Everything about Hurricane Hattie totally explained
Hurricane Hattie was a powerful
Category 5 hurricane that hit
Central America on
Halloween during the
1961 Atlantic hurricane season. It caused millions of
US dollars in damages and killed around 275 people. Hattie is the only hurricane on record to have earned three names (Hattie, Simone, Inga) while crossing into different basins twice.
Storm history
Hattie swept across the
Caribbean and came ashore in the town of
Belize City,
British Honduras (now
Belize), on
October 31. It was a strong
Category 4 hurricane at landfall, having weakened from a
Category 5 just offshore. After making landfall, its remnants crossed over into the Pacific and attained tropical storm status again under the name Simone. In a remarkable turn of events, after Simone itself made landfall, its remnants crossed back over to the Gulf of Mexico, where the storm became Tropical Storm Inga before dissipating. However, it's debatable whether Inga in fact formed from the remnants of Simone at all.
Hattie held
Category 5 intensity on the dates of
October 30 and
October 31, making it the latest Category 5 storm on record in the Atlantic basin.
Impact
Heavy rains fell across the Cayman Islands and Central America. Reports were scant from the region, but Grand Cayman reported of rain in 24 hours, with falling in the six hour period between 1 am and 7 am LT . Hattie destroyed parts of
British Honduras, and killed an estimated 275 people . In the days after the storm, throngs of survivors numbering in the thousands roamed the streets for days digging about in the crumbled ruins in search of any kind of food. Hattie also caused about $60 million (1961
US dollars) in damage. Hattie damaged
Belize City badly enough to force the government to relocate to a new capital further inland: its present location in
Belmopan. Some permanent towns, such as
Hattieville, were formed from temporary shelters built for those made homeless by the hurricane.
Violence broke out in the aftermath of the storm, causing the
British frigate,
HMS Troubridge, to land 125 officers and men to aid colony police in halting widespread looting and pillaging.
Retirement
The name Hattie was retired the following year and will never be used by an
Atlantic hurricane again. It was replaced by
Holly in 1965.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hurricane Hattie'.
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