Emily Becomes a Powerful Hurricane in the Caribbean

Posted on July 16, 2005

In an extremely unusual hurricane season Emily has become a strong Cat 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 155mph -- just one mph shy of being a Cat 5 hurricane. This is the first July season to ever see two Cat 3 or higher hurricanes. Emily is forecast to make a first landfall on the Yucatan peninsula. The BBC reports that thousands of tourists are evacuating from the Cancun area. Emily will then threaten either Texas or Mexico but the National Hurricane Center is still uncertain about the storm's final landfall.

Hurricane Dennis, the first major hurricane this month, struck Florida just east of Pensacola last week. The L.A. Times reports that a surge from Dennis send water three miles inland. Insurance companies have estimated damages from Dennis to be as much a $5 billion. From the L.A. Times article:

On Sunday, the Johnsons, who live on Surf Avenue in Panacea, a town of 2,100, found surf inside their house.
"We had 4-foot breakers coming through our living room," said Noel Johnson, 43, a construction superintendent. The waves battered down sliding glass doors facing the bay and destroyed their furniture and appliances. Johnson, his 45-year-old wife and their two grandchildren fled in his truck.