effects hurricane dennis jamaica early july brushed jamaica bringing torrential rain damaging floods island nation forming tropical depression july dennis began jamaica days later approximately people evacuated coastal flood prone areas prior storm arrival relief agencies allocated resources recovery operations passing northeast island impact dennis stemmed primarily rainfall peaked reached year event levels widespread flooding landslides damaged homes isolated communities hardest hit hundreds required evacuation multiple rivers burst banks overall people affected households requesting assistance week brought rain island damage combined effects damaged destroyed homes total losses reaching billion million billion million attributed dennis person died flooding relief operations began hurricane subsided international communities provided aid overall effects dennis limited nation economy sustained major background preparations july national_hurricane_center classified tropical depression near windward_islands system moved west northwest tropical storm dennis following day taking advantage highly favorable environmental factors low wind shear high sea surface temperatures dennis rapidly intensified july system reached hurricane strength began traversing utc july hurricane passed northeast northeast kingston maximum sustained winds mph category saffir simpson hurricane wind scale system subsequently struck cuba category twice moving gulf_of_mexico ultimately moved inland florida category july dissipated days later late july government jamaica issued hurricane watch nation dennis intensified eastern caribbean upgraded hurricane warning early july warning remained place hours hurricane brushed island discontinued july dennis moved northern cuba longer posed direct threat jamaica following issuance hurricane warning jamaica activated behest jamaica allocated resources assist nation following passage dennis notified branches storm placing personnel volunteers standby july assisted evacuations shelters opening evening july norman international airport ceased operations utc local time following soon july shelters opened parishes people services officials complained residents refused evacuate storm impacted island number dramatically increased people shelters open parishes approximately million available relief operations nation additional million allocated clearing drains preparation heavy rain impact brought torrential rainfall jamaica experienced average rainfall april brushed island northeast places recorded rain highest totals occurring peaked hour rainfall rates reached location hour peak value year event town year mean rainfall reached year levels sustained winds peaked mph equivalent strong tropical storm kingston observed peak winds mph gust mph winds downed trees power lines leaving roughly customers electricity overall wind damage minimal homes business lost roofs suffered widespread flooding multiple rivers burst banks flood bridge spanning river severely damaged nearby prompted multiple evacuations flooded took place graves unearthed seven homes taylor land subdivision bull bay affected prompting proposal relocate residents avoid future damage overflow tributaries inundated multiple villages leaving isolated person drowned swept away body recovered days later approximately homes parish suffered including illegally built structures destroyed residents reporting maximum flood depths community miles remained day hurricane passage severity flooding blamed poor building maintenance retaining walls landslides portland parish rendered roads impassable damaged homes bridge spanning connecting eastern western sides parish severely damaged severed connection left people temporarily isolated river homes stores swept away landslide destroyed homes agriculture sustained significant damage effects compounded quick succession week apart entire banana crop lost storms wrecked acres crops killed livestock chickens cost million million homes swept away residents mountainous areas parish stranded landslides multiple residents trapped hazardous weather hampered rescue bridge destroyed pre dawn hours july rivers burst banks saint mary parish people relocated homes flooding took place parish people requiring rescue submerged homes eastern areas parish experienced significant flooding communities cut inundated sink hole hall homes oil tank overflowed heavy rain resulting minor oil spill crews cleaned spill day streets downtown kingston flooded effects relatively limited million agricultural damage estimated people affected varying degrees communities nation approximately households estimated people reported need assistance combined effects dennis emily left homes destroyed damaged associated losses reached million million dennis agricultural industry sustained extensive losses acres damaged nearly livestock primarily chickens killed rapid succession dennis emily makes damage difficult collectively storms wrought billion million damage primarily stemming infrastructure billion million attributed dennis aftermath distribution relief supplies began july isolated communities received aid following day residents cascade required evacuation declared disaster area previously defunct railway bridge bay bridge portland parish use 1980s repaired cost million opened july enable travel bridge damaged residents parish advised temporarily water prevent spread diseases contaminated supplies assisted relief efforts efforts repair restore damaged roadways reached million million leader opposition party requested jamaican government release million million immediate relief prime minister rejected proposal criticized government maintaining roads citing lack maintenance contracts work carried nation government jamaica indicated request international assistance government cuba provided tons supplies venezuela offered support reported loss tons aluminum flooding manufacturing companies reported million losses primarily suspended operations november sought billion million additional funding repair roads damaged following month received million japanese embassy assist farmers portland parish long term effects dennis limited nearly economic sector returning normal months exceptions exports banana coffee crops recovering hurricane overall implications nation gross domestic product merely flat lining growth causing decline combination effects drought early inflation values required adjustment upwards
Effects of Hurricane Dennis in Jamaica