Effects of Hurricane Dennis in Florida

It has been suggested that this article be merged with Hurricane Dennis. (Discuss) Proposed since July 2024.

Hurricane Dennis

Hurricane Dennis a few hours before landfall on July 10
Category 3 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	120 mph (195 km/h)
Lowest pressure	946 mbar (hPa); 27.94 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	2 direct, 12 indirect
Damage	$1.5 billion (2005 USD)
Areas affected	Florida
[1]
Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
History Meteorological history Effects Haiti Jamaica Cuba United States Florida Alabama Georgia Mississippi Other wikis Commons: Dennis images

The effects of Hurricane Dennis in Florida included 14 deaths and $1.5 billion (2005 US$) in damage. The tropical wave that became Hurricane Dennis formed on June 29, 2005, and proceeded westward across the Atlantic Ocean. It became a tropical depression on July 4, a tropical storm on July 5, and a hurricane on July 7. Dennis rapidly intensified to attain Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, and made landfall in Cuba where it weakened to Category 1 status, before re-emerging in the Gulf of Mexico and re–intensifying. The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Santa Rosa Island on July 10.^[1]

As Dennis was impacting Cuba, the outer rainbands affected the Florida Keys, with wind gusts peaking at 87 mph (140 km/h) on Sombrero Key. In central Florida, Dennis produced numerous tornadoes, one severely damaging a house. In Punta Gorda, three people were found dead in a car submerged in a ditch flooded by heavy rain. Dennis made landfall in the Florida Panhandle, causing moderate damage, although not as severe as previously predicted. Wind gusts peaked at 120 mph (190 km/h), and maximum rainfall reached 7.08 inches (180 mm). Storm surge of 6–9 ft (1.8–2.7 m) inundated parts of St. Marks and nearby locations. During the height of the storm, approximately 236,000 customers in the Florida Panhandle were without electric power.