hurricane hurricane north_atlantic hurricane landfall puerto_rico years tropical cyclone atlantic hurricane season developed tropical wave august east lesser antilles rapidly developed mph major hurricane striking guadeloupe heavily damaged houses left severe crop destruction deaths territory continued northeastern caribbean capsized ship killing crew august struck southeastern puerto_rico quickly crossed island damage heaviest moved ashore territory central portion puerto_rico houses destroyed multiple locations reported heavy crop damage including reported complete loss corn crop hurricane hurricane observed san_juan radar resulted hurricane warning island released television hurricane left million damage deaths prompted federally declared disaster area locally hurricane known exiting puerto_rico brushed bahamas turning northeastward extratropical august remnants dissipated days later south newfoundland meteorological history formation northeastward shift azores high allowed increase atmospheric instability tropical atlantic conditions tropical cyclogenesis favorable early august tropical wave exited west coast africa august august ship reported rough seas winds force scale basis estimated developed day east barbados day hurricane hunters flight observed winds mph indicated intensified significantly overnight flight reported small hurricane including wide eye maintaining intensity hours began weakening moving directly southern guadeloupe entered eastern caribbean winds mph began track west northwest august hurricane passed south striking southeastern puerto_rico hurricane strike island san hurricane crossed central portion island structure deteriorated eye difficult locate crossed highest mountains occasions eye dropped slightly south mountains eye defined approached coast emerged northwest coast near similar intensity moved ashore hurricane intensified moved bahamas reaching winds mph august day eye passed near time storm increased size hurricane_hunters reported gale force winds extended north eye reformed august organized attaining minimum barometric pressure mbar inhg day turned northeast approaching trough despite beginning weakening trend pressure dropped mbar inhg august eye increasingly poorly defined weakened tropical storm august south nova scotia turning east extratropical later day eventually dissipating august impact advisory issued hurricane watch issued time hurricane watch issued puerto_rico later upgraded hurricane warning hurricane warning puerto_rico aired television hurricane struck guadeloupe winds mph caused extensive damage houses communications territory disrupted high winds destroyed upwards banana crop severely impacted economy hurricane resulted deaths caused million damage million crop damage nearby winds reached mph hurricane dropped winds reached mph northeastern caribbean capsized ship killed crew ship region drifted days south damaged engine crossed puerto_rico produced hurricane force winds entire territory southwest corner sustained winds reached mph san_juan island northwestern portion recorded mph wind gusts high winds downed significant number trees island interior valleys winds destroyed houses damaged nearby winds severely damaged destroyed dwellings central portion island hurricane left severe crop damage including complete loss banana crop damage heaviest near moved ashore slight eye high winds caused severe damage radius people left homeless damage totaled million damage likewise severe moved offshore complete loss corn crop coffee crop ruined hurricane dropped heavy rainfall central portion island peak hour total station recorded total highest total related passage puerto_rico destroyed houses left million damage sixteen deaths island expected warnings injuries territory related storm hurricane record observed san_juan radar island known hurricane damage president declared puerto_rico disaster area august allocated millions dollars assistance puerto rican governor allocated million funding aid rebuilding bahamas hurricane produced wind gusts mph sustained winds reached mph dropped rainfall destroyed houses wrecked roofs churches hurricane left damage bahamas delivering relief supplies douglas operated crashed plane right landing gear fail result plane runway came stop person killed uncertainty storm movement officials issued hurricane warning southern florida remained far away state eye observed radar miami potentially record distance offshore canada hurricane sunk ship entire crew rescued
Hurricane Betsy (1956)