Hurricane Elena
Hurricane Elena was a strong, destructive and erratic tropical cyclone that affected eastern and central portions of the Gulf Coast of the United States in late August and early September 1985. Threatening popular tourist destinations during the Labor Day weekend, Elena repeatedly deviated from its forecast path, triggering evacuations of unprecedented extent. The hurricane wrought havoc to property and the environment between southwestern Florida and eastern Louisiana, though lesser effects were felt well beyond those areas. Elena developed on August 28 near Cuba, and after traveling lengthwise across the island with little impact, it entered the Gulf of Mexico and continued to strengthen. Initially projected to strike the central Gulf Coast, the hurricane unexpectedly veered toward the east on August 30, then stalled just 50 mi west of Cedar Key, Florida. Despite predictions that Elena would continue eastward across Florida, the cyclone remained nearly stationary for about 48 hours, causing damage all along the eastern gulf with high winds and waves, before slowly moving northwest and ultimately making landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi, on September 2 as a Category 3 major hurricane. The storm quickly weakened upon moving ashore and dissipated on September 4.
The hurricane's unpredictable shifts in direction created what was considered the largest peacetime evacuation in the nation's history. Evacuations occurred in sequence to follow the storm's forecast positions, and many residents and tourists along portions of the Gulf Coast were forced to leave twice in a matter of days. Preparations were generally timely and efficient, though accommodations and resources at storm shelters were stretched thin, and many refugees tried to return home against officials' orders. About 1.25 million people fled the storm in Florida alone, contributing to a region-wide total of nearly 2 million evacuees. Tropical cyclone warnings and watches were continuously issued and adjusted, and forecasters stressed the storm's destructive potential for days.
Elena's slow movement off western Florida resulted in severe beach erosion and damage to coastal buildings, roads, and seawalls, especially to those of old or inadequate construction. Destruction was greatest near the shore and on islands such as Cedar Key and Dog Island, though tornadoes spawned by the hurricane swept through communities and mobile home parks well inland. The hurricane devastated the Apalachicola Bay shellfish industry, killing large quantities of oysters, destroying their reefs, and leaving thousands of workers unemployed. Farther west, Dauphin Island in Alabama endured wind gusts as high as and a significant storm surge. The island sustained some of the most significant damage inflicted by Elena, including several hundred damaged or demolished homes. The rest of the state's coast also sustained considerable damage, and the inland pecan and soybean crops were severely diminished in Alabama and Mississippi.
Over 13,000 homes were damaged in Mississippi, and 200 were destroyed. Cities close to the Alabama border—including Pascagoula—experienced widespread damage to residences, schools, and businesses, and the community of Gautier was effectively isolated from the outside world. Several apparent but unconfirmed tornadoes appear to have exacerbated the damage in the Gulfport area. Wind damage extended into portions of eastern Louisiana. Overall, nine people died as a result of the hurricane: two in Texas due to drownings in rip currents, three in Florida, two in Louisiana, one in Arkansas, and one in a maritime accident in the Gulf of Mexico. Damage totaled about $1.3 billion, and power outages from the storm affected 550,000 people. In Elena's wake, President Ronald Reagan declared parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida federal disaster areas, making storm victims eligible for financial aid and temporary housing. The name Elena was later retired from the cyclical list of Atlantic hurricane names because of the storm's effects.
