juracan: guabancex’s favorite weapon

JURACAN: GUABANCEX’S FAVORITE WEAPON

LUIS A. MEDINA

Abstract. The Taıno people, the original inhabitants of Boriken (Puerto Rico), believed that Juracanes

were created by the zemı goddess Guabancex with the assistance of Coatriskie and Guatauba. They claimed

she had a bad temperament and used Juracanes against them. They also believed that she used them to fightthe almighty Yucahu, the supreme zemı and protector of the Taıno people. In this manuscript I describe my

experiences with Guabancex’s Juracanes in the archipelago of Puerto Rico. I also include some hurricane

data found on the web. The manuscript was written shortly after Hurricane Marıa’s landfall.

1. Introduction

The Taıno people were the inhabitants of the island of Boriken (Puerto Rico) at the time the Spaniardsarrived to the New World. They had a supreme zemı (god), his name was Yucahu or Yukiyu, and he wastheir protector. The zemı goddess of the wind, also known as the Lady of the Winds, was Guabancex.The Taınos claimed that she had a bad temperament and did not tolerate neglect of the appropriate zemıworship. When it pleased her, she asked her assistants, Coatriskie and Guatauba, to provide her the rainfallof Coatriskie and the thunder and lighting of Guatauba. With that at hand, she created Juracanes. TheTaınos believed that a Juracan was her weapon and that she used it to castigate them and to fight Yucahu,the great protector.

It is an interesting fact that the Taıno people recognized the cyclonic nature of a Juracan (also knownas tropical cyclone). This claim becomes clear after one sees the Taıno’s depiction of the zemı Guabancex(Figure 1). From the Taıno word “Juracan” comes the Spanish word “Huracan” and the English word

Figure 1. The Taıno’s depiction of the zemı Guabancex

“Hurricane”. Today, the most used scale to measure hurricane power is the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale(see Table 1). This scale measures strength (maximum sustained wind speed) and intensity (barometricpressure) of hurricanes. A continuous version of this scale can be found on Appendix A. For this manuscript,c-Cat represents the hurricane category under the continuous Saffir-Simpson scale, while Cat represents thecategory under the regular scale. Hurricanes of Category 3 and beyond are called Major Hurricanes. Majorhurricanes are capable of devastating and catastrophic damage.1

Usually, when you hear in the news that a certain hurricane is, say, Category 3, most likely there arereferring to its strength, that is, to its maximum sustained wind speed. In this scenario, you would knowthat the storm carries sustained wind speed between 111 mph and 129 mph. Only in rare occasions news

1This manuscript is not a scientific article; do not cite it as such. The author does not claim expertise in meteorology. The

author is not an expert in Taıno history. Some of the information in this manuscript was collected from different sources onthe Internet. This is NOT the common practice in scientific articles. This manuscript was written as a sort of “hobby” after

Hurricane Marıa hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017.

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Saffir-Simpson Cat Sustained wind speed Low pressure Storm surge1 74-95 mph ≥ 980 mbar 3-5 ft2 96-110 mph 979 - 965 mbar 6-8 ft3 111-129 mph 964 - 945 mbar 9-12 ft4 130-156 mph 944 - 920 mbar 13-18 ft5 ≥ 157 mph < 920 mbar ≥ 19 ft

Table 1: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Categories may differ by 1 mph from other versions of the scale.

networks use intensity to measure a storm. However, intensity is also very important. Think of a boxingmatch. You may have a boxer that throws the hardest power punches in the sport, but has the capacityof throwing 3 punch combinations. Of course, he can knock you out with one punch, he is strong, but hiscombinations are not that intense. On the other hand, consider another boxer that is also a strong puncher,but not as strong as the boxer in the first case. However, this other boxer can throw at you 7, 8, or 9 punchcombinations. That is intense! He can knock you out because he is a good puncher (strength) and can throwhigh punch combinations (intense). Of course, hurricanes are not boxers, but this give you an idea.

Hurricanes carry a great amount of energy. One way to measure the energy of a hurricane is using thetotal energy released through cloud/rain formation. In a typical hurricane, this amount is equivalent to 200times the world-wide electrical generating capacity [13]. Another way to measure the energy of a hurricaneis using the wind energy generated. For a mature hurricane, this amount is equivalent to about half theworld-wide electrical generating capacity [13]. Therefore, any way you measure them, hurricanes turn outto be powerful events.

Hurricane is not always the name used for tropical cyclone storms. Tropical cyclones with sustainedwinds of 74 mph or more are called hurricanes when they formed somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean or in theNortheastern Pacific. If a tropical cyclone at that strength is formed in the Northwestern Pacific, then it iscalled a Typhoon. If such tropical cyclone is formed in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean, then it is simplycalled tropical cyclone or “severe cyclonic storm”.

There are seven (7) tropical cyclone basins on Planet Earth. These are [14]:

(1) Atlantic basin, including the North Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.(2) Northeast Pacific basin, from Mexico to about the dateline(3) Northwest Pacific basin, from the dateline to Asia including the South China Sea(4) North Indian basin, including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea(5) Southwest Indian basin, from Africa to about 100E(6) Southeast Indian/Australian basin (100E to 142E)(7) Australian/Southwest Pacific basin (142E to about 120W).

Figure 2. Tropical cyclones basins around the globe.

JURACAN: GUABANCEX’S FAVORITE WEAPON 3

Tropical cyclones rotate counterclockwise on the northern hemisphere and clockwise on the southernhemisphere. This is due to Earth rotation and the Coriolis effect. Approximately 69% of all tropicalcyclones occur in the Northern Hemisphere. In terms of Oceans, 12 % of all tropical cyclones occur in theAtlantic Ocean, 57% in the Pacific Ocean and 31% in the Indian Ocean.

The most active basin on the globe is the Northwestern Pacific basin with an average of 25.7 “Juracanes”.Of those, 16 achieve typhoon status. This basin is active all year-round. This basin also produces the mostpotent tropical cyclones (measured by low-pressure). The second most active basin is the NortheasternPacific basin. It ranks fifth as basin with most potent tropical cyclones (behind the basins of NorthwesternPacific, Southwestern Pacific, Atlantic and Southwest Indian [in that order]) . However, Hurricane Patricia,which was the most potent cyclone when measured by 1-minute sustained winds (215 mph), was born in thisbasin. The Atlantic basin is the third most active basin.

