Hurricane Emily (2005)
Hurricane Emily was an extremely rare and powerful tropical cyclone that became the first July Atlantic hurricane to reach Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It remained the only to have done so until Beryl of 2024. The fifth named storm, third hurricane, second major hurricane, and first Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Emily formed on July 11 from a tropical wave east of the Lesser Antilles. Three days later, it made landfall on Grenada as a minimal hurricane, just ten months after Hurricane Ivan devastated the region. Emily attained maximum sustained winds of 260 km/h on July 16 while passing southwest of Jamaica, which at the time made it the strongest Atlantic hurricane before the month of August. Slight weakening occurred before Emily made landfall along Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula on July 18 as a Category 4 hurricane. Quickly crossing the peninsula, Emily emerged over the Gulf of Mexico as a minimal hurricane. It reorganized and reached Category 3 intensity before making its final landfall in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on July 20. It rapidly weakened and dissipated over land on July 21, although thunderstorms reached as far inland as New Mexico. In 2024, Emily was surpassed by Hurricane Beryl as the strongest Atlantic hurricane before August, as measured by maximum sustained winds.
Emily was a powerful early-season tropical cyclone that caused significant damage across the Lesser Antilles, the Caribbean, and Mexico. While moving through the Lesser Antilles, the hurricane produced strong winds and heavy rainfall that caused flooding and landslides across several islands. In Grenada, a man died when a landslide destroyed his house. The hurricane damaged or destroyed 2,641 homes in the country, leaving 167 families homeless. Emily's damage on Grenada totaled EC$121.14 million. Later, the hurricane dropped of rainfall on Jamaica, which added to the destruction caused by Hurricane Dennis a week earlier. Damage from the two hurricanes totaled J$5.98 billion in Jamaica. Also in the country, five people died related to a vehicle accident and floods. In nearby Haiti, flooding from Emily caused ten fatalities. Emily's impacts occurred as far south as Honduras, where one person drowned due to river flooding from the storm.
Ahead of the hurricane's first landfall in Mexico, officials ordered evacuations for popular tourist areas along the eastern Yucatán Peninsula. About 44,000 people evacuated from Cancún International Airport, while another 60,000 people fled to shelters farther inland. One person died in Playa del Carmen while preparing for the storm. Mexico's oil company Pemex evacuated approximately 15,800 workers from oil platforms. Two workers died in a helicopter crash while evacuating. The hurricane lashed northeastern Mexico with strong winds, high waves, a storm surge, and heavy rainfall. The precipitation reached in Cerralvo, Nuevo Leon, more than half of which occurred within 24 hours. The rains caused flooding and landslides that led to two deaths and isolated more than 100 small towns. Across Mexico, Emily's damage was estimated at Mex$3.427 billion. The destructive effects of the hurricane spread into South Texas, where at least nine tornadoes touched down. Flooding also caused US$4.7 million worth of crop damage.
Meteorological history
By July 5, 2005, the annual hurricane season was already active, with four named storms. The origins of Hurricane Emily were from a mesoscale convective system that developed over Ethiopia in eastern Africa, which evolved into a tropical wave that moved westward. On July 6, the tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa, associated with a large area of cyclonic turning. The convection, or thunderstorms, became better organized on July 9, prompting the National Hurricane Center to include the system as a potential area for tropical cyclone development. Over the next day, the convection became more concentrated as a low-pressure area developed. At 00:00 UTC on July 11, Tropical Depression Five developed in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, about 1,990 km east of the southern Lesser Antilles. A ridge to its north steered the nascent depression westward. At first, the depression's development was halted by moderate wind shear and dry air. However, it intensified into Tropical Storm Emily at 00:00 UTC on July 12, 24 hours after its formation.Initially, the NHC anticipated Emily would move to the west-northwest, potentially affecting the Greater Antilles. Instead, the track remained westerly as Emily continued intensifying. The storm developed outflow and improved rainbands, signs of a maturing tropical cyclone. Sea surface temperatures remained warm along Emily's path, partly due to the spread of warm waters from Hurricane Dennis over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. At first, the storm's structure was asymmetrical, and the center of circulation was occasionally exposed from the thunderstorms. However, thunderstorms fired over the convection, and Emily became a hurricane at 00:00 UTC on July 14. Seven hours later, Hurricane Emily made landfall on northern Grenada with maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h. Shortly after striking Grenada, Emily entered the Caribbean Sea as it curved to the west-northwest. At the time, Emily was steered by the ridge to its north building westward. The eye of the hurricane became much more distinct in the center of the convection, and around 18:00 UTC on July 14, Emily strengthened into a major hurricane, the second of the season. Emily's rapid intensification was potentially caused by a plume of air from the Amazon and Orinoco rivers to the south, which then interacted with the warm waters of the Caribbean.
