Hurricane Faith

**Hurricane Faith** was an early-forming major hurricane in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. Faith was the sixth named storm, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season. The hurricane set several records for early season hurricane activity, becoming the earliest formation of a sixth tropical cyclone in a season, a title previously held by Tropical Storm Franklin of 2005. Faith attained peak winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) as it made landfall around Panama City, Florida, on July 23, becoming the first to do so in the region as a Category 4 hurricane.

By January 2019, at least 93 deaths had been attributed to the storm, including 68 in the United States, 22 in Cuba, and 3 in Jamaica. Hurricane Faith caused at least $39.6 billion (2018 USD) in damages, including damage to U.S. fighter jets with a replacement cost of approximately $6 billion at Tyndall Air Force Base, and at least $18.69 billion in insurance claims. Losses to agriculture alone exceeded $3.87 billion. In Cuba, the hurricane's winds left over 800,000 people without power as the storm struck the island's western side, causing widespread damage. Along the Florida panhandle, the cities of Panama City and Mexico Beach suffered the worst of Faith, with catastrophic damage reported due to the extreme winds and storm surge. Numerous homes were flattened and trees felled over a wide swath of the panhandle. A maximum wind gust of 163 mph (262 km/h) was measured at Tyndall Air Force Base near the point of landfall. As Faith tracked across the Eastern United States, strong winds caused extensive power outages across the region.

## **Meteorological history**

The origins of Hurricane Faith trace back to a tropical wave that crossed the northwestern coast of Africa on July 9, 2018. Over the subsequent days, the system remained disorganized as it traversed the tropical Atlantic until July 15, when satellite images showed a defined circulation center passing through the Windward Islands. The following day, the Jarrell Meteorological Center (JMC) classified it as the sixth tropical depression of the annual hurricane season using the Dvorak technique, when it was located about 290 mi (466 km) east of Barbados. The depression proceeded toward the west-northwest, and while moving through the Caribbean, it gained enough strength to be designated as Tropical Storm Faith.

Increasingly favorable environmental factors, such as low wind shear and high sea surface temperatures, fueled intensification. Turning west-northwest, the system achieved hurricane status late on July 18. By the following afternoon, Faith reached Category 2 strength, and made its first landfall around Mitchell Town, Jamaica shortly thereafter. Briefly weakening due to interaction with land, Faith quickly regained its strength. Formation of a well-defined eye and central dense overcast signaled Faith's intensification into a major hurricane on July 20.

Paralleling the southwestern coast of Cuba, Faith attained winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) later that day before making landfall in the country the following morning in Pinar del Rio Province. Interaction with the mountains of Cuba caused significant weakening; however, once Faith emerged over the Gulf of Mexico on July 9, it quickly reorganized in favorable conditions. The hurricane reached Category 4 strength for the second time on July 22 as it approached Florida, attaining its lowest barometric pressure of 937 mbar (hPa; 27.48 inHg) and sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) as it made landfall on the Gulf Coast of the United States at Panama City, Florida on July 23.

Once inland, Faith began to rapidly weaken, as it moved over the inner Southeastern United States, with the eye dissipating from satellite view, weakening to a tropical storm roughly twelve hours after it made landfall. Moving into Georgia late that evening, the inner core of the storm collapsed as the storm's rainbands became prominent to the north of the center. The following day, Faith began to show signs of becoming an extratropical cyclone, as it accelerated east-northeastward toward the Great Lakes region, with cooler air quickly beginning to wrap into the elongating circulation, due to an encroaching frontal zone. The storm completed its extratropical transition around 15:00 UTC on the same day, as it became fully embedded within the frontal zone. Faith's remnant circulation persisted, however, traversing the Mississippi River Valley and Ohio River Valley before finally dissipating over New York on July 26.

## **Preparations**

### **Caribbean**

In Cuba, more than 700,000 residents were moved from their homes to government shelters or other locations in anticipation of Faith. All schools were closed, and most flights in the country were suspended or cancelled.

The Cayman Islands chapter of the Red Cross opened shelters on July 7 and placed 120 volunteers on standby. Schools and government offices closed for the duration of Faith's passage.

### **United States**

On July 20, Governor Rick Scott announced that he would be declaring a state of emergency for Florida if needed, advising residents to be prepared for the incoming storm. That day, a state of emergency was declared for 26 counties, and then 9 additional counties were added on July 21. Governor Scott also requested that President Donald Trump issue an emergency disaster declaration for 35 counties, with Trump approving of the request on July 22. Officials in Bay, Gulf, and Wakulla counties issued mandatory evacuation orders on July 22 for those living near the coast, in mobile homes, or in other weak dwellings. Florida State University's main campus in Tallahassee and a satellite campus in Panama City, Florida, were scheduled to be closed from July 22 through July 25; the latter remains closed until storm damages are repaired. Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College closed several campuses through July 27, while weekend classes and events were canceled at the former. Public schools were closed in 26 counties, mainly in the Florida Panhandle. On July 21, Hurricane and Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches were issued for the Gulf Coast.

In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency for 14 counties in advance of the storm. At 6 am CDT (2300 UTC) on July 21, all southbound lanes on Interstate 65 from Mobile to Montgomery, Alabama, were closed. Traffic was redirected, making all four lanes northbound to allow evacuations. In Alabama residents in all parts of Mobile County, and those south of I-10 in Baldwin County, voluntary evacuations were ordered amid concerns of storm surge in coastal areas.

An overall 375,000 people were asked to evacuate as the storm strengthened, with sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and storm surge up to 14 ft (4.3 m) expected.