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Monday, November 10, 2008
Paloma’s furious rise and fall
Hurricane Paloma has fizzled to a remnant low that presents no threat to South Florida, but it leaves behind a legacy of at least one dead in the Caribbean, hundreds of homes destroyed and the second-fastest wind speed ever recorded for a November hurricane.
“Re-development of this system is not expected due to strong upper-level winds,” the National Hurricane Center said in a 1 p.m. advisory.
At its height, Paloma reached Category 4 hurricane status with top winds of 145 mph at 4 p.m. Saturday. No November storm has exceeded that speed except for Hurricane Lenny in 1999, which peaked at 155 mph. Lenny killed 17 and caused $330 million in damage in Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands.
The harm from Paloma is still being tallied. Preliminary totals include one dead from drowning in Jamaica, hundreds of homes destroyed in Cuba and extensive crop damage.
No Category 4 storm has formed this late in November except for Lenny.
