Hurricane Joan-Miriam

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This article is about the Atlantic-Pacific hurricane of 1988. For other storms with the same names, see Hurricane Miriam or Tropical Storm Joan.
Hurricane Joan-Miriam
Category 4 hurricane (SSHS)
Hurricane Joan at landfall in Nicaragua.

Hurricane Joan at landfall in Nicaragua.
Formed October 11, 1988
Dissipated November 2, 1988
Highest
winds
145 mph (230 km/h) as Joan[1], 60 mph (95 km/h) as Miriam[2] (1-minute sustained)
Lowest pressure 932 mbar (hPa) as Joan,[3] 986 mbar (hPa) as Miriam[2]
Damage $2 billion (1988 USD) $3.2 billion (2005 USD) (mainly as Joan)[4]
Fatalities 216-334 total (all as Joan)[3][5]
Areas
affected		 Windward Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama (as Joan), El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico (as Miriam), Nicaragua (as both)
Part of the
1988 Atlantic hurricane season
1988 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Joan was a powerful hurricane that caused death and destruction in over a dozen countries in the Caribbean and Central America. Taking an unusual path in October 1988, Hurricane Joan caused widespread flooding and over 200 deaths after smashing into Central America. In the aftermath, there was widespread suffering and an economic crisis as the economies of some regions impacted by the hurricane were disrupted.

After crossing Central America into the Pacific, it was renamed Tropical Storm Miriam and eventually dissipated out to sea. Joan-Miriam was the final hurricane of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season and the final named storm of that same year's Pacific hurricane season.

Contents

[edit] Storm history

[edit] Joan

Storm path
Enlarge
Storm path

One of the latest Cape Verde-type hurricanes to form in a season,[6] Joan formed from an area of convection in the intertropical convergence zone that moved off the coast of Africa early in October. It developed banding and was upgraded to Tropical Depression Seventeen on 10 October while located at low latitude in the central Atlantic Ocean.[7]

Joan gradually strengthened as it passed over the southern Windward Islands on October 15. It continued heading west in response to a strong Ridge, and passed over the Guajira Peninsula on October 17.[7] After entering the extreme southwestern Caribbean Sea, Joan strengthened into a hurricane. It then slowly executed a small counterclockwise loop, possibly in response to the nearby Tropical Depression Eighteen.[3] Upwelling caused by the quasi-stationary hurricane weakened the system. As the nearby depression dissipated, Joan resumed its westward track. A strong anticyclone over the southwestern Caribbean Sea created an extremely favorable environment, and Joan underwent rapid deepening at a rate of 38 millibars in the space of a day.[6] With a minimum pressure of 932 millibars, Joan was one of the strongest October hurricanes since 1961.[6] At the time, it was located at 12°N, the southernmost Category 4 hurricane ever recorded at the time.[7] That record has since been broken by Hurricane Ivan.[8]

Joan made landfall just south of Bluefields on October 22.[1] It passed over the northern portion of Lake Nicaragua, passed over Managua, and entered the Pacific Ocean near Leon on October 23.[3] Joan remained a hurricane or tropical storm during its entire passage over Central America, and was a minimal tropical storm when it reached the Pacific.[3] As per the policy at the time, Joan was renamed Miriam.[3]

[edit] Miriam

Miriam on October 23
Enlarge
Miriam on October 23

Tropical Storm Miriam hugged the coast of Central America and reached its peak of 986 millibars on October 24.[9] Ordinarily, a pressure this low would indicate a Category 1 hurricane, but due to its disorganized convection, Miriam was not upgraded to a hurricane.[9] Land interaction and wind shear weakened Miriam to a tropical depression on October 26. Low-level winds carried the system out to sea, and its convection dissipated on October 28.[9]

Miriam's remnants continued out to sea, and they regenerated on October 30. The tropical depression hung on for the next few days, until its second, and final, dissipation on November 2.[10]

[edit] Unusual path

Hurricane Joan's path through the southern Caribbean in late October was highly unusual. Most October storms in the Atlantic gravitate towards the northern portion of the Caribbean, and often recurve quickly.[11] Joan took the southernmost path of a tropical cyclone since a June system in 1933, although Hurricane Irene in 1971 took a path that was just north of Joan's.[7]

