Hurricane Season 2006: How safe are you?
Duval County evacuation zones.
Hurricane Dora, September 1964
This photo clearly shows the extent Downtown Jacksonville will flood in a major storm.
Dora was the first hurricane to impact northeast Florida in at least 79 years. It began as a low pressure area that
passed through the Cape Verde islands on the 28th of August. By the time reconaissance aircraft investigated the
system on the 1st, it had developed into a full-fledged tropical storm well east of the Lesser Antilles. It developed
into a hurricane on the 2nd as it began to move northwest. As it passed 300 miles south of Bermuda, it tracked
on a more westerly course, missing the trough developed from the extratropical cyclone formerly known as Cleo.
This is when Ethel formed to its east. As Dora approached the north Florida coast, its movement slowed, allowing
a populace not used to hurricane evacuation the time to do just that. Tides peaked at 12 feet at Anastasia Island.
The heaviest of the rain fell during the 11th and the 12th and the storm doubled back to the east. Below is the
track of this cyclone, provided by the National Hurricane Center.
Dora caused only one death, but did about $280 million ($1.5 billion in 2000 dollars) in damage, primarily due to extensive inland flooding.
2005 Tropical Storm Tracks. How long can Jacksonville avoid disaster?
According to a Hurricane Evacuation Study compiled by the Northeast Florida Regional Council, the estimated evacuation time for Duval County has increased from 22 hours in 1998 to 30.25 hours today.
The most congestion is expected in northbound evacuation traffic culminating at the Interstate 10 segment just west of Interstate 295 and at the Interstate 4 corridor culminating at I-295 and Interstate 95 south of Jacksonville, according to the study.
For more evacuation information: https://www.firstcoastnews.com/weather/stormtrack/evacuation_map.aspx