stayed. Sadly, many of the people who chose to do this did not survive but the lucky ones did. The recovery process lasted from 2018 to 2029. Even then, some progress still had to be made. According to the National Weather Advisory Network (NWAN), this hurricane was known as a "Megacane" and was an extremely rare type of storm linked to global warming that happens every 60 years. "This type of hurricane was extremely rare. The chances of this even happening was a 1 out of 800 million chance. A storm this catastrophic won't happen again until 2078" Said Mike Crusaio, CEO of NWAN. In every state in the United States, there is a tower of bells. Each bell represents a lost soul in Hurricane Hayley. Every time the wind blows, these bells ring and it is to remind everyone of those who were lost in this catastrophic storm and to remind everyone the danger of trying to wait out a hurricane.