A Look Back at Deadly Hurricane Gordon

The erratic track of Gordon in November 1994  (Source: NOAA)

Having written recently about the record setting Hurricane Lenny, I wanted to take this opportunity to write about another record setting November storm.  Similar to this season, 1994 was also a below average hurricane season with only seven named tropical storms, including the infamous Gordon.

Gordon made its first of six landfalls in Nicaragua as a very weak system.  It caused some minor flooding before heading back out into the Western Caribbean Sea.  It next made landfall in Jamaica as a minimal tropical storm before impacting Cuba for its third landfall.  On this date 20 years ago, Gordon reached its peak intensity as a minimal Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.

Although a relatively weak storm, Gordon caused catastrophic flooding in Haiti that led to a confirmed 1,122 deaths, with an unconfirmed death toll of approximately 2,200.  It next made three landfalls in the state of Florida, where it caused torrential rains, flooding and eight fatalities. 

Gordon also spawned six tornadoes in Florida which, in 1994 dollars, caused $400 million in damages.  Overall, the storm’s official death toll from its multiple landfalls was 1,147, with $514 million in damages.  Gordon finally dissipated on November 21 and is tied with 1996’s Hurricane Marco as the longest lasting November tropical storm on record.