Hurricane history: 7 destructive storms

Wilma

Date: 15-27 October 2005
Category: 5
Deaths: 87

Within 24 hours of becoming a hurricane near Jamaica, Wilma developed into a rapid Category 5, crossing two peninsulas. These were Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, where some towns were flooded by rainfall of over one-and-ahalf metres, and Florida, which it crossed in just four-and-a-half hours. In this limited time 6 million residents in Florida lost electricity for two weeks, while damage to sugar cane and other crops due to flooding made the hurricane one of the most expensive.

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