Hurricane Gert (1993)

Hurricane Gert
Tropical Depression Fourteen-E

Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Gert near peak intensity before making landfall in northern Mexico on September 20
Formed	September 14, 1993
Dissipated	September 26, 1993
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 105 mph (165 km/h)
Lowest pressure	970 mbar (hPa); 28.64 inHg
Fatalities	116 dead, 16 missing
Damage	$170 million (1993 USD)
Areas affected	Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico
Part of the 1993 Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons

Hurricane Gert was a large tropical cyclone that caused extensive flooding and mudslides throughout Central America and Mexico in September 1993. The seventh named storm and third hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Gert originated as a tropical depression from a tropical wave over the southwestern Caribbean Sea on September 14. The next day, the cyclone briefly attained tropical storm strength before moving ashore in Nicaragua and proceeding through Honduras. It reorganized into a tropical storm over the Gulf of Honduras on September 17, but weakened back to a depression upon crossing the Yucatán Peninsula. Once over the warm waters of the Bay of Campeche, Gert quickly strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane by September 20. The hurricane made a final landfall on the Gulf Coast of Mexico near Tuxpan, Veracruz, with peak winds of 105 mph (165 km/h). The rugged terrain quickly disrupted the cyclone's structure; Gert entered the Pacific Ocean as a depression near the state of Nayarit on September 21, where it briefly redeveloped a few strong thunderstorms before dissipating at sea five days later.

Gert's broad wind circulation produced widespread heavy rainfall across Central America through September 15–17. Combined with saturated soil from Tropical Storm Bret's passage a month earlier, the storm triggered widespread floods and mudslides that isolated numerous communities. In Costa Rica, the blustery weather destroyed a national park and led to significant losses for the agricultural and tourism sectors. Much of the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua and Honduras endured overflowing rivers, with many cities, villages, and crops in those countries left under water. Although Gert's highest winds occurred upon landfall in Mexico, the worst effects in the country were due to an extreme rainfall event in the Huasteca region, where as many as 31.41 inches (798 mm) of rain were recorded. As an increasing number of major rivers burst their banks, catastrophic flooding submerged extensive areas surrounding the Pánuco basin. Tens of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate, and scores of structures were demolished in what was described as the region's worst disaster in 40 years.