The main purpose of this manuscript is to describe my experiences with Guabancex’s Juracanes in thearchipelago of Puerto Rico. These experiences can be found in the next section. Section 3 includes informa-tion of some Juracanes that had hit Puerto Rico (in my lifetime), but did not affect me directly. Section 4includes some historical hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico since the USA took over the island. The numberof recorded tropical cyclones that affected Puerto Rico since 1508 (by month) is included in Section 5. InSection 6 you can find a recap of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Finally, some tropical cyclones recordsare given in the last section.

2. Hurricanes that I have lived in Puerto Rico

I have encountered five direct hits and one indirect hit of Guabancex’s anger (hurricanes) while living inthe beautiful archipelago of Puerto Rico. Here is my story of each Juracan.

2.1. Hurricane Hugo. September 18, 1989, Hurricane Hugo hit Puerto Rico as a high-end Category 3hurricane [6]. Sustained winds for this storm were recorded at 127 mph (c-Cat 3.84; see Appendix A). Agust of 170 mph was recorded in the island-municipality of Culebra. The storm made an initial landfall onthe island-municipality of Vieques and a second landfall on northeastern tip of the main island, near thecities of Ceiba and Fajardo. It was estimated that nearly 28,000 people were left homeless. Moreover, twelve(12) people lost their life in Puerto Rico. The storm cost $1.8 billion in 1989 US dollars.

Figure 3. Hugo’s path over Puerto Rico. Picture taken from NOAA.

I was eight (8) years old when Hugo hit Puerto Rico. At the time, I lived in the small town of Yabucoa,on the southeast coast of the main island. Our house was built two (2) months before the storm. It waswooden house, so we found shelter in our grandma’s concrete house. The arrival of Hugo coincided withmy mommy’s birthday. She was praying and asking the sky for a birthday gift: for our house not to bedestroyed.

As just mentioned, I was with my family in a concrete house, so I felt safe. To be frank, I was excited tobe experiencing such force. I remember that once in a while my family opened a window for us to see whatwas going on outside. I was amazed as to how Hugo’s winds were destroying trees. Sometime during thestorm a tremendous sound was heard and the house vibrated. My aunts, grandma and mother screamed.

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We opened another window and found out that a big tree had fallen on my grandma’s house. The housewas ok, but it was at that point that I realized how serious Hugo was.

The next day my mother was happy to find out that our house survived Hugo. In fact, it was intact. Thatwas her birthday’s gift. The same cannot be said about vegetation and other people’s houses. Many treeswere down. Many houses were destroyed or partially destroyed. Some days after the storm, many houseshad FEMA’s blue tarpaulins on their roofs.

It was clear that the eastern part of the island was devastated. The western part, however, was spared ofHugo’s wrath. This part of Puerto Rico became the help center for the rest of the archipelago. People fromall over the eastern part of Puerto Rico drove their cars to that region to find medicine, ice, food, gas, etc.Finding ice after a storm became a sport in Puerto Rico.

A bridge near our house collapsed. Therefore, there was no way to access our house with a car. We stayedat our grandma’s house for months. We were without electrical power for 6 months. I ate a lot of cannedfood. I don’t remember for how long we were without water.

2.2. Hurricane Hortense. September 9, 1996, Hurricane Hortense hit Puerto Rico as a Category 1 hurri-cane [5] (c-Cat 1.27). It was packing sustained winds of 80 mph. Wind damage, however, was not the issuewith this storm, it was rainfall! Some regions experienced heavy rainfall of 23.5 inches in a 24-hour period.

The storm made landfall on the southwestern region of the main island, near the city of Guanica. Itstayed on the island for two days! At some point its speed movement was basically 0 mph! The stormcaused nineteen (19) fatalities in Puerto Rico (most of them related to flash floods) and 11,463 houses wereseverely damaged. The storm cost $153.4 millions in 1996 US dollars.

Figure 4. Hortense’s path over Puerto Rico. Picture taken from NOAA.

At the time of this storm, my father had already built two concrete rooms in order for us to have stormshelter. Still, my mother was scared for our wooden house. This was the first hurricane for which we stayedin our house (in our concrete rooms, of course). We had storm-shutters on our house, so I was not scared. Mytown took the northeastern quadrant of the storm, which some experts say it is the strong part of Atlantichurricanes. I remember that it was very windy and some trees fell victims of the storm. However, what Iremember the most is that it rained a lot.

Our wooden house survived the storm, but the bridge near our home collapsed again. However, this timewe left a car on the other side of the bridge and so we were not incommunicated. After two days or so, it wascommon to see some houses with FEMA’s blue tarpaulins on their roofs. The storm left 1.3 million peoplewithout power and 1.1 million people without water. We were among them. I don’t remember for how longwe were without power and water, however I know it was not as bad as with Hugo.

2.3. Hurricane Georges. September 21, 1998, Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico as a Category 3 hurricane[3]. Sustained winds for this Juracan were recorded at 115 mph (c-Cat 3.21). However, wind gusts as highas 175 mph were likely at higher terrain [4]. This hurricane was a bad storm for Puerto Rico. It was a majorhurricane (Cat 3), it was packing heavy rainfall (even more than Hortense) and it crossed the entire islandfrom east to west. 30.51 inches of rain were recorded in Jayuya. Also, three (3) tornadoes were recorded:one in Vieques, one in Orocovis and Barranquitas area, and a third one in Jayuya.

The storm made landfall in Yabucoa, my hometown, which is on the east and left the island throughCabo Rojo/ Mayaguez on the west. No direct fatalities were recorded, but 7 people lost their life indirectly.


28,005 houses were completely destroyed and 72,000 were partially destroyed. The storm cost $3.6 billion in1996 US dollars.

Figure 5. Georges’ path over Puerto Rico. Picture taken from NOAA.

This was my third experience of Guabancex’s anger and the second hurricane for which we stayed in ourhouse (Hortense was the first). It was also my second experience with a major hurricane (Hugo was the firstone). Once again, my mother was scared for our wooden house. I remember that we were in our balconyobserving the storm. At the time, we thought that the hurricane winds were a little farther away. In a briefmoment, we observed how the wind pulled the roof of our neighbor’s house and was bringing it straightto us. The roof hit an orange tree near the front of our house. We immediately found shelter inside ourconcrete rooms. My mother was now really scared for the wooden house. The nightmare had just begun.

