Hurricane (Typhoon) — St. Lucie, Florida

1999-10-15 to 1999-10-16 · St. Lucie, Florida

Wider weather episode

Minimal Hurricane Irene moved northeast from the Florida Keys across south Florida and emerged over the Atlantic near Ft. Pierce. Even though the storm was classified a category one hurricane, no sustained hurricane force winds were observed in east central Florida. Winds gusted from 60 to 70 mph over coastal locations from Ft. Pierce to Daytona Beach. In Martin and St. Lucie counties the greatest impact from the storm was flooding. From 5 to 9 inches of rain fell over the area flooding 300 homes. About 50 homes had major wind damage and thousands of trees were blown down. In Volusia, Brevard and Indian River counties hundreds of homes received minor wind damage and about 50 residences were seriously damaged. The hardest hit areas were beach front communities. Many houses and high rise hotels suffered roof damage and damage from wind driven rain. A barge broke free during high winds and damaged the causeway bridge on US Highway 528 near Cape Canaveral. Substantial beach erosion was reported along the entire coast. From 4 to 10 feet of beach front was lost in most areas with damage estimated in the millions of dollars in each county.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5717620. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.