Hurricane David

Hurricane David was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck Dominica and the Dominican Republic in August 1979, causing widespread destruction and numerous fatalities. It remains the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the Dominican Republic’s recorded history. A long-lived Cape Verde hurricane, David was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season. David formed on August 25, in the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean near Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa. Two days later, the storm reached hurricane strength, then underwent rapid intensification, strengthening into a Category 5 hurricane and reaching peak sustained winds of 175 mph (282 km/h) on August 28. By the time the system dissipated on September 8, it had traversed the Leeward Islands, Greater Antilles, The Bahamas, the East Coast of the United States, and Atlantic Canada. David was the first hurricane to affect the Lesser Antilles since Hurricane Inez in 1966 and the deadliest to hit Dominica since the 1834 Padre Ruíz hurricane, which killed over 200 people. There, strong winds from David damaged or destroyed 80% of homes, leaving 75% of the island's population homeless. Agriculture was also severely impacted, with 75% of crops ruined, including a complete loss of bananas. David killed 56 people and injured 180 others on Dominica. In addition, similar destruction occurred on Guadeloupe and Martinique, with hundreds left homeless and extensive damage to crops. Guadeloupe and Martinique also had $50 million and $100 million in damage, respectively. In Puerto Rico, flooding and high winds combined resulted in $70 million in damage and seven fatalities, four from electrocution. With winds of 175 mph (282 km/h), David was one of only two storms of Category 5 intensity to strike the Dominican Republic in the 20th century, the other also being Inez,...