Recap of the 2008 Hurricane Season for the Tropical Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and The Caribbean Sea

Three major hurricanes, Gustav, Ike and Paloma ravaged Cuba. Haiti was devastated by four storms during August and September, resulting in more than 800 deaths, 530 of those deaths blamed on hurricane Hanna. Preliminary estimated losses around the region resulting from this very active 2008 Hurricane Season is of the order of US $54 billion.

Northern Central America including Belize felt the ravages of both the early-season tropical storm Arthur and late-season Tropical Depression 16. Tropical Storm Arthur evolved from the residual instability associated with the remnant low that was once eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Alma, on May 31, 2008. The center of the disturbance was located just offshore NE Belize and intensified into a tropical storm as it drifted inland over northern Belize and southern Yucatan.

By dawn of June 1, 2008, Arthur was weakening to a remnant low over SE Mexico. However, the system produced torrential rains across Belize during the subsequent three days, which resulted in flooding over the Orange Walk and Corozal districts at first, then the devastating flashfloods in the North Stann Creek and Sittee River watersheds of the Stann Creek Districts during the early morning of June 2, 2008. Five persons lost their lives to the flashfloods in the Middlesex and Hope Creek areas of the lower Stann Creek Valley. The losses were estimated at about BZ $78 million.

Tropical Depression 16 formed from an area of disturbed weather some 60 miles off the NE coast of Nicaragua on October 13, 2008. It drifted WNW just offshore the coast of NE Honduras during the next two days and then inland over the NE coast of Honduras on the morning of October 15, 2008. As the system drifted overland and interacted with the rugged terrain, it weakened to a remnant low and moved on a more westerly direction, reaching the western border between Honduras and Guatemala by October 16, 2008. During its odyssey overland the disturbance produced copious rainfall of the order of 21 inches over Baldy Beacon and 18 inches over Savannah during the period October 13-20, 2008.

Accumulated rainfall in excess of 20 inches was also recorded in many localities over western Honduras, central and northern Guatemala and SE Mexico. This resulted in extreme, widespread floods over the region. In Belize the Mopan, Macal, Belize, Rio Hondo and New Rivers all rose to near the record-setting, hurricane Keith stage. More than 110 communities consisting of over 16,400 persons were directly impacted by the floods in Belize. Five persons are known to have drowned during the floods; two on the Sittee River near the Kendal bridge crossing, and three around the border village of Arenal on the Mopan River.