Hurricane Emily (2005)

Hurricane Emily

Emily near peak intensity south of Jamaica on July 16
Meteorological history
Formed	July 11, 2005
Dissipated	July 21, 2005
Category 5 major hurricane
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	160 mph (260 km/h)
Lowest pressure	929 mbar (hPa); 27.43 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	22
Damage	$1.01 billion (2005 USD)
Areas affected	Lesser Antilles, Venezuela, Greater Antilles, Honduras, Belize, Mexico, Texas
IBTrACS
Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Emily was a powerful early season tropical cyclone that caused significant damage across the Lesser Antilles, the Caribbean, and Mexico. The fifth named storm of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Emily is one of only two Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes on record in the month of July, along with Hurricane Beryl in 2024. It formed on July 11 from a tropical wave, which progressed westward across the Atlantic. Three days later, the hurricane struck Grenada before entering the eastern Caribbean Sea. After fluctuating in intensity, Emily strengthened to attain maximum sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph) on July 16 while passing southwest of Jamaica. Slight weakening occurred before Emily made landfall along Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula on July 18. Quickly crossing the peninsula, Emily emerged into the Gulf of Mexico and reorganized, making a second landfall in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on July 20. It rapidly weakened and dissipated over land.

Just ten months after Hurricane Ivan's damaging path through the Caribbean, Emily wrought additional damage to the Lesser Antilles, damaging or destroying hundreds of homes. A landslide killed a person on Grenada, and damage on the island totaled US$110.4 million. Later, five people died in Jamaica due to a vehicle accident, while ten people died in Haiti related to floods from the storm. Emily's impacts occurred as far south as Honduras, where one person drowned due to river flooding from the storm. In northeastern Mexico, the hurricane left widespread power outages, affecting 200,000 people, with additional flood damage during its last landfall. Damage in Mexico was estimated at over US$843.3 million, with five deaths in the country.