For the first time in a storm, I was scared. I remember the whistle the winds made. I heard treescollapsing. Debris were hitting the storm shutters very hard. Water was entering our concrete rooms fromthe joint between them and the wooden house. A very strong bang was heard. It was the porch of ourwooden house, it was gone. Another bang was heard, a room of our wooden house was also gone. The windswere coming into the wooden house from the space that used to be the door of that room. I rememberclearly how the ceiling of our wooden house was shaking. At that point the winds started to get strongerand stronger and, all of the sudden, the eye of the storm crossed us and we felt calm. My father, brother andI quickly ran outside trying to find zinc plates out of the debris. Our idea was to collect and nail them intothe door space of the collapsed room in order to protect the rest of the house. We were able to find and nailthe zinc plates just in time. The other part of the eye’s wall started to hit us. This part felt even strongerthan before. We were scared. We opened a door of the concrete rooms and use brooms to take water out ofthem. We didn’t sleep that night.

The next day, we went out to see the aftermath. I still remember that scene. We were hit by a majorhurricane (Cat 3) and it was horrible. Trees had no leaves, many of them had broken branches and otherswere uprooted. Our wooden house lost the porch and one room, but the rest of the house was intact. Itlooked like nailing zinc plates to that door space had worked.

As expected by now, the bridge near our home collapsed again. Once again we left cars on the other sideof the bridge. However, this time the damage to the bridge was severe. The bridge was completely gone! Ittook several months for it to be repaired.

I remember that some days after the storm, my father tried to go downtown. He wanted to find food andother things. However, he found out that the main road to our “barrio” succumbed to a landslide. We wereincommunicated. He described us what he saw. We needed to imagine all he said because we had no way ofseeing what he described, we were trapped in our own neighborhood.

It took my father several weeks to find an available route to go downtown. I remember that he broughtus food from McDonald’s that day. After eating canned food for a month or so, that McDonald’s food waslike having a fillet mignon dinner! We were so happy! We asked him what was picture outside. Once again,he told us that many houses had FEMA’s blue tarpaulins on their roofs.

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I was in my last year of high-school. I remember that school started two (2) months or so after the storm.We needed to take a bath with rain water we collected, put our clothes and shoes, walk from my home tothe river stream, take out our shoes, cross the stream (remember, no bridge!), clean our feet and put theshoes again, walk to the car, and then our mother drive us to school. That routine lasted a month or so.

It was estimated that 96% of the electrical system was lost for about 1.3 million people. We were amongthem. We got power back 4 or 5 months after the storm.

2.4. Hurricane Irene. August 21, 2011, Hurricane Irene hit Puerto Rico as a marginal Category 1 hurricane[7]. Sustained winds for this storm were recorded at 75 mph (c-Cat 1.045), barely a hurricane. One millionresidences were without power and about 121,000 were without potable water. One fatality in Puerto Ricowas associated to this storm. Irene was the 10th wettest tropical cyclone to ever hit the island. It wasestimated that this storm cost $500 million in 2011 US dollars in Puerto Rico.

Figure 6. Irene’s path over Puerto Rico. Picture taken from NOAA.

This hurricane made landfall nearby Humacao and Naguabo and left the island through the Dorado region.Initially, Irene was categorized as strong tropical storm with 70 mph winds at landfall. However, it was laterreclassified as a hurricane with 75 mph when it was over Puerto Rico [8]. In fact, over higher elevations inthe interior mountainous regions of Puerto Rico, the FAA Doppler Weather Radar indicated winds to nearmajor hurricane strength (111 mph) [9].

I was already an adult for this hurricane. Moreover, I was married and lived in San Juan at the time. Iwas not scared. In fact, I never felt more secured for a storm. My wife and I slept through the night, eventhough the hurricane was hammering PR at that time. I did not lose electricity nor water.

The story for my brother was vastly different. He was a security guard at the time of the storm andneeded to work that day. He found shelter for the hurricane inside his car. He left work at 6 am and it tookhim 6 hours to get home because all the debris he encountered along the way. My brother, sister-in-law,and my father, who all live in the same house I lived when I was a kid, lost power for about two weeks. Thegreat news was that wooden house was still standing after yet another storm! Another good news was thatthe bridge near the house was still there. In other words, they were not incommunicated.

2.5. Hurricane Irma (indirect hit). September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma passed 55 miles north of SanJuan, PR as a strong Category 5 [10]. It was carrying winds of 185 mph, making it the strongest hurricanein the history of the Atlantic basin. Its barometric pressure was 914 mbar [hPa], making it the second mostintense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017, behind only Hurricane Marıa [10, 11]. Sustained winds of 88 mph(c-Cat 1.64) and a gust of 111 mph (c-Cat 3) were recorded in the island-municipality of Culebra. Threeindirect deaths were recorded in Puerto Rico. One million people were left without power. The cost of thestorm in Puerto Rico was estimated at $1 billion in 2017 US dollars.

My wife, daughter and I were at our apartment in San Juan when this storm brushed Puerto Rico. Wehave a concrete property with storm-shutters, plus the storm was projected to pass north of San Juan, thusI was confident that we were secured. Hurricane Irma was a very compact storm when it passed nearbyPuerto Rico. In fact, its hurricane winds expanded 50 miles or so from the center. This means that, at SanJuan, we barely got sustained winds equivalent to a weak Category 1 hurricane. These sustained winds were


Figure 7. Satellite image of Irma nearby Puerto Rico.

felt when the storm was east to San Juan. However, Irma’s gust winds were way stronger than Irene’s. Irmawas a quick event on the big island. The monster was moving very fast with a speed movement of 16 mph.We did not lose electrical power or water. During the event, my wife decided to work on the preparation ofher classes. I decided to play with my daughter. This helped us relax when the winds were pounding ourapartment.

Once again my brother needed to work the same day of a hurricane. And again, the car was his shelter.I was so scared for him. If Irma decided to move a little bit south, my brother would be doomed. Luckilyfor us, the storm followed the projected path and my brother was spared. In fact, in Humacao, were heworks, the sustained winds were equivalent to a Tropical Storm. My brother told me that at no point hewas scared. My father, brother and sister-in-law were without electricity for 11 days. And of course, sinceYabucoa is on the southeast, the wooden house was spared once again!

2.6. Hurricane Marıa. September 20, 2017, Hurricane Marıa hit Puerto Rico as Category 4/5 hurricane[11]. Marıa was packing winds of 155 mph (c-Cat 4.93) at the time of landfall, down from 175 mph justhours before. This hurricane has the record for the fastest storm intensification jumping from Category1 to Category 5 in 15 hours. Marıa is the strongest hurricane (in terms of winds) to hit the island since

Figure 8. Satellite image of Marıa hours before landfall in Puerto Rico.