Joan-Miriam was also rare in the sense that it survived passage from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean or vice-versa. Only seven other storms have survived the passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[12]

[edit] Preparations

Tropical Storm watches and later warnings were issued for the Windward Islands as far north as Martinique on October 13. They were dropped over the subsequent two days as Joan passed through. Along the coast of South America, additional warnings were raised and later dropped as Joan paralleled the coast.[13]

The first hurricane watches were issued for parts of Panama, and Providencia starting on October 18. The watch area was expanded to include Costa Rica and Nicaragua on October 19 as the watches were upgraded to warnings. These warnings provided several hours' worth of lead time, allowing evacuations and preparations to be made.[14] In addition, flash flood and mudslide warnings were issued for western Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua starting on October 21.

In response to Miriam, the flood and mudslide warnings issued because of Joan were not lifted until October 23 and 25. Tropical Storm warnings were issued for the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, El Salvador, and the Gulf of Fonseca on October 24. They were dropped the next day. Guatemala was placed under a warning on October 24. In addition, new flash flood and mudslide warnings were raised for Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas on October 24 and 25, respectively. All warnings and watches were discontinued later on October 25 as Miriam turned away from the coast.[15]

Despite the dangers from the intense hurricane, evacuations in Bluefields were met with resistance and disbelief from residents.[5] In Managua, 70,000 people were evacuated to safe areas.[3] In the remaining areas of Nicaragua, 300,000 people were evacuated.[16] In Costa Rica, a total of 55,000 people were evacuated.[5]

[edit] Impact

Confirmed Death Tolls by Country
Country Deaths
Nicaragua 148-248[3]
Costa Rica 28-46[5]
Colombia 25[5]
Venezuela 11[5]
Panama 4[5]
Total 216-334

Hurricane Joan killed at least 216 people, with 118 unaccounted for. The total cost of damage was around 2 billion USD (1988 dollars).[4] All of the deaths and most of the damage were due to the Joan portion of Hurricane Joan-Miriam.[10]

[edit] Lesser Antilles

No casualties were reported in the Windward Islands, including Grenada, where, on October 15, Joan made landfall. There were also no casualties in any of Aruba, Bonaire, or Curacao. It is not known if there was any damage in the Lesser Antilles.[5]

[edit] South America

In Venezuela, 11 people were killed due to flash-flooding caused by heavy rains. Landslides and flooding killed 25 people in Colombia. The rains and flooding left 27,000 people homeless. A monetary value for damage is unavailable.[5]

[edit] Nicaragua

Most of the destruction was in Nicaragua. Throughout the country, 148 people perished, 184 were badly hurt, and 100 were unaccounted for. Roughly 23,300 homes were destroyed, with 6,000 being damaged.[3] Many settlements on the Atlantic coast of the country were completely destroyed.[16] The national electric company had 620 miles of downed power lines, at the cost of 2.5 million USD (1988 dollars).[17] A port being constructed with Bulgarian help at El Bluff was severely damaged. On a brighter note, public health measures managed to keep the death toll lower than it could have been.[16]

Bluefields was hit with extreme impact. Almost all of the 6,000 houses in the city were demolished or had their roofs blown off. The majority of the main buildings in the city were destroyed.[3] The hurricane also wreaked havoc on agriculture in the country. Around 15,700 head of cattle, 20,000 pigs, and 456,000 chickens were killed.[3] The hurricane also caused severe disruption in most of Nicaragua's remaining rain forests in the areas it hit, and also stripped trees of leaves.[18] Hurricane Joan caused transportation difficulties in the country. Floodwaters destroyed 30 bridges and seriously damaged 36 others. Roads totaling 404 miles in length were washed away.[3]

In an unfortunate coincidence, Hurricane Joan hit shortly after an armed conflict in the region had started to cool off. The hurricane destroyed much of the infrastructure in Nicaragua, contributing to a recession that was already underway. The losses to cash crops severely reduced exports to under 200 million dollars (1988 USD).[17] These factors combined to aggravate a recession and deepen the economic crisis. Government spending to rebuild infrastructure negated recently-introduced anti-inflation measures. Hurricane Joan was a partial cause of Nicaraguans being, on average, worse-off than they were in the 1970s.[19]

