Ураган "Кинг" в Майами (1950)

Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 1950

Hurricane King was the most severe hurricane to strike the city of Miami, Florida, since the 1926 Miami hurricane. It was the eleventh tropical storm and the last of six major hurricanes in the 1950 Atlantic hurricane season. The cyclone formed in the western Caribbean Sea on October 13, and initially moved northeastward, slowly strengthening. Hurricane King crossed Cuba on October 17, causing seven deaths and $2 million in damage (1950 USD). It reached its peak intensity of 130 mph (215 km/h) and subsequently made landfall on downtown Miami. The hurricane damaged 20,861 houses in southern Florida, 580 of them severely, and destroyed a further 248. Further inland, King caused heavy crop damage, particularly to the Citrus industry. After weakening to a tropical storm, King moved across Georgia, where it caused isolated power outages and minor damage. Across the United States, the hurricane left four fatalities and $30 million in damage ($316 million in 2014 USD).

The origins of Hurricane King were from a tropical depression that developed just off the north coast of Honduras on October 13. It was a small system throughout its duration, and initially moved toward the east and east northeast. At the time, the system was considered a weak and broad depression, producing convection, or thunderstorms, from Honduras to western Cuba. It tracked to the east northeast, becoming a tropical storm on October 14. The system was later given the name "King" from the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. While crossing over Cuba, Hurricane King produced winds of up to The hurricane killed seven people and caused $2 million (1950 USD) in damage throughout the country. Offshore, a freighter sunk during the storm, prompting the crew's rescue by the Cuban navy. There was an initial report of ten people missing on the ship, although it is unknown how many, if any, were related to the seven confirmed deaths in the country. A preliminary survey indicated there were about 2,000 store windows that were broken during the storm. Overall, the citrus crop damage totaled about $3 million, Additionally, the hurricane flooded about 20.3 square miles (53 km2) of vegetable fields around Lake Okeechobee. Intense rainbands spread across the state's eastern coastline; Hillsboro Inlet Light near Fort Lauderdale recorded sustained winds of , and St. Augustine Light recorded a gust of Further inland, Jacksonville reported sustained winds of with gusts to The hurricane was one of two major hurricanes – a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir Simpson scale – to hit the state in 1950. It was the first time on record that two storms of such intensity hit Florida in the same year, and has only been repeated since in 2004 with hurricanes Charley and Jeanne, and in 2005 with hurricanes Dennis and Wilma.

Later in its duration, King moved into Georgia as a weakening tropical storm before dissipating. Across the state, King produced $250,000 in damage (1950 USD) and caused one death. Across Florida, a total of 3,897 people filed damage claims after receiving damage from the hurricane, 80% of them in the Miami area. Insurance companies paid about $1 million to compensate for the storm damage. Due to the loss in citrus crop, prices briefly increased, although they returned to normal levels by late October. The name King was not used again after the season, although it was on the naming list for 1951 and 1952 due to being part of the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. The Phonetic Alphabet was decommissioned in 1953 in favor of using female names. Based on population growth in south Florida, it is estimated that a storm identical to Hurricane King would cause $2.8 billion in insured damage if it struck in 2001, with the total roughly split between Broward and Miami Dade counties.