Caribbean NOW! Hurricane Oscar and Tropical Storm Nadine: Deadly Floods and Landslides

On Saturday, October 19, Category 1 Hurricane Oscar made landfall on Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas, and by Sunday, it had hit eastern Cuba. As a result, at least six people lost their lives in the Cuban province of Guantanamo.

Oscar brought as much as 15 inches of rain to parts of the country. The maximum wind speeds reached 75 miles per hour. The city of Baracoa was hit hard, with roofs and walls of buildings damaged, and the coastline was battered by waves up to 6.5 feet high.

The storm struck as Cuba was recovering from a major blackout that left millions without power. Authorities set up 20 evacuation centers for displaced people.

Oscar made history as the smallest recorded hurricane, with a wind field of only about 6 miles in diameter, whereas this parameter is typically much larger. Additionally, none of the forecast models predicted that Oscar would intensify into a hurricane, catching many by surprise.

Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert, commented, "It's rare to see such a massive forecasting failure for hurricanes."

At the same time, another tropical storm was raging in the Atlantic. Storm Nadine made landfall near Belize City on Saturday afternoon, bringing winds of 60 miles per hour.

Nadine affected popular tourist destinations like San Pedro. The storm's impact spread to northern Guatemala and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.

The Mexican state of Chiapas was severely affected, with at least 20 municipalities suffering significant damage. Heavy rains and subsequent floods severely damaged over 1,250 homes.

In some areas, floodwaters on the streets rose to 19.7 inches, making them impassable. The disaster led to three fatalities: two people died in a landslide in Carrizal, and another fatality occurred in the town of San Juan Chamula, where floodwaters swept away a car.

Floods and landslides also damaged infrastructure, flooding 15 sections of highways and 14 rural roads. A sinkhole was reported on the Palenque-Chancalá highway. The section of the road was closed due to the hole measuring 19 feet in length, 17 feet in width, and almost 10 feet in depth.

As Nadine moved west, the storm weakened and dissipated over southern Mexico on Sunday.

Have you noticed how every hurricane now seems more anomalous? Almost everyone raises questions for experts because the storm parameters increasingly defy typical forecasts. This pattern was predicted several years ago. For more information and what to expect next, check out the “Global Crisis” forum series.