Hurricane Inez was a powerful and very devastating Category 5 major hurricane that affected the Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico, killing over 1,000 people in 1966. It was the first storm on record to affect all of those areas. It originated from a tropical wave over Africa, and became a tropical depression by September 21. It moved slowly westward, initially failing to intensify much; it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Inez on September 24. The storm strengthened into a hurricane and was quickly intensifying when it struck the French overseas region of Guadeloupe on September 27. Inez severely damaged the island's banana and sugar crops, and thousands of homes were damaged, leaving 10,000 people homeless. Damage on Guadeloupe was estimated at $50 million, and there were 40 deaths. After entering the Caribbean, Inez briefly weakened before restrengthening, attaining peak sustained winds of on September 28, eventually making landfall at that intensity in the Dominican Republic. That day a hurricane hunters flight reported a gust of , which was the highest recorded at the time.
Continuing westward, Inez made landfall as a small hurricane on the Barahona Peninsula of the Dominican Republic. There, the storm flooded many rivers and destroyed over 800 houses. Nationwide, there were about 100 deaths and $12 million in damage. After affecting the country, Inez struck southwestern Haiti, where it was considered the worst hurricane since the 1920s. As many as 1,000 people were killed, and 60,000 people were left homeless. Damage totaled $20.35 million in Haiti, prompting the United States government to send aid for the first time in nearly ten years due to previous mishandling of funds. Inez weakened quickly over Hispaniola, although it reintensified into a major hurricane before striking southeastern Cuba on September 30. In the country, 125,000 people were forced to evacuate, and there were three deaths and $20 million in damage.
The hurricane moved slowly over Cuba for two days before emerging into the Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas. It was expected to continue out to sea, although it stalled and resumed its previous westward path. In the Bahamas, heavy rainfall and high tides caused flooding, which killed five people and left $15.5 million in damage. Hurricane-force winds occurred throughout the Florida Keys, where 160 homes and 190 trailers were damaged. Salt spray damaged crops in the region, and there was $5 million in damage and four deaths. In the Straits of Florida, Inez capsized a boat of Cuban refugees, killing 45 people. In the northern Gulf of Mexico, a helicopter crashed after carrying evacuees from an oil rig, killing 11 people. The hurricane threatened the northern Yucatán Peninsula, and although it remained offshore, Inez produced flooding and caused some power outages. At its final landfall, Inez flooded portions of Tamaulipas and cut off roads to Tampico. About 84,000 people were left homeless, and the hurricane destroyed at least 2,500 houses. Damage was estimated at $154 million, and there were 74 deaths in Mexico.
Meteorological history
The origins of Inez were from a tropical wave that formed over the Sahara in central Africa on September 15 from the monsoon. It moved westward in the prevailing winds, exiting the west coast of Africa on September 18. The precursor to Inez was a disturbance along the northern portion of the wave, which was considered a tropical depression by September 18 in the annual tropical cyclone summary. Tracked by satellites, the system moved to the west-southwest, and was officially classified a tropical depression on September 21 about halfway between the Lesser Antilles and Africa. The system remained weak as it turned toward the west-northwest. A Hurricane Hunters flight indicated some intensification in the system, prompting the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to initiate advisories on Tropical Storm Inez, located about east of Martinique. With warm water temperatures, the storm developed a circular area of convection over its center. Inez slowed while curving westward around a ridge to its north and quickly intensified, reaching hurricane status on September 26.
On September 27, Inez strengthened to reach winds of , making it a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Later that day, it moved directly over the island of Guadeloupe. At the time, Inez was a small cyclone, with hurricane-force winds extending from the center; meteorologists labeled it as a "micro-hurricane... because of its characteristic small, tight cloud structure and strong maximum surface wind." Its structure became disrupted by the island, and the central pressure rose from , indicative of weakening. However, Inez re-intensified after entering the eastern Caribbean Sea, reaching a minimum pressure of south of Puerto Rico on September 28. The Hurricane Hunters reported sustained winds of at a height of , the strongest winds recorded for the storm. The same flight estimated surface winds between near the center. The peak intensity listed in the HURDAT, the Atlantic hurricane database, is , making Inez a Category 5 hurricane. In 2017, a preliminary re-analysis conducted as part of the ongoing Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project raised Inez's peak intensity from its original . This re-analysis has been officially accepted and included in HURDAT.
While near peak intensity, Inez was located about southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the eye was tracked by radar from the island. Its increasing outflow caused Tropical Storm Judith to the east over the central Atlantic to dissipate. On September 29, the small but powerful hurricane made landfall on the Barahona Peninsula, and quickly weakened over land. It briefly moved offshore and struck the southern peninsula of Haiti near Jacmel. The eye emerged into the Windward Passage near Léogâne, although severely weakened. The pressure rose to , and the winds decreased to over land. However, Inez quickly re-intensified over water, reaching winds of on September 30 before striking southeastern Cuba near Guantánamo Bay. When Inez was over Cuba, forecasters had difficulty in predicting the storm's future; it was expected that the hurricane would move to the north off the east coast of the United States due to a weakness in the ridge to the north. The hurricane drifted west-northwestward within light steering currents, weakening over the high terrain but later moving offshore the southern coast of Cuba. While over water, the eye reorganized, and the cyclone maintained hurricane intensity. Inez eventually turned to a northward drift over central Cuba and emerged into the Atlantic Ocean on October 2.
