Impact
Although Hurricane Marco never made landfall, it was a large storm with an unusual and erratic path and as a result, caused heavy rainfall throughout Central America and the western Caribbean nations. In the Dominican Republic, three people drowned north of Santo Domingo, while 200 families fled their homes during the flooding. Marco also contributed to an ongoing flood in Jamaica, which had already caused a total of $3 million (1996 USD) in damage to roads and left 170 families without shelter. After significant damage from Hurricane Lili in the previous month, minimal effects occurred in Cuba. Large amounts of precipitation also fell across Cuba, especially on the Isle of Youth and in Pinar del Río Province. Heavy rains caused thousands to flee their homes. However, damage in the country, if any is unknown.
Torrential rainfall in Honduras caused flooding, which forced 60,000 people from their homes. In addition, 4,000 homes were destroyed and 40 wooden bridges were washed away. Roads were significantly affected, with six roads and the national highway damaged in Cortés Department. Damage to the highway infrastructure totaled to approximately $500,000 (1996 USD). Television broadcast images from La Lima showed houses submerged to their roofs. Flood waters also inundated nearly 50,000 acres of banana and fruit plantations owned by Chiquita Brands International. Other crops that sustained damage were maize, beans, sorghum, and rice. Agricultural losses associated with the storm totaled to approximately $7.7 million (1996 USD). Along the Caribbean coastline of Honduras, about 1,000 shanty houses were destroyed. Overall, Marco caused nine fatalities in the country. In the Pacific and northern regions of Nicaragua, numerous houses washed away in the floods. In addition, Nicaraguan civil defense authorities reported two fatalities. Further north in Guatemala, at least one death occurred, and flood waters damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes. Swollen rivers in Costa Rica flooded several towns and numerous banana plantations.
During its formative stage, a high pressure area combined with the low pressure of Marco resulted in a tight pressure gradient which led to beach erosion and gale force winds on the Florida coast. In Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties, heavy surf generated by the combination of those systems caused 15 to 30 feet (4.6 to 9.1 m) of beach erosion. Additionally, 3 to 4 feet (0.91 to 1.2 m) of top sand were lost in that region. Further north, severe beach erosion caused the loss of as much as 10 feet (3.0 m) of the dune line in Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, and Martin counties. Other impact was minimal. Marco was one of few hurricanes to enter the Caribbean Sea and not make landfall. Also, Hurricane Hunter flights recorded volatile center structure with severe turbulence, extreme rainfall, and hail during a flight into the storm. Overall, Marco caused 14 fatalities and approximately $8.2 million (1996 USD) in damage.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Marco (1996)
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