Hurricane Ernesto (2006)

Hurricane Ernesto (2006)

Hurricane Ernesto was the costliest tropical cyclone of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. The sixth tropical storm and first hurricane of the season, Ernesto developed from a tropical wave on August 24 in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Ernesto first affected the northern Caribbean, reaching minimal hurricane status near Haiti before weakening and moving across eastern Cuba as a tropical storm. Despite initial predictions for it to track through the eastern Gulf of Mexico as a major hurricane, Ernesto moved across eastern Florida as a weak tropical storm. After turning to the northeast, it re-intensified and made landfall on August 31 on the North Carolina coast just below hurricane status. Late the next day, Ernesto became extratropical after entering southern Virginia. The remnants spread moisture across the northeastern United States before dissipating over eastern Canada on September 4.

The deaths of at least eleven people were attributed to Ernesto, which dumped heavy rains throughout its path, especially in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. While moving across the Caribbean, it affected several countries, and initially Ernesto posed a threat to the Gulf Coast of the United States around the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Damage in Virginia was estimated at over $118 million (2006 USD, $136 million 2013 USD), prompting the declaration of a federal disaster area. Total damage in the United States was estimated at $500 million (2006 USD, $576 million 2013 USD).