Meteorological history
The origins of Hurricane Elena trace to an easterly tropical wave that was first identified off the western coast of Africa on August 23, 1985. The system sped westward across the Atlantic at up to. Its rapid motion, combined with the presence of an unusually hostile Saharan Air Layer, prevented tropical cyclogenesis for several days. Driven by a strong subtropical ridge to its north, the wave quickly approached North America as it began to show signs of organization. At 00:00 UTC on August 28, the disturbance developed into a tropical depression while over the Windward Passage. The newly designated depression began to track west-northwestward over Cuba, which is known to disrupt tropical cyclone development. Despite that, its central barometric pressure continued to deepen, and reconnaissance aircraft found winds exceeding near the center. In response, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Elena over northern Cuba later on August 28.After passing north of Havana, Cuba, Elena emerged into the Gulf of Mexico. At 12:00 UTC on August 29, Elena intensified into a Category 1 hurricane. Analysis of steering currents through the morning of August 30 suggested that Elena would continue on its northwestward track, striking the area between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Biloxi, Mississippi, within 30 hours. Unexpectedly, a mid-to-upper-level trough of low pressure diving in from the northwest created a weakness in the easterly currents, allowing Elena to recurve and slow drastically in forward speed. Roughly 24 hours after attaining hurricane intensity, the storm abruptly turned east in response to the trough. Having defied initial forecasts, Hurricane Elena drifted on its new course toward the coast of northwest Florida. Forecasters now called for the trough to direct the hurricane across the Florida Peninsula and into the western Atlantic. However, the relatively weak trough moved rapidly, and instead of fully engaging Elena, its axis passed over the storm's center. Further, post-storm analysis of water vapor imagery suggested that the hurricane split the trough into two distinct segments.
File:Hurricane Elena STS-51-I 1985-09-01.jpg|thumb| Hurricane Elena in the Gulf of Mexico on September 1 as seen from the STS-51-I Space Shuttle Discovery
Extrapolation from the storm's eastward progress yielded a projected landfall location near Levy County. However, after the passage of the upper-level system early on August 31, steering currents slackened, and Elena became nearly stationary in the extreme northeastern Gulf of Mexico. At its closest, the center of the storm was around from Cedar Key, Florida, with maximum sustained winds estimated at 105 mph. Elena's intensity remained consistent, and the cyclone was able to continue strengthening as soon as movement resumed. Early on September 1, Elena reached Category 3 major hurricane status. An area of high pressure soon began to build over the eastern United States, causing Elena to slowly retrograde westward. For much of September 1, the center of the hurricane was within range of the WSR-57 radar station in Apalachicola, Florida, enabling extensive study of small features within the eye and surrounding eyewall. During that period of observation, the previously unobstructed eye became cloud-filled.
The hurricane accelerated on a trajectory toward the central U.S. Gulf Coast, sliding south of the Florida Panhandle. During the afternoon of September 1, the hurricane attained its peak intensity, with winds of 125 mph as confirmed by reconnaissance aircraft. On the morning of September 2, Elena approached coastal Mississippi from the east-southeast, still at major hurricane status. It came ashore close to Biloxi, which was coincidentally within the hurricane's first forecast destination range before its extended detour. Once inland, the hurricane immediately deteriorated, weakening to a tropical storm just hours after landfall, and its center rapidly filled. The system curved northwestward over Mississippi and Louisiana, and despite weakening, it continued to ignite thunderstorm activity which spawned heavy rains. Elena persisted for several days before degenerating into a remnant area of low pressure on September 4. Its associated cloud structure became distorted on September 5, and dissipated over Kentucky that same night.
