Mitch Richling: Hurricane Mitch

Mitch formed as just another tropical storm south of Jamica on October 22, 1998. By October 26 it had exploded into a category 5 hurricane with sustained winds reaching 180mph and powerful gusts blasting the earth at over 200mph. Only 3 other hurricanes had reached this magnitude in over a century. While ranked fourth in raw power, the death and destruction caused by Mitch was massive and will never be fully known. While not at it's peak fury, Mitch pounded into Honduras and Nicaragua with torrents of rain and waves. Unable to endure the beating, mountains crumbled causing mud slides that buried entire towns killing over 11,000 people and devastating over 80% of agricultural land and transportation systems. It has been estimated that more than 8,000 people are still missing from this one event in Honduras alone. With over 11,000 confirmed dead and thousands missing, hurricane Mitch will be remembered as the deadliest storm of it's century and the century before. In fact it will be remembered as the second deadliest storm ever recorded, leaving only the "Great Hurricane" of 1780, which killed over 20,000 people on Martinique, as a more deadly peer. Mitch was a category 5 storm for over 33 contiguous hours - longer than any other recorded Atlantic hurricane

1998-10-22					1998-10-25
1998-10-26	1998-10-26	1998-10-26	1998-10-26	1998-10-26	1998-10-26
1998-10-27	1998-10-28	1998-10-29	1998-10-30	1998-11-03	1998-11-04

The following is the track information for Mitch given by the National Hurricane Center.