11 Facts About Hurricane Janet

1.

Hurricane Janet was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.

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2.

Hurricane Janet maintained peak intensity as it passed over the Swan Islands before making landfall in extreme southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, just east of Chetumal, Mexico.

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3.

At the time, this was the second-lowest pressure ever recorded on land in a landfalling Atlantic hurricane, behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, though Janet was later surpassed by hurricanes Dean and Gilbert, which made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula as Category 5 hurricanes.

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4.

At the time, Hurricane Janet was expected to make landfall between Veracruz and Tuxpan.

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5.

The large number of deaths and damage caused by Janet helped make the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season the deadliest and costliest hurricane season documented since comprehensive record of such statistics began in 1942.

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6.

In Xcalak, Quintana Roo the strong winds from Hurricane Janet flattened the port's infrastructure, and only one house remained intact after the storm's passage.

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7.

In Quintana Roo, Hurricane Janet was estimated to have caused $40 million in damages and at least 500 deaths, the most of any region affected by Janet.

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8.

Hurricane Janet caused extensive damage to crops, with an estimated $2.

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9.

In Corozal Town, British Honduras, south of where Hurricane Janet made landfall, 500 people were made homeless, and six people were killed.

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10.

Farther inland, as Hurricane Janet dissipated over the mountainous central Mexico, the storm dropped torrential rainfall over the Tamesi and Panuco River basins.

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11.

The potential for widespread disease following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Janet forced a widespread vaccination initiative against typhoid fever in affected areas.

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