Hurricane David was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck Dominica and the Dominican Republic in August 1979, causing widespread destruction and numerous fatalities. It remains the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the Dominican Republic’s recorded history. A long-lived Cape Verde hurricane, David was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season. David formed on August 25, in the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean near Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa. Two days later, the storm reached hurricane strength, then underwent rapid intensification, strengthening into a Category 5 hurricane and reaching peak sustained winds of on August 28. By the time the system dissipated on September 8, it had traversed the Leeward Islands, Greater Antilles, The Bahamas, the East Coast of the United States, and Atlantic Canada.

David was the first hurricane to affect the Lesser Antilles since Hurricane Inez in 1966 and the deadliest to hit Dominica since the 1834 Padre Ruíz hurricane, which killed over 200 people. There, strong winds from David damaged or destroyed 80% of homes, leaving 75% of the island's population homeless. Agriculture was also severely impacted, with 75% of crops ruined, including a complete loss of bananas. David killed 56 people and injured 180 others on Dominica. In addition, similar destruction occurred on Guadeloupe and Martinique, with hundreds left homeless and extensive damage to crops. Guadeloupe and Martinique also had $50 million and $100 million in damage, respectively. In Puerto Rico, flooding and high winds combined resulted in $70 million in damage and seven fatalities, four from electrocution. With winds of , David was one of only two storms of Category 5 intensity to strike the Dominican Republic in the 20th century, the other also being Inez, and the deadliest since the 1930 San Zenón hurricane, killing over 2,000 people in its path. Entire villages were destroyed and numerous others were left isolated because of damage or destruction to many roads. Thousands of houses were destroyed, leaving over 200,000 homeless in the aftermath of the hurricane. Additionally, nearly 70% of the country's crops were ruined.

Minimal impact occurred in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Haiti. In Florida, strong winds left moderate damage, including a downed radio tower, snapping a crane, and deroofing buildings. There were also 10 tornadoes. Damage totaled approximately $95 million. Other states along the East Coast of the United States experienced flooding and tornadoes. The latter was particularly severe in Virginia, with tornadoes causing one death, damaging 270 homes, and destroying three other homes. Throughout the United States, there were 15 deaths and about $320 million in damage.

Meteorological history

On August 25, the US National Hurricane Center reported that a tropical depression had developed within an area of disturbed weather, which was located about to the southeast of the Cape Verde Islands. During that day the depression gradually developed further as it moved westwards, under the influence of the subtropical ridge of high pressure that was located to the north of the system before during the next day the NHC reported that the system had become a tropical storm and named it David. Becoming a hurricane on August 27, it moved west-northwestward before entering a period of rapid intensification which brought it to an intensity of on August 28. Slight fluctuations in intensity occurred before the hurricane ravaged the tiny windward Island of Dominica on the following day. David continued west-northwest, and intensified into a Category 5 hurricane in the northeast Caribbean Sea, reaching peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of and minimum central pressure of on August 30. An upper-level trough pulled David northward into Hispaniola as a Category 5 hurricane on the August 31. The eye passed almost directly over Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. David crossed over the island and emerged as a weak hurricane after drenching the islands.

Some 400,000 people evacuated in the United States in anticipation of David, After Labor Day, schools were closed in several counties on September 4: Baker, Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Hendry, Indian River, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns, and Volusia.

Impact

{| class="wikitable sortable" align=right

|-

! Region !! Deaths !! Damage !! Ref

|-

| Dominica || 56 || ||

|-

| Guadeloupe || None || || Hours of hurricane-force winds severely eroded the coastlines and washed out coastal roads.

Damage was greatest in the southwest portion of the island, especially in the capital city, Roseau, which resembled an air raid target after the storm's passage. Strong winds from Hurricane David destroyed or damaged 80 percent of the homes (mostly wood) on the island,

Puerto Rico

thumb|right|Total rainfall map of David in Puerto Rico

Though it did not hit Puerto Rico, Hurricane David passed less than south of the island, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to the island. Portions of southwestern Puerto Rico experienced sustained winds of up to , while the rest of the island received tropical storm-force winds. While passing by the island, the hurricane caused strong seas and torrential rainfall, amounting to in Mayagüez and up to in the central mountainous region. Extreme river flooding resulted in most of the country's 2,000 fatalities.