Hurricane San Felipe II (aka as Okeechobee) did that with sustained winds of 160 mph on September 13,1928. The minimum lowest pressure for Marıa was recorded at 908 mbar [hPa]. This made Marıa the tenthmost intense Atlantic hurricane on record and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017. Marıahad a barometric pressure of 917 mbar at the time of landfall in Puerto Rico [1, 12], which is an intensityof Category 5. In fact, Hurricane Marıa is the most intense cyclone to hit Puerto Rico in its recordedhistory (in comparison, San Felipe II had a barometric pressure of 929 mbar [hPa], putting San Felipe II

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as a Category 4 hurricane in terms of intensity, see [16]) and the eighth most intense Atlantic hurricane atlandfall (anywehre; in recorded history). Marıa is also the most intense hurricane to make landfall anywherein the United States (including states and territories) since Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the strongestsince Hurricane Andrew’s annihilation of South Florida (1992). Hurricane Marıa also has the title of thewettest named storm in Puerto Rico’s history. It left 37.90 inches of rain in Caguas, PR. Three tornadoeswere recorded, all of them in Yabucoa.

The official death toll in Puerto Rico stood at sixty four (64) for a long time, but every resident of PuertoRico knew that the real number lied in the hundreds if not in the thousands. In fact, after multiple studiessupported the claim that the dead toll was significantly higher than 64, the local government commissioneda George Washington University study on the dead toll. The study revealed that 2,975 people lost their lifein the event. The official dead toll now stands at 2,975. Only the great San Ciriaco hurricane of 1899 has abigger dead toll in Puert Rico than Marıa.

An estimation of the cost in Puerto Rico goes from as low as $90 billion to as high as $139 billion (latestestimate from the governor’s office) in 2017 US dollars. Initially, the governor’s office estimated the cost at$94.4 billion in 2017 US dollars [2].

Figure 9. Marıa’s landfall over Yabucoa, Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Marıa made landfall in the town of Yabucoa, my hometown and where my father, brother andsister-in-law currently live. Yabucoa is a valley surrounded by mountains. Sustained winds are measured at33 ft (10.1 m) height [19]. Since my family lives in the mountain region of Yabucoa, then we must add at least10 mph to Marıa’s sustained winds speed at that height. This means that my family experienced sustainedwinds of at least 165 mph, which are wind forces of Category 5 (a conservative estimated considering theinformation available from Georges and Irene). A gust of 210 mph was registered in Yabucoa (unverified;perhaps related to tornadoes). Marıa left the island near Camuy. You can find Marıa’s path over PuertoRico in Figure 10.

Figure 10. Marıa’s path Puerto Rico. Taken from NYT.


Hurricane Marıa was the sixth time I experienced the temperament of Guabancex. It is also my thirdexperience with a major hurricane, but my first “Grande”. Once again, my wife, daughter and I were atour apartment in San Juan when this beast obliterated Puerto Rico. We stayed in our daughter’s bedroom.Its location is ideal for storm shelter. It is protected by the wall of the stair case of the complex buildingand it has only one window. We were sleeping during the night. I woke up at 6:00 am (or so). It was cleara hurricane was hitting us because I recognized the sound they make. For a moment, I thought it was wayweaker than expected because the storm-shutter in our daughter’s room was not even moving. I was wrong,my daughter’s room fooled me. Once I moved to the living room, the sound was more intense and ALLstorm-shutters where shaking hard. I ran to my daughter’s room, grabbed the radio and told my wife tostay there (I know she is afraid of hurricanes), that the winds were very strong and intense. I moved to theliving room once again, turned the radio on, and started listening to the news. I wanted to know where thestorm was. Minutes later they said that the storm was making landfall somewhere in the southeastern partof Puerto Rico.

The winds were already very strong in San Juan, but I was not scared. However, I was so scared formy father, brother and sister-in-law. In San Juan, the winds were at their peak at around 8:00 am. Thepounding in the storm-shutters were very similar to the ones I experienced for Georges in Yabucoa, so myguess at the time was that we were experiencing Category 3 winds in San Juan. I didn’t have a way to knowhow strong they were in San Juan because all Doppler radars in Puerto Rico went down during the storm,however, they turned out to be Cat 4 sustained winds. At 2 pm or so, I opened one of the windows and Isaw the devastation of trees behind our apartment. I called my wife and told her: “Look at that, I don’twant to know how bad it is in Yabucoa”.

I tried to call my family in Yabucoa, but as expected, communications were down. I did not have anyservice. The reality was that no one in Puerto Rico had cell-phone communication. The power was down,Internet was down and most line-phones were down. All radio stations, except for one AM station, weredown. There was no form of communication.

The day after the storm, my daughter, my wife and I went for a walk to see the damage inflicted to ourneighborhood. It was an horrible scene in Hato Rey (our neighborhood in San Juan). Trees were withoutleaves. Most of them had broken branches and plenty of them were uprooted. Many electricity poles weredown. Moreover, some of the concrete poles were broken into pieces. Many buildings had broken windows.Other buildings lost part of their plastering. All this devastation in San Juan, a city that was outside thepath of Marıa’s eye, convinced me that Yabucoa, the town were the storm made landfall, was devastated. Ihad no doubt about it.

On our way back to our apartment we saw some neighbors moving some trees and debris out of the road.I helped them. Once we arrived at our apartment, my wife and I started to help with the removal of debrisin our complex. Every adult person in Puerto Rico was doing that on their neighborhoods. Puerto Ricansdo not wait for the government to do that. Later during the night we learned the horrible news of Toa Baja.Water was at roof level there and many people were on roofs waiting to be rescued. Some people died inthat tragedy.

Figure 11. The green was gone! Mountain region where my family live (Calabazas Arriba, Yabucoa)

The storm hit on a Wednesday and by Sunday I knew that roads to Yabucoa must be open. I knowPuerto Rico and I was sure that Boricuas went out with machetes, axes and chainsaws to clean all the debris

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on the available roads in order to make them accessible. I was not wrong. My wife, my daughter and I wereable to go to Yabucoa. As expected, the scene there was horrible. It looked like a bomb went off there. Mostwooden houses were either destroyed or without roof. However, something was strange: it had been 5 daysafter the storm and I did not see any FEMA’s blue tarpaulins. That was strange. It never took FEMA thatlong.2

The road to my brother’s house was very dangerous. For example, we needed to cross under concretepoles that were hanging up because their cables got stuck on some tree branches. In some cases the spacebetween the top of the car and the poles could be measured in inches. When we were approaching mybrother’s house, I was convinced that the bridge was gone and that we would not be able to cross to hishouse. To my surprise, the bridge was there and we were able to get into my brother and father’s house. Iheard from them and saw them for the first time since the storm hit. I was glad to see them!

