2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Ian became a hurricane in the early hours of Sept. 26 and emerged into the Gulf of Mexico after passing through Cuba, as a Category 3 major hurricane.

According to modeling firm RMS, Hurricane Ian likely caused $53 billion to $74 billion in insured losses from Florida to the Carolinas. Hurricane Ian was the 15^th weather event in 2022 to be added to NOAA’s billion-dollar disaster list.

Florida: Ian made landfall in Cayo Costa, Florida on Sept. 28, around 3 p.m. ET. It was a high Category 4, with a windspeed of 150 mph. Ian’s landfall was at the same location where Hurricane Charley made landfall in 2004. Hurricane Ian was so large that the compacted Charley could have fit inside Ian’s eye.

Ian left devastation in its wake with extensive flooding and power outages. The barrier islands of Captiva and Sanibel were disconnected from the mainland after the major Sanibel Causeway was destroyed. There was damage to other bridges and roadways as well, as well as health facilities, schools and water infrastructure.

On Oct. 31, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission said the confirmed death toll was 125 deaths. An NBC News investigation tallied 148 deaths in Florida, with 119 of those deaths caused by the flooding, winds and other dangerous conditions during the storm. A significant number of deaths were attributed to drowning. While the death toll numbers are inexact historically, Ian is likely Florida’s deadliest tropical system since the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, which killed more than 400 people. However, the number of deaths was significantly lower than anticipated. Most people that died were older adults including at least 30 over 80 years old.

While much of the attention was focused on the state’s west coast, where Ian made landfall, other parts of the state, including central Florida, experienced significant rainfall, flooding and wind damage. It is important for funders to look at all areas of impact, including central Florida, the east coast and small or rural communities. According to a preliminary estimate released by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on Oct. 24, Hurricane Ian caused as much as $1.8 billion in damages to Florida agriculture.

Many Floridians are now homeless. Quickly following the storm, it became clear that the storm would have a broad and lasting impact on the long-term recovery of lower-income people. The state’s popularity, inflation and rising rental costs have made it one of the least affordable places to live in the U.S. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of homes were damaged or destroyed.

South and North Carolina, Virginia: After leaving Florida, the storm made landfall as a Category 1 in South Carolina, near Georgetown, on Sept. 30. The hurricane flooded homes, damaged piers and knocked down trees along parts of the South Carolina coast. Ian weakened into a post-tropical cyclone but still battered North Carolina the weekend of Sept. 30 with rain and strong winds. Thousands of people in the state were without power, and five people died in relation to Ian’s impacts. Ian’s remnants caused flooding around Virginia Beach, Virginia, leading the city to declare a state of emergency on Oct. 2, but the city returned to normal operating procedures on Oct. 4.

Cuba: Prior to landfall in Florida, Ian made landfall in Cuba’s Pinar Del Rio province near the town of La Coloma at 4:30 a.m. EDT on Sept. 27 as a very strong Category 3. This was western Cuba’s first Category 3 hurricane in 14 years. Three people were killed as a result of the hurricane.

More than 77,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Cuba. In Pinar del Río, 68,370 homes were damaged and 7,664 were destroyed. In Artemisa, at least 9,015 homes were damaged with the majority (7,200) losing some or all of their roof. In Havana, 1,227 homes suffered damage. The power grid went down in western Cuba and then spread across the entire country. The power outage followed a month of rolling blackouts due to a fuel shortage. The country’s main fuel depot was destroyed in August by fire after a lightning strike. This is a good example of how cumulative disasters increase the impact on communities.

The country’s tobacco industry was devastated by the hurricane. France24 reported, “Pilar del Rio produces 65 percent of Cuban tobacco, while Vuelta Abajo is the only region where the three different types of leaves used in the country’s world famous cigars grow. In San Luis alone, 226 tons of tobacco harvested in August was damaged, local television said.”

Cuba is highly dependent upon tourism and tobacco exports. The tourism industry has been suffering since 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions on travel.

On Oct. 18, the U.S. government announced that it would provide $2 million in aid to Cuba. A statement said that the emergency relief will flow through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to “trusted, independent organizations operating in the country who have a long presence in hurricane-affected communities.”

Hurricane Fiona was an extremely long-lasting tropical cyclone that made several landfalls stretching from Guadeloupe to Newfoundland. The most significant impacts were in Atlantic Canada and Puerto Rico: six days and over 2,400 miles apart.

Puerto Rico: Hurricane Fiona made landfall as a Category 1 storm at 3:20 p.m. ET on Sept. 18, near Punta Tocon on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. A slow-moving storm with wind speed of 85 miles per hour, the high rainfall caused rivers to rise higher than during Hurricane Maria (2017).

The storm cut power to all the island’s nearly 1.5 million electrical consumers. Hundreds of thousands also lost access to water service. Even before Fiona, there was widespread discontent with LUMA Energy, the company that operates Puerto Rico’s power infrastructure.

According to Puerto Rico’s Department of Health, at least 22 people died due to Fiona, with another 20 deaths under investigation as of Dec. 29, 2022. After Hurricane Maria, there were many challenges in getting the government to release an accurate count of storm-related deaths, which include those that occurred directly in the hurricane and those that occurred in the aftermath.

