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Template:Infobox hurricane nopic

Hurricane Stan was the eighteenth named tropical storm and tenth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was only the second 'S' named storm since naming began. It was a weak storm (only briefly a Category 1 hurricane) that caused severe flooding and mudslides in Central America and southern Mexico and has led to at least 166 deaths, a number that is still rising. It is being compared to Hurricane Cesar of 1996 and Hurricane Diana of 1990.THIS SPAMBOT WAS CREATED BY: SFL. THIS IS A SPAM TEST TO EXPERIMENT IF IT WORKS ON WIKIPEDIA. IF SUCCESSFULL, WHICH, OBVIOUSLY IF YOU ARE READING THIS, A MAJOR SPAMING THAT WIKIPEDIA HAS NEVER EXPIERENCED BEFORE WILL OCCURE ON OCTOBER 15, 2005.

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SFL //SPAM 223090959THIS SPAMBOT WAS CREATED BY: SFL. THIS IS A SPAM TEST TO EXPERIMENT IF IT WORKS ON WIKIPEDIA. IF SUCCESSFULL, WHICH, OBVIOUSLY IF YOU ARE READING THIS, A MAJOR SPAMING THAT WIKIPEDIA HAS NEVER EXPIERENCED BEFORE WILL OCCURE ON OCTOBER 15, 2005.

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SFL //SPAM 223090959== Storm history == A tropical wave, which moved off the African coast on September 17, formed a low pressure area when it reached the western Caribbean Sea and organized into a tropical depression on October 1. Off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Stan at 1:35 am CDT (0635 UTC) October 2. This marks only the second time that the 'S' name has been used to name an Atlantic storm since alphabetical naming began in 1950; the other time was for Sebastien in 1995.

Stan made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula and weakened to a tropical depression, but regained tropical storm strength upon reemerging into the Bay of Campeche. By 4 am CDT October 4 (0900 UTC), it had sufficiently strengthened to be given hurricane status. Stan made landfall later that morning in the east-central coast of Mexico, south of Veracruz, as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, then weakened to a tropical storm early that afternoon.

Due to Stan's ability to create havoc in the mountainous regions of Mexico and Central America due to landslides and flooding, the NHC did not stop issuing advisories on it until October 5 at 0900 UTC. In addition, the remnant THIS SPAMBOT WAS CREATED BY: SFL. THIS IS A SPAM TEST TO EXPERIMENT IF IT WORKS ON WIKIPEDIA. IF SUCCESSFULL, WHICH, OBVIOUSLY IF YOU ARE READING THIS, A MAJOR SPAMING THAT WIKIPEDIA HAS NEVER EXPIERENCED BEFORE WILL OCCURE ON OCTOBER 15, 2005.

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SFL //SPAM 223090959circulation is slowly re-emerging over the Pacific Ocean, and if it were to redevelop into a tropical storm, it would be named Pilar.

• Eastern Pacific tropical outlook

Impact

Death toll (summary)

As of 10 pm CDT on October 5, 2005 (0300 UTC October 6), Stan has been blamed for at least 166 deaths, and the number will likely continue to rise. Hundreds more have been reported missing and are feared dead throughout the region.

Most of the reported fatalities at this point have been as a result of the flooding and mudslides, although eight of the deaths in Nicaragua were as a result of a boat carrying migrants from Ecuador and Peru that ran ashore.

Central America

The storm produced landslides, flooding, and high winds throughout its path through Central America, as upwards of 20 inches (500 mm) of rain has been reported which has led to the destruction. Most of the destructive floods have been as a result of the outer bands of Stan, as well as when it was still a tropical depression.

The eruption of the Santa Ana volcano on October 1 compounded the problems, which led to even more destructive floods and mudslides from Stan.

A state of emergency has been declared in El Salvador, and according to the director of El Salvador's National Emergency Centre, 300 communities were affected by the floods, with over 14,000 people forced to flee their homes. A state of emergency has also been called for in Guatemala by President Oscar Berger. Some looting has also been reported; a scene reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina five weeks previous.

A spokesman for the Salvadoran Red Cross said that "the emergency is bigger than the rescue capacity, we have floods everywhere, bridges about to collapse, landslides and dozens of roads blocked by mudslides". The Pan-American Highway has been cut off by mudslides leading into the capital, San Salvador, as well as several other roads.

Coffee production will also likely be affected severely by Stan, particularly in Honduras and Guatemala, as the harvest was just about to get underway and some of the crop has been lost as a result of the flooding.

Mexico

Some 100,000 inhabitants of the Sierra de los Tuxtlas region on the Gulf Coast were evacuated from their homes, and incidents of mild flooding as well as wind damage (such as uprooted trees and roofs ripped off houses) were reported from coastal areas of Veracruz, including the port of Veracruz, Boca del Río, San Andrés Tuxtla, Santiago Tuxtla, Minatitlán and Coatzacoalcos, as well as state capital Xalapa, further inland. The armed forces evacuated the inhabitants of a dozen or so towns on the coastal plain, between World Heritage Site Tlacotalpan in the west and the lakeside resort of Catemaco in the east.

As the system progressed inland towards the Sierra Madre del Sur to the west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas were affected with torrential rains. Areas of Chiapas near the Guatemalan border were hit hard, with 33 rivers breaking their banks and homes, bridges (20 reported by the state government) and other infrastructure being smashed in the storm's wake. It has been claimed by Greenpeace that deforestation has played a role in excarbating the mudslides.

In addition, Pemex had evacuated 270 employees from its oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, although no damage has been reported and the plants have been restarted.

See also

• 2005 Atlantic hurricane season

External links

• NHC's archive of Hurricane Stan

• Current events
• Atlantic hurricanes
• 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
• Category 1 hurricanes