Shortly after exiting Cuba into the Atlantic, Inez weakened into a tropical storm, and was moving northeastward through the Bahamas about 24 hours later than forecast. At the time, the storm was expected to continue to the northeast around the Bermuda high. With little outflow and a large, diffuse circulation, Inez did not restrengthen much despite otherwise favorable conditions, potentially due to a nearby trough. The movement slowed, and the 1966 hurricane summary remarked that "Inez probably became nearly stationary closer to the United States mainland than any other storm." On October 3, Inez turned to the west-southwest as another ridge strengthened over the western Gulf of Mexico. Over the subsequent few days, the eye traversed the Florida Keys from Key Largo to Key West with winds of and continued through the Gulf of Mexico while slowly intensifying. On October 7, Inez brushed the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula with hurricane-force winds. By then, the ridge had begun to weaken, allowing the hurricane to turn more west-northwestward. On October 8, Inez attained a secondary peak intensity of , with a pressure of . Briefly threatening the coastline of Texas, Inez turned to the southwest after the ridge again strengthened. On October 10, the hurricane made its final landfall near Tampico, Tamaulipas, in northeastern Mexico. It weakened rapidly over the region's high terrain, dissipating on October 11.
The unusual track of Inez marked the first time on record that a tropical cyclone affected the Lesser and Greater Antilles, Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico. The Associated Press described Inez as the "first to strike the Yucatán Peninsula in many years." It was also the first to move across the Gulf of Mexico without turning to the north so late in the season, and the 65 advisories issued by the NHC was the highest number at the time. The path taken by Inez was compared to Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which also slowed and moved erratically due to a strong ridge. Forecasters had difficulty with the hurricane because of its unusual path, as well as the inability to fly the Hurricane Hunters into Inez while it was over Cuba.
Preparations In Guadeloupe, which was the first area the hurricane affected, residents evacuated to schools set up as shelters. Pan American World Airways canceled flights to the region. When Inez was near peak intensity, the NHC warned residents in southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic of the danger posed by the hurricane. The agency emphasized that the eye was visible on radar to calm tension of an unexpected change in track. In general, hurricane warnings were issued 24 hours in advance, with the exception of southeastern Florida due to the hurricane's slowing track. Overall, 250,000 people evacuated along the path of Inez. At Guantánamo Bay, officials ordered residents at the naval base to evacuate to storm shelters. Large ships at the port there were moved to Jamaica before the storm struck. Throughout eastern Cuba, Premier Fidel Castro ordered about 125,000 people to evacuate in low-lying areas, mostly in Oriente Province. United States Air Force tracking stations in the Bahamas were secured or moved to safer locations. Residents in the Florida Keys boarded up windows and store fronts, and hundreds of people evacuated to a shelter in Key West. In southeastern Florida, government offices and schools closed.
Along the Yucatán peninsula, about 15,000 people were evacuated from the coastal city of Progreso, in a region that seldom experiences hurricanes. In the northern Gulf of Mexico, a helicopter crashed after evacuating workers from an oil platform about south-southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, in otherwise calm conditions; 11 people died, including the pilot. When Inez was approaching its final landfall, the United States Weather Bureau issued hurricane warnings from Brownsville to Port Isabel, Texas, with gale warnings northward to Corpus Christi. At least 2,000 people evacuated from Port Isabel alone, and many shrimp boats were secured. In the Tampico area where Inez made its final landfall, over 31,000 people evacuated to higher grounds.
Impact
Overall, Hurricane Inez killed about 1,000 people, mostly on Hispaniola, and caused over $200 million in damage. Crop damage was less than other storms of similar magnitude, due to Inez's small size and its occurrence late in the season.
Caribbean and Bahamas When Inez struck Guadeloupe, a station on the island reported sustained winds of , with gusts to , before communications failed. Rain on the island reached . The high winds destroyed the roofs of thousands of houses, leaving 10,000 people homeless. There was heavy damage to both the banana and sugar crops, described as "flattened" by the St. Petersburg Times. The storm flooded a power plant in Pointe-à-Pitre and downed many power lines, causing power outages. The Associated Press described the hurricane as having "virtually leveled a whole district of Pointe-à-Pitre". Hundreds of people were injured, although because of damaged hospitals and the power outage, most only received makeshift treatment. Inez left 40 people dead and $50 million in damage on the island. Strong winds also affected nearby Antigua, and damage was reported from that island to Dominica.