Hurricane Janet
| Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Surface weather analysis of Hurricane Janet near peak intensity on September 28, 1955
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| Formed | September 21, 1955 |
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| Dissipated | September 30, 1955 |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 175 mph (280 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | ≤ 914 mbar (hPa); 26.99 inHg |
| Fatalities | 1,023+ direct |
| Damage | $65.8 million (1955 USD) |
| Areas affected | Barbados, Windward Islands, British Honduras, Yucatán Peninsula, Mainland Mexico |
| Part of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Janet was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. The eleventh tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and fifth major hurricane of the year, Janet formed from a tropical wave east of the Lesser Antilles on September 21. Moving westward across the Caribbean Sea, Janet fluctuated in intensity, but generally strengthened before reaching its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 175 mph (280 km/h). The intense hurricane later made landfall at that intensity near Chetumal, Mexico on September 28. After weakening over the Yucatán Peninsula, it moved into the Bay of Campeche, where it slightly strengthened before making its final landfall near Veracruz on September 29. Janet quickly weakened over Mexico's mountainous terrain before dissipating on September 30.
In its developmental stages, Janet caused $7.8 million in damage to the Lesser Antilles and 189 deaths in the Grenadines and Barbados. While Janet was in the central Caribbean Sea, a reconnaissance aircraft flew into the storm and was lost, with all eleven crew members believed to be perished. This remains the only such loss which has occurred in association with an Atlantic hurricane. A Category 5 upon landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula, Janet caused severe devastation in areas of Quintana Roo and British Honduras. Only five buildings in Chetumal, Mexico remained intact after the storm, and an estimated 500 deaths occurred in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. At Janet's second landfall near Veracruz, significant river flooding ensued, worsening effects caused by Hurricanes Gladys and Hilda earlier in the month. The floods left thousands of people stranded and killed at least 326 people in the Tampico area, leading to the largest Mexican relief operation ever executed by the United States.
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