Figure 12. The wooden house (before Marıa).

The beloved wooden house that my mother loved with passion when she was alive felt the furry of Marıa.The house lost its roof and porch. Water got in and the smell was horrible. My family lost everything thatwas inside that house. Not only that, it was clear that the house was not in living conditions and could notbe recovered. It was lost. Guabancex won this time.

Figure 13. The roof of the wooden house (after Marıa).

Hurricane Marıa devastated the whole archipelago of Puerto Rico. No town or city was spared. It isestimated that over 472,000 houses were completely or partially destroyed. Also, 92.7% of telecommunicationtowers were dismantled. The whole archipelago lost power during the event and 95% of the electrical gridwas destroyed. Given the degree of devastation and Puerto Rico’s topography and location, I estimated atthe time that it would take up to 8 months for the whole island to recover power. I was wrong. It took morethan 10 months. My family got power back on April 21, 2018; 7 months and one day after the storm. At the

2Five (5) months after landfall, blue tarpaulins became common. Not sure if the majority were given by FEMA.


time I wrote the first version of this manuscript (12 days after the storm), about 50% of all Puerto Ricanshad access to running water. Up from almost 0%. However, only 6% had power at the time (I was in thatlucky 6%).3 And that was an issue, especially for hospitals and care centers. People died in those placesbecause no power meant no dialysis, no oxygen, and worse. Some hospitals and care centers had powergenerators, but they needed diesel and diesel became a commodity hard to find after the storm. About 35%of digital communications had been recovered when I first wrote this (again, I was in that lucky percentage).

People in Puerto Rico were suffering. The lucky ones had to stand in lines of 200 cars in order to fill theirtank, which took up to 6 hrs in some cases. They lucky ones also had to stand in lines to get cash and tobuy groceries at high prices. However, others, who were very unfortunate, had to cross rivers and walkedfor hours under the burning tropical Sun in order to get water and food. Many roads were dismantled byMarıa and so many people were incommunicated because of that. Others were in refuges because they losttheir houses. Others were dying in hospitals because of the lack of oxygen, dialysis treatments, etc. Manypeople outside San Juan were hungry. Help took too long. That is unacceptable.

Marıa was the most intense hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in its recorded history and I was not scaredfor the safety and wellbeing of my daughter, my wife or of my own. My experience for Georges was worse.That is evidence that the place were you live together with your living conditions and social status havegreat influence on how you perceive a storm and what would be your experience during the event. I wasnot scared, yet my brother, father, sister-in-law, and others experienced a traumatic event. Not only that,a friend of us was within minutes of being pulled by the river from the house she found shelter in Toa Baja.She was 3 days on the top of a roof, with no food, waiting to be rescued. Others were so unfortunate to losetheir life.

Hurricane Marıa now joins the list of “Los Grandes”, i.e. the great big hurricanes on Puerto Rico’srecorded history. The list is now:

Name hurr. Date of landfall Wind speed (at landfall) Cat c-Cat FatalitiesSanta Ana II July 26, 1825 N/A 5 (prob.) 5+ (prob.) 374San Ciriaco Aug. 8, 1899 140 mph 4 4.37 3,369San Felipe II Sept. 13, 1928 160 mph 5 5+ 312San Ciprian Sept. 26, 1932 145 mph 4 4.56 257Marıa Sept. 20, 2017 155 mph 4/5 4.93 2,975

Puerto Rico is going to get up and rebuild after Hurricane Marıa. It will do so with or without help.Puerto Rico got up and rebuilt after the great big hurricanes of Santa Ana II, San Ciriaco, San Felipe IIand San Ciprian. I know this because I, along with 3.4 million people living on the island, are living proofof that. We are all the descendants of those generations. We live here.

Peaks for the “Juracanes” I experienced in Puerto Rico

The following table represents the peaks of the hurricanes I have experienced in Puerto Rico. These peaksdid not occur at the time of landfall in Puerto Rico.

Name hurr. Peak Date Wind speed Low pressure Cat c-CatHugo Sept. 15, 1989 160 mph 918 mbar 5 5+

Hortense Sept. 13, 1996 140 mph 935 mbar 4 4.37Georges Sept. 19, 1998 155 mph 937 mbar 4/5 4.93

Irene Aug. 23, 2011 120 mph 942 mbar 3 3.47Irma Sept. 6, 2017 185 mph 914 mbar 5 5+Marıa Sept. 20, 2017 175 mph 908 mbar 5 5+

Officially, these storms killed 3,955 people worldwide. Of those deaths, 3,017 (or 76.28%) were in PuertoRico. The biggest killer storm (worldwide) from this list was Marıa. The second one was Georges, as itaccounted for 604 of the total deaths.

3We lost power shortly after writing this, but recovered it on October 29, 2017. Another outage took place on November 9,

2017, but we recovered power on Nov. 11. In total, we did not have power for 31 days.

12 LUIS A. MEDINA

The fact that all these hurricanes were, at some point, major hurricanes is not surprising given that allof them were Cape Verde hurricanes (the only type of hurricane that affects Puerto Rico). The averageAtlantic hurricane season has about 2 Cape Verde hurricanes. They are often the largest and most intensestorms of the season. The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was above average and saw five (5) Cape Verdehurricanes:

• Harvey (Cat 4)• Irma (Cat 5)• Jose (Cat 4)• Lee (Cat 3)• Marıa (Cat 5).

All of them were major hurricanes.

3. Other “Juracanes” that affected Puerto Rico, but did not affect me directly

3.1. Hurricane Marilyn. September 15, 1995, Hurricane Marilyn passed close by the island-municipalitiesof Culebra and Vieques as a strong Category 2 hurricane. Gusts of 125 mph were reported in Culebra. Oneperson was killed in Culebra. One hundred (100) homes on Culebra were destroyed by Marilyn.

I was 14 years old at the time of Hurricane Marilyn. We did not have our concrete rooms yet, so onceagain we found shelter in our grandma’s house. Marilyn was on track to hit the big island of Puerto Rico,but it made an unexpected northern shift when it was getting closer to it. The big island of Puerto Ricowas spared. I remember that in Yabucoa we observed sustained winds equivalent to a weak Tropial Storm,but nothing serious. The story in Culebra and Vieques and in the US Virgin Islands was different. Theywere hit by hurricane force winds.

