Hurricane Flora is among the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history, with a death total of at least 7,193. The seventh tropical storm and sixth hurricane of the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season, Flora developed from a disturbance in the Intertropical Convergence Zone on September 26 while located 755 miles (1,215 km) southwest of the Cape Verde islands. After remaining a weak depression for several days, it rapidly organized on September 29 to attain tropical storm status. Flora continued to quickly strengthen to reach Category 3 hurricane status before moving through the Windward Islands and passing over Tobago, and it reached maximum sustained winds of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h) in the Caribbean.
Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, one of the many Haitian villages left in ruins, was about 85% destroyed.
Haitians isolated by Flora awaiting rescue. USS Lake Champlain and USS Thetis Bay launched marine helicopters that evacuated 347 storm victims and distributed 330,105 lb of relief supplies.
The Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) classifies hurricanes—which in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms—into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds. This measuring system was formerly known as the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale, or SSHS.
Image: Nicole 2022 11 10 0620Z colored
Image: Agatha 2022 05 30 1700Z
Image: Grace 2021 08 21 0610Z
Image: Lidia 2023 10 10 2120Z