Hurricane Jeanne (2004)

After crossing Abaco and Grand Bahama in the northern Bahamas, Jeanne made landfall on Florida's east coast at the southern end of Hutchinson Island, just east of Stuart, at 0400 UTC on September 26, 2004 (midnight EDT), as a Category 3 hurricane with 105-knot (121 mph) winds and a 950 mb central pressure.¹ Hurricane-force sustained winds hit the coast from near Cape Canaveral south to near Stuart and reached about halfway across the state.¹ The highest Florida gusts reported were 111 knots (128 mph) at Fort Pierce Inlet and 106 knots (122 mph) at Vero Beach.¹

NWS Melbourne estimated storm tides on the beaches of about 6 feet in southern Volusia County, 8 to 10 feet in St. Lucie County and 6 to 8 feet in Martin County.² Rain of 11 to 13 inches fell along the eyewall's path over Osceola, Brevard and Indian River counties, on ground already soaked by Hurricane Frances.^1,2 Flooding was most widespread in south Brevard and Osceola counties, and a week later St. Johns River flooding was still affecting many homes and businesses near the river.² Aerial surveys found tornado or tornado-like damage streaks, mostly in the eyewall, over southern Brevard, Indian River and St. Lucie counties, and destruction was most severe at Barefoot Bay in southern Brevard.²

NWS Melbourne's preliminary counts included 8,300 residences with major damage or destroyed and 41,000 with minor damage in Indian River County, 892 destroyed and 14,207 damaged in Brevard County, and 565 destroyed in Okeechobee County.² Its preliminary damage estimates were $2 billion in Indian River County and $1.2 billion in St. Lucie County.² NHC counts three direct deaths in Florida and one in a tornado in Fairfield County, South Carolina, and puts total US damage at $7.66 billion.¹