Early on July 15, it reached a preliminary peak intensity as a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds of 215 km/h. The Hurricane Hunters observed two concentric eyewalls, and Emily temporarily weakened, only to re-intensify. On July 16, the eye became embedded within a round central dense overcast as it approached southern Jamaica. The hurricane passed about 165 km south of the island that day. At 00:00 on July 17, Emily attained peak winds of 260 km/h, making it a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. This was based on observations from the Hurricane Hunters, which observed a minimum pressure of. Emily broke the record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane before the month of August, set six days earlier by Hurricane Dennis. Although Hurricane Beryl later broke Emily's record in terms of sustained winds in July 2024, Emily remains the strongest as measured by minimum pressure, as of.
After Emily attained peak intensity, its eye became slightly ragged as the wind speed decreased. The Hurricane Hunters encountered significant turbulence and thunderstorms; however, the strong convection was asymmetric, which led to the slight weakening. On July 18, the eyewall crossed over the island of Cozumel in eastern Mexico. At 06:30 UTC that day, Emily moved over the Yucatán Peninsula mainland at Playa del Carmen, with winds of about 215 km/h, still a Category 4. While over land, it weakened significantly, emerging into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane late on July 18, with its inner core disrupted. With low wind shear and warm waters, Emily restrengthened as the eye redeveloped convection. At 00:00 UTC on July 21, the hurricane attained a secondary peak of 205 km/h, making it a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. While approaching the coast, Emily had concentric eyewalls, with an inner eye with a diameter of 30 km, and an outer eye 93 km in diameter. At 12:00 UTC on July 21, Emily made its final landfall with winds of 205 km/h, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas near San Fernando; the landfall location was about 140 km south of Brownsville, Texas near the Mexico–United States border. The hurricane rapidly weakened over the mountainous terrain of the Sierra Madre Oriental, quickly dropping to tropical storm status and dissipating late on July 21 over northern Mexico.
Preparations
Eastern Caribbean and South America
After Emily attained tropical storm status on July 12, the various governments of the West Indies began issuing tropical cyclone watches and warnings, including hurricane warnings for Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia. A day later, the NHC incorrectly predicted that Emily would move through the islands as a tropical storm. This resulted in the hurricane warnings being downgraded to tropical storm warnings, only to be upgraded back to hurricane warnings on July 14, five hours before Emily's landfall in Grenada. That day, the ABC islands, or Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, also issued a tropical storm warning.In Grenada, residents were still recovering from Hurricane Ivan ten months prior, which damaged or destroyed approximately 90 percent of housing. The threat from Emily prompted officials to declare a state of emergency. A shortage of construction material had stagnated rebuilding after Ivan. This left fewer buildings as reliable shelters and many homes without roofs by the arrival of Emily. Of the 80 buildings considered for public shelters, 45 were used as such, with 1,650 people seeking refuge in them. Residents rushed to stock up on emergency supplies, emptying grocery stores and resulting in heavy road traffic. The Grenada Red Cross Society affirmed their stockpile of 2,000 jerry cans, 600 blankets, 100 tarps, 50 cots, and 10 generators. They also coordinated evacuations with local transportation services. During the storm's passage, the country's government implemented a nighttime curfew. Telecommunication services Cingular and Digicel suspended service as a precaution.
In the easternmost Caribbean Island of Barbados, the government ordered the closure of businesses while residents stocked up on emergency supplies. Shelters were opened nationwide, and local radio stations broadcast regular warnings to alert the public. The Dominica Red Cross Society confirmed emergency resources were properly stockpiled. Trinidad and Tobago activated its National Emergency Centre and ordered the closure of commerce. Across the country, 544 people sought refuge in shelters. BP evacuated all but 11 essential workers from their 14 oil platforms around the nation. In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 544 people evacuated to emergency shelters during the storm. Businesses shuttered across St. Vincent as well as St. Lucia. Although airports remained open, British Airways canceled flights to and from Hewanorra International Airport. The St. Lucia Red Cross placed ten response teams on standby, while the Antigua and Barbuda Red Cross had 100 volunteers on standby. The Pan American Disaster Response Unit, already preparing its response to Hurricane Dennis, prepared additional supplies for the anticipated effects of Emily.
In Venezuela, a few oil tankers were forced to remain at Puerto la Cruz. Some flights were canceled or delayed as early as July 12, and residents were alerted to the possibility of floods and mudslides. A red alert was issued for Aragua, and 100 personnel were deployed to coastal communities. People living in or visiting the Los Roques Archipelago were advised to remain sheltered in their homes. Alerts were also raised for the nearby islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.