21st century cyclones cause more death and destruction, study shows

Miami/Caribbean – The tropical cyclones of the first 23 years of the 21st century are of greater magnitude than those of the same period at the end of the 20th century and at the same time have caused more deaths and destruction.

These phenomena continue to become a threat to the countries of the Caribbean region where Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas islands are located. Also the Florida peninsula, United States and Mexico.

According to the records of the National Hurricane Center of the United States and the Hydrometeorology Division of the National Meteorological Office (Onamet) between the years 2001 to 2023, 374 cyclones were formed in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

During the same period from 1977 to 2000, 239 cyclones emerged, which shows a difference of 134 hurricanes.

In the first 23 years of the XXI century, the Dominican Republic has been impacted by 14 cyclones and in the last 23 years of the XX century, only 9 phenomena entered the national territory.
In the last 23 years, 175 hurricanes have formed, which have reached winds above 119 kilometers per hour, while for the same period of the 20th century, 134 hurricanes were formed, a difference of 41 phenomena.

Among these hurricanes, 76 have reached the category of major hurricanes with winds exceeding 178 kilometers per hour, while 48 did so in the same period before the beginning of the new century.

Cyclones like Hurricane Maria seriously affected Puerto Rico and only occasion many rains in Dominican Republic.
On September 19 and 20, 2017, Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria, with winds in excess of 280 kilometers per hours, and weeks earlier, on September 6 of the same year, the effects of Hurricane Irma had been felt, which caused a lot of destruction, but nothing compared to the impact of Maria.

Storms

With tropical storms something similar happened in the period 2001 to 2023, 189 tropical storms have formed with winds between 63 to 118 kilometers per hour, but in the last 23 years of the twentieth century only 134 tropical storms were formed.

Between 2001 and 2023, the Dominican Republic has been impacted by 14 tropical cyclones, while in the same period, between 1978 and 2000, the country was hit by 9 cyclones.

During the first 23 years of the 21st century, 318 cyclones have formed, of which the Dominican Republic has been impacted by 14, with La Altagracia and Barahona receiving the greatest impacts, according to the records of the Climatology division of the National Meteorological Office and the National Hurricane Center of the United States.

Six other tropical storms have impacted the national territory in 2003 and 2005 in Barahona; in 2007 and 2008, 2020 in La Altagracia and 2021 in Azua.

Three depressions have also impacted the national territory in 2013, 2014 in La Altagracia and 2018 in Azua, causing downpours, thunderstorms and wind gusts.