Hurricane Chantal (1989)

Hurricane Chantal was the third named storm and the first hurricane of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm made landfall near High Island, Texas, causing flash floods that killed thirteen people.

Meteorological history

A tropical wave formed north of Trinidad and Tobago crossed the Caribbean Sea with no development and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Based on satellite data and ship reports, the system was designated a tropical depression on July 30 north of the Yucatán Peninsula as it moved northeastward towards the U.S. Gulf Coast. Chantal became a tropical storm about 575 miles (920 km) southeast of Texas on July 31 and strengthened into a category 1 hurricane later that day. Chantal reached a minimum barometric pressure of 986 millibars before making landfall on August 1 near High Island, Texas. After landfall, Chantal weakened to a tropical depression and disintegrated over Oklahoma. The remnants of Chantal then moved northward over the Great Plains and was tracked northward over New York.

Impact

Just like Tropical Storm Allison earlier, there were thirteen deaths from Chantal. $100 million (1989 USD) damage was reported.

Texas

Chantal produced an 82 mph (132 km/h) wind gust in Galveston and dropped 7 to 12 inches (18 to 30 cm) of rain across eastern and southern Texas. There was extensive beach erosion across the upper Texas coast and heavy rainfall well inland. About 3,000 homes sustained wind or water damages and numerous trees and signs were knocked down by the storm. Two people in Texas drowned when their raft overturned during the floods and several motorists were stranded in the floodwaters.

Gulf of Mexico

One fatality was reported during an oil rig evacuation. Ten other people perished when a lifeboat capsized south of Morgan City, Louisiana. Four others on the boat were rescued by the United States Coast Guard.

Midwest

While moving inland, Chantal produced severe weather from Nebraska to the Great Lakes region. About 3 inches (75 mm) of rain was reported in Nebraska while hail and wind gusts were reported in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In Chicago, about 3 inches of rain fell in just three hours causing isolated street flooding. The damage in the midwest was minimal and there were no reported injuries or deaths.

Lack of retirement

Because of moderate damage, the name Chantal was not retired, so the name was reused in the 1995 season, and again in the 2001 season and in the 2007 season, and will be used next in the 2013 season.

See also

• list of tropical cyclones
• list of Atlantic hurricanes

External links