Preparations
The unpredictable nature of the hurricane, in conjunction with its arrival at popular tourist destinations on the Labor Day holiday weekend, severely complicated preparations along the Gulf Coast. Evacuations and the hoisting of weather advisories inadvertently occurred in stages to keep up with Elena's shifts in direction; hurricane warnings were in effect at one point or another for every coastal location between Morgan City, Louisiana, and Sarasota, Florida. Much of the northern Gulf Coast was under a hurricane warning on two separate occasions for two different trajectories of the storm. Evacuations of residents and vacationers also overlapped in many cases. Collectively, this led to the "largest number of people ever evacuated", according to Robert Case. Some evacuees moved inland to meet relatives, but many stayed relatively local, filling hotels and designated shelters such as schools and churches. Despite the unusually fluid scenario, officials were well aware of the storm's destructive power days before its actual landfall. National Hurricane Center hurricane expert Bob Sheets cautioned on August 30 that Elena "will be over a $1 billion storm".During Elena's initial approach, the first series of hurricane warnings were issued between Grand Isle, Louisiana, and Apalachicola, Florida. The storm's projected path quickly nudged westward, prompting the warnings to be extended to Morgan City, Louisiana, and truncated to Pensacola, Florida on their eastern reach. Heeding the advisories, nearly one million residents and vacationers fled the storm's path. Personnel on offshore oil rigs in the northern Gulf of Mexico began leaving as early as August 29. The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida declared states of emergency by August 30. Huge crowds formed at stores as individuals searched for emergency supplies, and simultaneously, lines grew at gas stations. Due to the impending danger, many businesses closed and fortified their buildings. Across the Gulf Coast, classes at schools were cancelled, and residents in the New Orleans area were particularly wary of what was being called the first serious hurricane threat in 20 years. In Mississippi, the mass exodus created bumper-to-bumper traffic on crucial highways, such as the west–east U.S. Route 90. In Florida, then-Governor Bob Graham activated 250 National Guard troops on August 30 to facilitate efficient evacuations, stating that 1,600 more were on standby. By that time, it became evident that Elena would head farther east than initially expected, stirring more concern for the eastern Gulf Coast. Accordingly, hurricane warnings were dropped for coastal Louisiana west of Grand Isle and replaced eastward to Apalachicola, Florida.
By the evening of August 30, after Elena's sharp turn to the east, hurricane warnings along most of the northern Gulf Coast were discontinued. In accordance, evacuees between Louisiana and the four westernmost counties of the Florida Panhandle returned home as shelters closed. With the storm's new course, the area of highest threat translated east to the remainder of the Panhandle and the western Florida Peninsula. As such, Governor Graham recommended evacuations south to the Tampa area late on August 30. A mandatory evacuation was then issued overnight for ten more coastal counties, encompassing 573,000 affected individuals. On August 31, Governor Graham advised residents in vulnerable areas of 15 inland counties to find safer ground. In response to the heightening danger, most of the National Guard troops previously on standby were sent to block access to certain areas, and an additional 3,000 were placed on standby.
In the greater St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, area alone, 320,000 people evacuated ahead of the storm in what was a national record for the largest evacuation of a single county in history. The large number of refugees from the storm put a strain on facilities, highways, and contingencies. Although the number of people required to leave far exceeded the capacity of Pinellas County shelters, only 120,000 of the 300,000 or more refugees made use of the shelters. Still, official shelter usage was considered to be higher than average, possibly due to shortened lead times limiting the ability of individuals to make arrangements with friends and relatives, or increased awareness of available resources. Post-storm phone surveys indicated that evacuation order compliance rates were as high as 90% in Pinellas County, and the entire evacuation there took just 9 hours, rather than the expected 15. With over 200,000 individuals recorded to be in more than 120 shelters along the coast of west-central Florida, evacuees became restless as a result of the duration of the storm. Supplies such as food ran short, and many people ignored orders and tried to return home prematurely. The threat of Hurricane Elena also triggered an unprecedented mass transfer of medical and nursing home patients. Tampa General Hospital, at 84% of patient capacity, was evacuated; four more hospitals and around 19 nursing homes in Pinellas County were also cleared. Overall, nearly 2,000 nursing home patients were transported to safety. Although successful, the process encountered issues such as time constraints and staffing shortages.
Late on September 1, when the storm began to retrograde, hurricane warnings were reinstated westward along the coast to Grand Isle, Louisiana, as advisories along the west coast of the Florida Peninsula were allowed to expire. By the time officials lifted evacuation orders, the number of evacuees staying in shelters already decreased significantly due to the rampant eagerness and anxiety. Roughly 250,000 people in the Florida Panhandle, 175,000 in Alabama, 70,000 in Mississippi, and 50,000 in Louisiana—a total of 545,000—were ordered to leave. Several hundred thousand of the people affected by the new string of evacuation orders had also been forced to leave just days earlier, and in extreme cases had one day or less reprieve. Governor Graham's office reported that during the entire storm event, 1.25 million people from Florida evacuated at some point, and state police in Louisiana estimated that figure in their state to be around 400,000. In total, nearly 2 million people fled the storm over its entire course.