[edit] Rest of Central America

In Costa Rica, 28 people were killed, 75 were injured, and 18 were missing. Rainfall caused 20 rivers to burst their banks, flooding 75 settlements, including the city of Quetos on the Pacific coast. At Ciudad Neily, the Rio Corredores broke through a dike. In total, 7,500 Costa Ricans were rendered homeless.[5]

In the remaining portions of Central America, heavy rainfall, sometimes exceeding 30 centimeters' worth, was reported. These rains caused flooding and landslides, especially in mountainous regions.[3] Those heavy rains caused four deaths in Panama. The cost of damage is unknown.[5]

[edit] Mexico

In Mexico, heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Miriam caused the cancellation of flights from the airport at Tuxtla Gutiérrez. In small settlements, rivers were flooded and mudslides were reported. Casualties, if any, are not known.[10]

[edit] Aftermath

The response to requests for international aid was moderate. American church groups, Cuba, and Mexico collectively contributed around 2,500 tons of food and medicine. The Canadian, Swedish, West German, Spanish, and Dutch Governments contributed token aid amounting to 2 million dollars (1988) each. No aid was sent by the United States government. The Soviet Union contributed an unknown sum.[17] The slow response to requests for aid was contributed to by the Sandanista Government's actions, which was viewed by a few anonymous diplomats from other countries who commented to the press, as undermining the peace process championed by Óscar Arias.[17] Those actions were the July 10 arrests of opposition activists and the closing down of independent radio stations.[17] In addition, the government also barred foreign humanitarian groups from receiving American aid, as well as turning back a relief shipment days before the storm.[17]

On October 28, 1988, the United Nations General Assembly passed without a vote Resolution 17 of its 43rd session in response to the disaster. The resolution called on countries to contribute to the relief effort.[20]

[edit] Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricanes

The name Joan was retired in 1989. It was replaced by Joyce on the list for the 1994 season,[21] but wasn't used until 2000 due to an El Niño in 1994. Because the impact of the Miriam portion of the tropical cyclone was minimal, the name Miriam was not retired in the Pacific and is still on the lists for that basin.[22]

[edit] See also

Portal:Tropical cyclones
 Tropical cyclones Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b NHC Joan report p. 7 accessed April 10, 2006
  2. ^ a b NHC Miriam report p. 3 accessed April 10, 2006
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m NHC Joan report p. 2 accessed April 10, 2006
  4. ^ a b 1988 Monthly Weather Review accessed April 9, 2006
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k NHC Joan report p. 3 accessed April 10, 2006
  6. ^ a b c Padgett, Gary Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary for October 2003 Part 1 accessed April 10, 2006
  7. ^ a b c d NHC Joan report p. 1 accessed April 10, 2006
  8. ^ NHC Ivan Report accessed April 27, 2006
  9. ^ a b c NHC Miriam report p. 1 accessed April 10, 2006
  10. ^ a b c NHC Miriam report p. 2 accessed April 10, 2006
  11. ^ NHC Tropical Cyclone Climatology accessed April 10, 2006
  12. ^ NHC Tropical Cyclone FAQ Subject E15 accessed April 10, 2006
  13. ^ NHC Joan report p. 8 accessed April 10, 2006
  14. ^ NHC Joan report p. 9 accessed April 10, 2006
  15. ^ NHC Miriam report p. 4 accessed April 10, 2006
  16. ^ a b c Fox, Robert Nicaragua Still Reeling in Wake of a Hurricane accessed April 10, 2006
  17. ^ a b c d e f Preston, Julia, Washington Post (1988) Response Tepid to Managua's Aid Plea accessed April 10, 2006
  18. ^ Vetiver as a Component of World Relief's Sustainable Agriculture Program in Nicaragua accessed April 11, 2006
  19. ^ Nicaragua Historical Background accessed April 11, 2006
  20. ^ United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/17: Emergency assistance to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and other countries affected by hurricane (sic) Joan accessed April 11, 2006
  21. ^ Padgett, G, J. Beven, & J. F. Free (2004) NHC Tropical Cyclone FAQ Subject B3: What names have been retired in the Atlantic and East Pacific basin? accessed May 21, 2006
  22. ^ World Meteorological Organization (2005) Fact Sheet Tropical Cyclone Names accessed May 21, 2005

[edit] External links

Tropical cyclones of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season
J
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
TD TS 1 2 3 4 5
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