President Joe Biden visited Puerto Rico on Oct. 3, promising $60 million to help coastal areas prepare for future storms. The funding will come from the bipartisan infrastructure law that passed last fall.

Fiona made landfall on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo (1989) and just a few days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria (2017). Prior to Fiona, more than 3,000 homes still had blue tarps on the roofs because of damage from Hurricane Maria.

Around Puerto Rico, community networks stepped in to respond to needs after Hurricane Fiona, often before any government action. According to some local leaders, the U.S. government’s struggles to implement an effective and timely emergency plan since Hurricane Maria meant “people end up fending for themselves.”

Canada: Hurricane Fiona passed directly over parts of Atlantic Canada on Sept. 24, leaving significant damage in its wake. According to the Canadian Hurricane Centre, Fiona was the lowest-pressure storm to make landfall in Canada. The storm wreaked havoc on Canada’s farming, fishing and fish processing industries, destroying crop land, boats, harbors and fish processing plants.

Hardest hit was the town of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, the island province’s main connection to the rest of the country, where at least a dozen homes were washed out to sea. More than 200 homes were damaged, according to a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. At least two people were killed, including a 73-year-old woman who was swept away by the water.

Fiona made landfall in Guadeloupe on Sept. 16, with one death reported in Basse-Terre after a house was swept away by water with the resident inside. The capital was inundated with flooding and there were significant infrastructure losses.

After leaving Puerto Rico, Fiona moved through the Caribbean making landfall in the Dominican Republic on Sept. 19 and then passing close to Turks and Caicos, before moving up past Bermuda as a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 23. Fiona was the first hurricane since Ivan (2004) to make landfall in the Dominican Republic, leaving at least 800 people displaced with over 50 homes reported as damaged and two deaths. Officials in the Turks and Caicos and in Bermuda said despite telecommunication and power outages there was no major damage in either location.

Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on the east coast of Florida on North Hutchinson Island just south of Vero Beach in the early morning hours of Nov. 10. Nicole’s sustained winds were 75 miles per hour.

As of Nov. 11, the storm caused the deaths of at least five people, including two people in Orange County who were killed after being electrocuted by a downed power line. It is extremely rare for a hurricane to make landfall on the U.S. mainland in November. According to Senior Meteorologist Jonathan Erdman, there have been just three mainland U.S. hurricane landfalls in the month of November and Nicole is the first in 37 years.

By mid-morning on Nov. 10, Nicole had weakened to a tropical storm. Nicole’s large wind field meant that tropical storm-force winds extended to the west, north and east of the storm’s center, including much of the Florida Peninsula, coastal Georgia and coastal South Carolina. Nicole’s strong winds, rainfall and storm surge affected some areas hit in September by Hurricane Ian.

Significant flooding was reported along the St. Johns River in northeast Florida. The bay front in St. Augustine was completely underwater the morning of Nov. 10. Nicole brought above-average rainfall across most of the St. Johns River Water Management District’s 18-county region. Most areas around Tampa received about 2 to 4 inches of rainfall, with some totals closer to 5 inches. A tide gauge at Port Canaveral recorded up to 3.6 feet of inundation above normal high tide on Nov. 10. Widespread coastal flooding and significant beach erosion was reported along nearly all of Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Damages included homes and other buildings falling into the ocean in Volusia County. Dramatic footage showed home damage in Daytona Beach Shores as well.

In Volusia County, at least 49 beachfront properties, including hotels and condos, were deemed “unsafe.” According to Volusia County Manager George Recktenwald, “The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented.” Hurricane Nicole caused $522 million in damage in Volusia County alone.

One factor contributing to dangerous conditions along the coast was Nicole’s storm surge, which peaked at around six feet the morning of Nov. 10. This is significant due to the very large size of the storm as it approached Florida on Nov. 9. Another contributing factor was that sea level in the affected part of Florida has risen more than a foot in the past 100 years.

Even after it weakened, Nicole still posed a danger. On Nov. 11, more than 20 million people were under wind alerts from Georgia into the Carolinas. Remnants of Nicole soaked the U.S. East Coast over the weekend of Nov. 12-13 and also brought heavy rainfall to much of southern Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Hurricane Lisa made landfall along the coast of Belize on Nov. 2 as a Category 1 tropical cyclone. The 12th named system of the 2022 season, Lisa became the sixth hurricane of the year. Lisa made landfall near the mouth of the Sibun River, about 10 miles southwest of Belize City, at approximately 4:20 p.m. CDT.

Many residents in Belize were forced to take shelter from winds and the threat of flooding. The primary concern was flooding rather than wind damage, with Belize receiving up to 10 inches of rainfall in some parts of the country. The storm surge pushed waters up to four to seven feet above normally dry land and engulfed many parts of Belize City.

The country’s National Emergency Management Organization estimated around 172,000 people were affected, close to 39% of the country’s population. No fatalities were reported, but 500 houses were reported as destroyed, with an additional 5,000 homes damaged.

The impacts on the agriculture sector in Belize were further compounded by Tropical Storm Julia in October 2022, which resulted in the loss of approximately 2,500 acres of agricultural products.

By late morning on Nov. 3, Lisa had weakened to a tropical depression over Mexico.

• Hurricane Bonnie
• Hurricane Julia
• Hurricane Karl