Medicane Caecilia

Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
ESSA-8 visible satellite imagery of the September 1969 cyclone
Formed	September 22, 1969
Dissipated	September 27, 1969
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 100 mph (155 km/h)
Lowest pressure	975 (estimated) mbar ( hPa)
Fatalities	~600
Damage	Unknown
Areas affected	Tunisia, Libya

Medicane Caecilia was the deadliest medicane in recorded history. The only recorded medicane of 1969, it formed from a subtropical depression on the coast of Algeria. It emerged into the Mediterranean, and underwent rapid cyclogenesis, becoming a medicane, before making landfall in Tunisia and quickly dissipating. It brought extremely heavy rains, which made flooding that killed hundreds of people.

Meteorological history

A subtropical depression developed on the coast of Algeria on September 23rd. It emerged into the Mediterranean Sea and underwent immediate cyclogenesis due to water temperatures of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It then began to quickly deepen and transition into a tropical cyclone. The storm likely reached its lowest pressure at around September 24th, near southeast Malta, which was around the time the storm developed an eye feature. Rain from the storm began to spread onto Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily and Libya. The storm, still rapidly intensifying, developed convective bands, and the eye became much better structured. The storm made landfall on September 25th, in Tunisia. It then quickly weakened into a medistorm the same day, and then a medipression on the 27th; however, heavy rains remained until September 28th, which was when the storm degenerated into a remnant low.

Due to lack of reliable data in the Mediterranean, there is no accurate figure on the cyclone's pressure; the storms pressure was very likely lower than 998 millibars; there is no exact figure on sustained winds. But with satellite intensity estimates, it is estimated that the storm had maximum sustained winds of around 90-100 mph, and a pressure of around 975 millibars, which would make Caecilia one of the strongest medicanes ever recorded.

Impacts

In Malta, a 20,000 ton tanker hit a cliff and split in two due to the heavy rains, while in Gafsa, Tunisia, the storms rain flooded the Phosphate mines, resulting in over 25,000 miners becoming unemployed, and costing the Tunisian Government over 2 million pounds per week. Gusts of around 60 mph were recorded in Malta and Lampedusa. Thousands of animals drowned in the floods and were swept away, and many Roman bridges that had withstood every flood since the fall of the Roman Empire, were destroyed from the massive flooding. Overall, the floods in Tunisia and Algeria left nearly 600 people dead, left 250,000 people homeless and severely damaged all regional economies, making Caecilia the deadliest recorded medicane.

Aftermath

Due to communication problems (that may have resulted came from the floods), it took nearly a month for flood relief fundraisers and television appeals to be set up. ^[1]

References

External links

Infobox: [1]