3.2. Tropical Storm Jeanne. September 15, 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Puerto Rico as a strongtropical storm. It was carrying sustained winds of 70 mph. Eight fatalities were recorded in Puerto Rico.The cost of this storm was estimated in $169.5 million in 2004 US dollars. Jeanne made landfall nearMaunabo and Patillas and left the big island through Isabela. I was not in Puerto Rico for Jeanne. I wasliving in New Orleans at the time (New Orleans fell victim of Hurricane Katrina the next year [2005]). Youcan see Jeanne’s path over Puerto Rico in Figure 15.

After hitting Puerto Rico, Jeanne went on to become a Category 3 hurricane. Hurricane Jeanne was thedeadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season with more than 3,035 fatalities, including eight (8)in Puerto Rico.

Figure 14. Marilyn’s path over PR Figure 15. Jeanne’s path over PR

4. Some historical “Juracanes” since the USA took over Puerto Rico

4.1. Hurricane San Ciriaco. August 8, 1899, Hurricane San Ciriaco hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4hurricane [15, 17]. Sustained winds for this storm were recorded at 140 mph. The storm made landfallin Guayama (south-southeast) and left the island through Aguadilla. The official fatality count was 3,369in Puerto Rico. The storm cost $20 million in 1899 US dollars. Hurricane San Ciriaco has the record ofthe longest-lived Atlantic hurricane. It was formed on August 3, 1899 and became an extratropical cyclone


on September 4, 1899. Moreover, it dissipated on September 12, 1899. Thus, as a cyclone (tropical andextratropical) it lived for a total of 40 days. It is also the deadliest hurricane in Puerto Rico’s history.

4.2. Hurricane San Hipolito. August 21, 1916, Hurricane San Hipolitco hit Puerto Rico as a Category 2hurricane [17]. Sustained winds for this storm were recorded at 110 mph. The storm crossed Puerto Ricofrom Naguabo to Aguada. One person died in Puerto Rico. The cost of the storm was $1 million in 1916US dollars.

4.3. Hurricane San Felipe II. September 13, 1928, Hurricane San Felipe II hit Puerto Rico as a Category5 hurricane [16, 17]. Sustained winds for this storm were recorded at 160 mph. San Felipe II has the titleof the only recorded Category 5 storm (in terms of winds) to hit the island (Marıa was a Cat 4/5). Thestorm made landfall in Guayama and left the island through Aguadilla/Isabela. Three hundred twelve (312)people died in Puerto Rico. The cost of the storm was $50 million in 1928 US dollars.

Remark. Hurricane Santa Ana II, who hit Puerto Rico on July 26, 1825, is suspected to be Category 5 [17].The barometric pressure was not recorded in Puerto Rico, but it was recorded in the island of Guadeloupe.The hurricane registered a low pressure of 918 mbar there, making it a Category 5 storm. Santa Ana is oneof the great hurricanes in the history of Puerto Rico. It killed 374 people.

4.4. Hurricane San Nicolas. September 10, 1931, Hurricane San Nicolas hit Puerto Rico as a Category1 hurricane [17]. The storm made landfall in Fajardo and left the island through Aguadilla. Two (2) peopledied in Puerto Rico. The cost of the storm was $200,000 in 1931 US dollars.

4.5. Hurricane San Ciprian. September 26, 1932, Hurricane San Ciprian hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4hurricane [17]. Sustained winds for this storm were recorded at 145 mph. The storm made landfall in Ceibaand left the island through Aguadilla. Two hundred fifty seven (257) people died in Puerto Rico. The costof the storm was $30 million in 1932 US dollars.

4.6. Hurricane Santa Clara (Betsy). August 12, 1956, Hurricane Santa Clara (Betsy) hit Puerto Ricoas a Category 2 hurricane [17]. The storm made landfall in Maunabo and left the island through Camuy.Fifteen (15) death were reported in Puerto Rico. The cost of the storm was $40 million in 1956 US dollars.

4.7. Hurricane David. August 30, 1979, Hurricane David passed 90 miles south of Ponce and 75 milessouth of Cabo Rojo [17]. Hurricane David was a Category 5 hurricane packing 175 mph winds. Portions ofsouthwestern Puerto Rico experienced sustained winds of up to 85 mph, while the rest of the island receivedtropical storm-force winds. Some parts of Puerto Rico received up to 20 inches of rain in a 24 hrs period.

4.8. Tropical Storm Frederic. September 4, 1979, Torpical Storm Frederic hit Puerto Rico [17]. Frederichad hurricane status prior hitting the island, but it lost that status before landfall. The storm made landfallin Yabucoa and left the island through Cabo Rojo. The cost of the storm was $5 million in 1979 US dollars.Later after hitting Puerto Rico, Federic became a Category 4 hurricane.

5. Number of recorded tropical cyclones that affected Puerto Rico since 1508 (by monthand day)

The following data represents the number of recorded tropical cyclones that affected Puerto Rico from1508 to 2017. Not all “Juracanes” mentioned on this list directly hit Puerto Rico, but their effects on thearchipelago were enough for the local people to name these storms and to record them.

The distribution is given by day. The information is taken from [18] and it has been properly updated.

June

• June 13, 1780: San Antonio

July

• July 4, 1515: San Laureano• July 7, 1901: San Cirilo• July 11, 1537: San Pıo• July 16, 1772, 1893: Nuestra Senora del Carmen I, II• July 23, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1926: San Liborio I, II, III, IV• July 26, 1530, 1825, 1933: Santa Ana I, II, III

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August

• August 1, 1775: San Pedro• August 2, 1837: Nuestra Senora de los Angeles• August 3, 1740: San Esteban• August 7, 1767: San Cayetano• August 8, 1899: San Ciriaco• August 9, 1537: San Roman• August 11, 1915: San Tiburcio• August 12, 1956: Santa Clara (Betsy)• August 13, 1835: San Hipolito• August 16, 1508, 1788, 1893: San Roque I, II, III• August 17, 1807, 1827: San Jacinto I, II• August 18, 1751, 1851: San Agapito I, II• August 19, 1891: San Magın• August 21, 1812, 1813, 1971, 2011: Santa Juana I, II, III, Irene• August 22, 1530, 1916: San Hipolito I, II• August 24, 1568: San Bartolome• August 26, 1722: San Ceferino• August 28, 1772: San Agustın• August 30, 1730, 1738, 1979: Santa Rosa I, II, David• August 31, 1530, 1772, 1896: San Ramon Nonato I, II, III• Two “Juracanes”, one in 1573 and another in 1657, were recorded in August, but no days were

provided.

