Hurricane Iris

October 11, 2001

Seawifsiris

Provided by: NASA/GSFC, ORBIMAGE, SeaWiFS Project
Summary authors & editors: Martin Ruzek

The SeaWiFS satellite sensor flying high above the atmosphere captured this image on Monday of Hurricane Iris about to slam into the coast of Belize . A Category 4 storm, Iris blasted the southern coast with winds of 140 mph striking an area that had not been hit with a full strength hurricane in nearly 60 years. At least 15 American tourists on a diving expedition were killed. 13,000 people were left homeless and 95% of Belize's banana crop was detroyed. By Tuesday, Iris had weakened to a tropical depression as it crossed the the mountains of eastern Mexico.

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