Hurricane Earl (Default)

Hurricane Earl was a very costly and deadly Category 4 hurricane which made landfall on Hispaniola as a Category 1, before regenerating and making direct landfall on Miami in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane, and then making direct landfall on New Orleans in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane; causing catastrophic amounts of death and destruction of property, after large amounts of rainfall caused the levees to collapse in New Orleans, causing heavy amounts of flood damage to the region. The cyclone was 5th named storm, 4th hurricane, and 1st major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, and is often considered "one of the most catastrophic things to happen to America".

Earl began as a tropical wave which had emerged off the coast of Africa only a few days before it managed to gain tropical depression strength, and strengthening to a Category 1 hurricane only a few hours after, though the system encountered dry air and shear, which in turn caused it to weaken into a tropical storm before making landfall in Hispaniola, and eventually becoming a tropical depression. Earl then moved into the Bahamas, where highly-favorable conditions for rapid development allowed it to reform, becoming a major hurricane the next day. The system then made landfall in Miami, causing large amounts of property damage. 72 fatalities were confirmed in the post analysis. After entering the Gulf of Mexico, it managed to strengthen into a Category 4 major hurricane on September 5th, reaching its peak intensity of 145mph, before weakening to a Category 3 and making direct landfall in New Orleans, which levees were not able to withstand the hurricane and collapsed under its force. Furthermore, traffic jams, road closures, among other things caused people to be forced to abandon their cars and find shelter, causing major destruction to New Orleans. The system began weakening, and it eventually weakened to a tropical depression, before becoming a remnant low on September 9th and dissipating later the same day.