September

• September 1, 1888: San Gil• September 2, 1809: San Esteban• September 3, 1889: San Martın• September 4, 1804, 1979: Santa Rosalıa, Frederic• September 5, 1852: San Lorenzo Justiniano• September 6, 1713, 1910, 2017: San Zacarıas I, II, Irma• September 7, 1718, 1776: Santa Regina I, II• September 9, 1824, 1921, 1996: San Pedro Claver I, II, Hortense• September 10, 1931: San Nicolas• September 11, 1740, 1805, 1806, 1901: San Vicente I, II, III, IV• September 12, 1535, 1615, 1738, 1846: San Leoncio I, II, III, IV• September 13, 1876, 1928: San Felipe I, II• September 15, 1626, 1926, 1995, 2004: San Nicomedes I, II, Marilyn, Jeanne• September 16, 1840: San Cornelio• September 18, 1816, 1989: San Jose de Cupertino, Hugo• September 19, 1766: San Jenaro• September 20, 2017: Marıa• September 21, 1575, 1804, 1819, 1949, 1998: San Mateo I, II, III, IV, Georges• September 22, 1818: San Mauricio• September 25, 1785: San Lupo• September 26, 1852, 1932: San Ciprian I, II• One “Juracan” affected Puerto Rico in September 1642, but the day was not recorded.

October

• October 3, 1713: San Candido• October 4, 1526, 1527: San Francisco I, II• October 7, 1766: San Marcos• October 14, 1780, 1943: San Calixto I, II• October 28, 1742: San Judas Tadeo• October 29, 1867: San Narciso


November

• November 7, 1984: Klaus• November 28, 1878: San Rufo

The following table represents the number of “Juracanes” that had affected Puerto Rico in serious ways.Some “Juracanes” mentioned above are not included in this count. The count is provided by month. Theinformation is taken from [17] and has been properly updated.

Month QuantityJune 1July 9August 33September 42October 8November 2Total 96Average (as of 2017) One every 5.3 years

Remark. An average of one cyclone every 5.3 years is very significant considering that Puerto Rico is just aspeck in the vast Atlantic Ocean.

As mentioned in [17], most of the “Juracanes” that had affected Puerto Rico has happened in the monthsof August and September (78.13% of them). September is the one with the most “Juracanes” (43.75% ofthem). A plurality of the August’s “Juracanes” had occurred during the last 10 days of that month.

6. A recap of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Marıa, the last “Grande” to hit the Puerto Rico, was part of the 2017 hyperactive Atlantichurricane season. Here is a summary of that season.

(1) The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season had a total of 18 tropical depressions. Of those, 17 achievedtropical storm status, 10 hurricane status, and 6 were major hurricanes (Cat 3+). The majorhurricanes were:

• Harvey• Irma• Jose• Lee• Marıa• Ophelia

(2) The first system formed in the month of April (T.S. Arlene).(3) Four (4) hurricanes achieved catastrophic status, i.e. Cat 4+:

• Harvey• Irma• Jose• Marıa

(4) Two (2) of these catastrophic storm achieved Cat 5:• Irma; max. sust. winds 185 mph; lowest pressure 914 mbar.• Marıa; max. sust. winds 175 mph; lowest pressure 908 mbar.

Moreover, both made landfall somewhere as Cat 5. This is the second time it happened in recordedhistory. The first time was during the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season with Dean and Felix.

Out of the four (4) catastrophic storms, only three (3) will be remembered: Harvey, Irma and Marıa. Hereis a summary of them:

HARVEY:

• Highest winds: 130 mph (Cat 4/3 in terms winds)• Lowest pressure: 938 mbar (Cat 4 in terms of intensity)

16 LUIS A. MEDINA

• Formed: August 17, 2017.• Dissipated: September 3, 2017.

Harvey made landfall in Rockport, Texas as a Cat 4/3 hurricane (at peak intensity). Flooding in theHouston metropolitan area was catastrophic with a maximum of 60.58 inches of rain. Ninety-one (91) peoplelost their lives. The estimated cost of damage is $198.63 billion in 2017 US dollars. This is the costliestcyclone on record.

IRMA:

• Highest winds: 185 mph (Cat 5 in terms of winds)• Lowest pressure: 914 mbar (Cat 5 in terms of intensity)• Formed: August 30, 2017.• Dissipated: September 16, 2017.

Irma’s 185 mph winds made her the strongest hurricane (in terms of winds) in the Atlantic basin outsidethe Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, its barometric pressure of 914 mbar made her the secondmost intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017, behind Marıa.

This storm caused catastrophic damage in Barbuda, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla, and theVirgin Islands as a Category 5 hurricane. In fact, on September 5, the eye of the storm made landfallin Barbuda at peak intensity with sustained winds of 185 mph and a barometric pressure of 914 mbar.On September 6, the storm passed 55 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico as a strong Category 5. OnSeptember 8, Irma made landfall in Cuba as a Cat 5 and on September 10, made landfall in Florida withwinds of 130 mph (Cat 4/3). One hundred thirty four (134) people lost their lives. The storm cost $66.77billion in 2017 US dollars.

Figure 16. Hurricanes strengths at U.S. landfall since 1852. From The Washington Post.


MARIA:

• Highest winds: 175 mph (Cat 5 in terms of winds)• Lowest pressure: 908 mbar (Cat 5 in terms of intensity)• Formed: September 16, 2017.• Dissipated: October 3, 2017.

Hurricane Marıa lowest pressure of 908 mbar made her tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record(as of 2017) and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017. This, when combined with her 175mph winds, makes her the most powerful hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.

On September 19, Marıa made landfall in Dominica with winds of 160 mph (Cat 5 in terms of winds)and a low pressure of 924 mbar (Cat 4 in terms of intensity), becoming the first Cat 5 storm in Dominica’shistory. Damage to the island was catastrophic. On September 20, Marıa, made landfall in Yabucoa, PuertoRico with winds of 155 mph (Cat 4/5 in terms of winds) and a low pressure of 917 mbar (Cat 5 in termsof intensity). Damage to Puerto Rico was catastrophic. The electrical grid was dismantled and 100% ofPuerto Rico lost power during the event. Marıa’s low pressure of 917 mbar at landfall in PR is the mostintense landfall anywhere in the USA since Hurricane Camille in 1969 and its 155 mph winds at landfall isthe strongest landfall (in terms of winds) anywhere in the USA since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Officially, 3,057 people died because of the storm (2975 in PR), making Marıa the deadliest hurricane ofthe 2017 season. The storm cost more than $103.45 billion in 2017 US dollars ($90+ in PR alone).