United States

thumb|Total rainfall map of David in the [[United States East Coast]]

David produced widespread damage across the United States amounting to $320 million. Prior to the hurricane's arrival, 400,000 people evacuated from coastal areas. In total, David directly killed five in the United States, and was responsible for ten indirect deaths. The hurricane spawned over 10 tornadoes while passing over the state, though none caused deaths or injuries. Florida Power & Light (FPL) reported that about 231,000 households lost electricity, while approximately 32,000 Southern Bell customers lost telephone service, especially in the Daytona Beach, Melbourne, and Vero Beach areas.

thumb|Debris near beachfront [[townhouses after Hurricane David]]

Because the hurricane remained near the coastline, David did not cause extreme damage in Florida. At the height of the storm, up to 50,000 people in Broward and Dade County lost electricity due to downed and damaged power lines. Storm surge and abnormally high tides caused significant erosion damage to State Road A1A in the vicinity of Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Four fatalities occurred in Broward County, two directly and two indirectly. In Palm Beach County, sustained winds peaked at at the Palm Beach International Airport and wind gusts reached up to in Jupiter. Winds shattered windows in stores near the coast and caused some property damage, including blowing the frame off the Palm Beach Jai alai fronton in Mangonia Park and downing the 186-ft (57-m) WJNO AM radio tower in West Palm Beach into the Intracoastal Waterway. Abnormally high tides damaged docks and piers, In Okeechobee County, winds unroofed tool shed and trailers and downed power lines, leaving some areas without electricity. Two tornadoes in Brevard County caused damage. The first twister severely impacted or destroyed about 50 mobile homes and a condominium complex in Melbourne Beach and a shopping center in Palm Bay after crossing the Indian River. The shopping center alone sustained about $1.5 million in damage. Another tornado was spawned in Cocoa, damaging a few roofs.

Georgia

Hurricane David made landfall in Georgia as a quickly weakening minimal hurricane, bringing a storm surge and heavy surf. Its inner core remained away from major cities, though Savannah recorded sustained winds of and wind gusts of . high winds downed numerous power lines, leaving approximately 70,000 electrical customers without power, Many trees were downed along downtown streets. In Darien, the storm severely damaged a nursing home, flooded some streets, and downed tree limbs. Offshore, strong seas disrupted a portion of the coastal reef by moving a sunken ship . Tides produced by the storm also inundated the Jekyll Island Causeway and the F.J. Torras Causeway, which links Brunswick to St. Simons Island. Overall, David was responsible for approximately $5 million in damage in Georgia, much of it in Chatham County, while two people drowned at Jekyll Island due to heavy surf.

Rest of the East Coast

Upon entering South Carolina, David retained winds of up to hurricane force, though the highest recorded was sustained in Charleston and a wind gust in Hilton Head Island. In addition, the hurricane spawned numerous tornadoes while moving through the Mid-Atlantic and New England, with associated prominent wind damage occurring even in inland communities. In Virginia eight tornadoes formed across the southeastern portion of the state, of which six were F2's or greater on the Fujita scale, including two rated F3 in Fairfax County and Newport News. The tornadoes caused 1 death, 19 injuries, damaged 270 homes, and destroyed 3 homes, amounting to $6 million in damage. In Maryland, David's outer bands formed seven tornadoes, including an F2 in Kingsville. In New Castle County, Delaware, an F2 tornado damaged numerous homes and injured five.

Aftermath

Dominica

Immediately after the storm, lack of power prevented communications and the outside world had little knowledge of the extent of the damage in Dominica. A citizen named Fred White ended that by using a battery-operated ham radio to contact the world.

Looting was practiced in supermarkets, seaports, and homes; what was not destroyed by the hurricanes was stolen in the weeks after the storm.

United States

Despite the casualties and damages attributed to David, the storm's effects were not as bad as in other countries. In particular, South Florida escaped relatively lightly. Because of this, then NHC Director Neil Frank was accused of overly stirring up panic before the arrival of David. Two local psychiatrists even claimed that the experience would make residents more complacent towards future storms. However, the NHC defended their methods, with Frank stating: "If we hadn't [raised public alarm] and our predictions had been more accurate, the consequences would have been disastrous."

Retirement

The name David was retired following this storm because of its devastation and high death toll; it will never be used again to name a tropical system in the North Atlantic. It was replaced with Danny for the 1985 season.

See also

  • List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

References

  • Radar loop of Hurricane David
  • Satellite loop of David, Elena, Frederic, and Gloria
  • Hurricane David Rainfall – HPC
  • Hurricane David damage (archived April 26, 2006)
  • Remembering Hurricane David
  • CHC Storms 1979 (archived February 10, 2006)
  • PalmBeachPost.com (Hurricane David)