Hurricane Dennis

Post Landfall 3 | Summary
Posting Date: August 3, 2005, 7:00:00 AM

Hurricane Dennis, the first landfalling hurricane of the 2005 season, came ashore on Sunday, July 10, at Santa Rosa Island, Florida—just 50 miles east of where Hurricane Ivan made landfall 10 months earlier. Strengthening to a Category 4 storm after crossing Hispanola, Dennis ultimately weakened before landfall on the Florida Panhandle and arrived as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds estimated at 120 mph, an estimated radius of maximum winds of 8 miles, and a forward speed of 22 mph. Within a few hours of landfall, AIR issued an industry loss estimate of between $1 and $2.5 billion, a narrow range reflecting the uncertainty in storm characteristics still present at landfall. This year, AIR is providing clients with one final scenario reflecting wind observations collected after the storm and the results of our engineering survey of the damaged areas. On Tuesday, July 12, AIR sent teams of civil and wind engineers to survey the damage left by Hurricane Dennis. The key goals of that survey were to obtain: a) a detailed assessment of damage at the location level, and; b) information on the overall extent and gradation of damage along and across the track. The area of severe damage was small – primarily restricted to a narrow stretch of Navarre and Pensacola Beaches on the Barrier Islands, south of Pensacola. Navarre Beach was on the right eye wall about 8 to 10 miles from the center of the storm and took the brunt of the storm’s highest winds. The damage decreased rapidly both along and across the track. Most of the observed damage was close to the coast, but minor pockets of damage extended a few miles into Alabama, to the north of Pensacola. Hurricane force winds were recorded up to 30 to 40 miles from the storm center. Incorporating the NHC wind observations and our survey results, the final Dennis scenario produces an industry loss of $1.1 billion. Wind speed and loss maps are available for viewing on the Scenarios page of this web site. The event set is available for download from the Event Sets page. This will be the final posting on Hurricane Dennis.

Post Landfall 3 | Downloads
Posting Date: August 3, 2005, 7:00:00 AM