In Figure 6 you can see a plot of all different hurricane’s landfalls in the USA and its territories since1852. The more to the southeast a dot is, the more powerful the landfall was. Harvey, Irma and Marıa (aswell as few others) are singled out so that you can appreciate where they are in history.

7. Some records

We all know tropical cyclones are powerful events that affect the life of people living in the tropics.Because of this, humans have been keeping track for them as reliable as they could. Today, we live in thesatellite era and keeping records of them is easier. In this last section, we share some interesting records fortropical cyclones.

(1) Highest wind gusts. Cyclone Olivia (1996); 253 mph.(2) Most powerful by 1-min sustained winds. Hurricane Patricia (2015); 215 mph.(3) Most powerful by 10-min sustained winds. Cyclone Winston (2016); 175 mph.(4) Most powerful landfall (1-min sust. winds). Typhoon Haiyan ( 2013); 196 mph.(5) Most powerful landfall (10-min sust. winds). Cyclone Winston (2016); 175 mph.(6) Most intense. Typhoon Tip (1960); 870 mbar.(7) Most intense landfall. Cyclone Winston (2016); 884 mbar.(8) Longest lasting. Hurricane/Typhoon John (August 11-September 10, 1994); 31 days.(9) Longest distance traveled. Hurricane/Typhoon John; 7,165 miles.

(10) Largest (radius of winds from the center). Typhoon Tip (1979); 675 miles.(11) Smallest (radius of winds from the center). Tropical Storm Marco (2008); 11.5 miles.(12) Largest eye. Typhoon Carmen (1960); 230 miles.(13) Smallest eye. Hurricane Wilma (2005); 2.3 miles.(14) Fasted intens. (1-min sust. winds). Hurricane Marıa (2017); Cat 1 to Cat 5 in 15 hrs.(15) Highest overall rainfall. Cyclone Hyacinthe (1980); 239.5 inches.(16) Highest storm surge. Cyclone Mahina (1899); 48 ft.(17) Highest confirmed wave. Hurricane Luis (1995); 98 ft.(18) Deadliest. Bhola cyclone (1970); 500,000+ fatalities.(19) Most tornadoes spawned. Hurricane Ivan (2004); 120 tornadoes.

References

[1] Arce, Marıa. Maria hit Puerto Rico harder than Katrina. El Nuevo Dıa,

https://www.elnuevodia.com/english/english/nota/mariahitpuertoricoharderthankatrina-2362537/

[2] Bases, Daniel. Puerto Rico requests $94.4 billion from U.S. Congress for rebuilding. Reuters,

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico-assistance/puerto-rico-requests-94-4-billion-

from-u-s-congress-for-rebuilding-idUSKBN1DD2G8.[3] Hurricane Georges. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane Georges.

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[4] Hurricane Georges. NOAA Archive. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/1998/archive/pub/PAAL0798.026[5] Hurricane Hortense Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane Hortense.

[6] Hurricane Hugo. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane Hugo.

[7] Hurricane Irene. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane Irene.[8] Hurricane Irene. NOAA Archive. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2011/al09/al092011.public.007.shtml?

[9] Hurricane Irene. NOAA Archive. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2011/al09/al092011.update.08220958.shtml?

[10] Hurricane Irma. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane Irma.

[11] Hurricane Maria. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane Maria.

[12] Hurricane Maria. NOOA Archive. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2017/al15/al152017.update.09201034.shtml?[13] NOAA/AOML Hurricane Research Division. How much energy does a hurricane release?

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D7.html

[14] NOAA/AOML Physical Oceanography Division. Seven Basins. http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/cyclone/data/seven.html[15] Hurricane San Ciriaco. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899 San Ciriaco hurricane

[16] Hurricane San Felipe II (Okeechobee). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928 Okeechobee hurricane

[17] Mujica-Baker, Frank. Huracanes y Tormentas Tropicales que han afectado a Puerto Rico. Estado Libre Asociado de PuertoRico, Agencia Estatal para el Manejo de Emergencias y Administracion de Desastres.

[18] Salivia, Luis A. Historia de los temporales de Puerto Rico. Editorial Edil, San Juan, PR, 1972.

[19] The Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffir%E2%80%93Simpson scale.

Appendix A. A continuous Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

Next is a continuous (and more honest) Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale for hurricanes. For this manuscript,c-Cat represents the category under the continuous Saffir-Simpson scale. For example, a hurricane carrying155 mph is a Cat 4 under the regular scale and a c-Cat 4.93 under the continuous scale.

mph c-Cat mph c-Cat mph c-Cat mph c-Cat mph c-Cat74 1.0000 94 1.90909 114 3.15789 134 4.14815 154 4.8888975 1.04545 95 1.95455 115 3.21053 135 4.18519 155 4.9259376 1.09091 96 2.0000 116 3.26316 136 4.22222 156 4.9629677 1.13636 97 2.06667 117 3.31579 137 4.25926 157 5.000078 1.18182 98 2.13333 118 3.36842 138 4.29630 ≥158 5+79 1.22727 99 2.20000 119 3.42105 139 4.3333380 1.27273 100 2.26667 120 3.47368 140 4.3703781 1.31818 101 2.33333 121 3.52632 141 4.4074182 1.36364 102 2.40000 122 3.57895 142 4.4444483 1.40909 103 2.46667 123 3.63158 143 4.4814884 1.45455 104 2.53333 124 3.68421 144 4.5185285 1.50000 105 2.60000 125 3.73684 145 4.5555686 1.54545 106 2.66667 126 3.78947 146 4.5925987 1.59091 107 2.73333 127 3.84211 147 4.6296388 1.63636 108 2.80000 128 3.89474 148 4.6666789 1.68182 109 2.86667 129 3.94737 149 4.703790 1.72727 110 2.93333 130 4.0000 150 4.7407491 1.77273 111 3.0000 131 4.03704 151 4.7777892 1.81818 112 3.05263 132 4.07407 152 4.8148193 1.86364 113 3.10526 133 4.11111 153 4.85185

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