Environment

Hurricane Beta Sets Record for Most in a Season

posted: 29 October 2005 11:38 am ET

SAN ANDRES ISLAND, Colombia (AP) -- Hurricane Beta battered the mountainous Caribbean island of Providencia on Saturday, ripping roofs off wooden homes and forcing people to seek shelter in brick shelters on high ground.

Beta was the 13th hurricane this year, more than any Atlantic season on record.

This season has also seen 23 named storms, more than at any point since record-keeping began in 1851. The previous record of 21 was set in 1933. Last week Tropical Storm Alpha formed, the first time a letter from the Greek alphabet has been used because the list of storm names was exhausted.

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Heading toward Central America, the storm lashed the Colombian island with heavy winds, torrential rains and high surf, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

"Extensive damage to homes has occurred on the island,'' the center said.

Nicaragua issued a hurricane warning for its Caribbean coast and began evacuating thousands of people as forecasters predicted the Category 1 hurricane would strengthen before hitting Central America.

Just one minor injury had been reported on Providencia, said Juan Guillermo Angel, who was directing Colombia's response to the hurricane from San Andres Island. He said the island's 5,000 residents and a handful of tourists there appeared safe.

Angel said electricity and telephone grids were down and it would likely be midday before a navy frigate could reach Providencia, a former pirate outpost inhabited mostly by descendants of slaves who speak English as their first language.

Just before 1500GMT, the National Hurricane Center said Beta was centered about 115 miles (185 kilometers) east of the Nicaraguan coastal town of Puerto Cabezas moving slowly northwest at nearly 3 mph (5 kph). Its maximum sustained winds were near 85 mph (137 kph).

The center said Providencia would likely be battered into the afternoon as Beta moved toward the Nicaraguan coast 125 miles (200 kilometers) away. The storm surge could run as high as seven feet (2 meters) and up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain could fall on the island, it said.

The hurricane was expected to hit Central America by Sunday as a Category 2 storm.

In Nicaragua, soldiers were helping to evacuate thousands of people. Strong winds and heavy rain on Friday began lashing Puerto Cabezas, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northeast of Managua, where 32,000 residents were preparing to ride out the hurricane.

The hurricane center warned of storm surges of up to 13 feet (4 meters) along the eastern coast of Nicaragua when the slow-moving storm makes landfall.

Some 8,000 people in low-lying Nicaraguan coastal communities, mainly Indians, were evacuated to schools. A hospital evacuated patients, and residents lined up to buy supplies.

"These things are terrifying,'' said shopkeeper Ofelia Rivera, 63. "No hurricane has ever hit here before.''

Classes were canceled, and businesses were warned against price gouging.

"We can't do anything about damage to property,'' said Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos. "The important thing is to save lives.''

In Honduras, where Beta might also hit, officials set up shelters and sent food and other supplies to areas that might be affected by the storm. Honduras issued a hurricane watch on Friday for a 100-mile (160-kilometer) stretch of coast from Punta Patuca eastward to the border with Nicaragua. The hurricane center said 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rainfall could fall across northeastern Honduras.

Forecasters in Jamaica issued flash flood warnings Friday amid projections that rain from Beta would cause already swollen rivers to overflow their banks and set off mudslides and flooding.

The islands of Providencia and San Andres, which are popular with scuba divers, are about 450 miles (724 kilometers) northwest of Colombia and 125 miles (200 kilometers) off Nicaragua's coast.

On Friday, hundreds of villagers on Providencia hiked into the mountains ahead of the storm. About 300 residents and a dozen tourists fled wooden homes along the coast for sturdier brick shelters in the highlands, officials said.