This hurricane season is shaping up to be one of the most intense of recent years with many powerful storms that displayed rapid formation, fast intensification, and incredible amounts of damage due to heavy rain and floods. Here's a summary of the most significant storms in September:
Hurricane Francine rapidly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h), making landfall in southern Louisiana, bringing torrential rains and severe flooding, causing widespread damage, submerging homes and infrastructure, and resulting in $1.5 billion in damages. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
Storm Boris reached wind speeds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and rainfall of up to 14 inches (360 mm) in some areas of Central and Eastern Europe, causing the Elbe and Danube rivers to overflow, submerging entire communities, collapsing bridges, damaging homes, and sweeping away cars. The floods caused at least 19 deaths and significant economic losses,
making it one of the worst flooding events in the region in decades.
Comment: Some observations from The Landslide Blog: