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Puerto Rico is a territory of the Untied States. The island is located east of Hispaniola, west of the Virgin Islands, and it borders the Carribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Its location has made it a hotspot of cyclone activity.

The most damaging hurricane to date was Hurricane Maria, which crossed the island form southeast to north as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale.

Pre-1600s

 * 1508 - Hurricane San Roque - First recorded record of a tropical cyclone to affect Puerto Rico. Reported by Juan Ponce de León. The caravel of Ponce de León left Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, but another storm 13 days after the preceding storm beached it on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico at Guaynia. Affected the southern coast of the island from Guayanilla, Puerto Rico, westward.


 * 1526 - Hurricane San Francisco: The San Francisco hurricane progressed westward or west-northwestward and may have also affected the northern group of the Leeward Islands and the Virgin Islands. A violent hurricane moved slowly making landfall in northern Puerto Rico on October 4 and lasted until October 5. The storm started at night, lasted 24 hours, and ruined the major part of the City of San Juan, Puerto Rico, including the church, and caused much damage to haciendas, agriculture, and wide spread flooding. One source describes the storm in both 1526 and 1527.


 * 1530 - Hurricane Santa Ana was the first of three successive tropical cyclones to affect Puerto Rico in 1530. This hurricane of modest intensity brought much rain to Puerto Rico. It affected the entire island and destroyed half of the houses in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Island only had population of 3,100 at the time.


 * 1530 - Hurricane San Hipólito was a weak hurricane that brought much more rain than violent winds and caused more extensive flooding and crop damage.


 * 1530 - Hurricane San Ramón was a violent hurricane struck Puerto Rico nine days later. Floods isolated communities and drowned an uncounted number of persons to death. The hurricane greatly damaged livestock and agriculture and so distressed the Spanish colonists that they considered abandoning Puerto Rico altogether.  The barrage of hurricanes during 1530 brought a condition of great suffering and poverty on Puerto Rico, which persisted for several years.


 * 1537 - an unnamed hurricane in July struck Puerto Rico. The strom has severe wind and rain.  River currents carried away and destroyed plantations on the riverbanks.  The floods drowned many slaves and cattle to death.  This season caused even more damage than that of 1530 did.  The storm put Puerto Ricans in great necessity and increased their will to depart the island of Puerto Rico.


 * 1568 - Hurricane San Bartolomé was suscribes by historian Diego de Torres Vargas, writing of a severe hurricane that made landfall and caused widespread damage in San Juan, Puerto Rico and in Santo Domingo. First hurricane to be named with "Saint of the Day" affecting Puerto Rico (previous ones back to 1508 were labeled by historians).


 * 1575 - Tropical Storm San Mateo of 1575 was discribed by historian Diego de Torres Vargas, mentioning a severe storm that struck the island on double of Saint Matthew. Last recorded tropical cyclone to impact Puerto Rico during sixteenth century.

1600s
1615 - Hurricane San Leoncio made landfall in Puerto Rico and caused extensive damage to Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, to the agriculture, and to sugar crops. Historian Diego de Torres Vargas described the storm. In the aftermath, people covered the cathedral with straw thatch until Philip III of Spain raised 4000 ducats. A presentment to Philip III of Spain, king of Iberian Union, talks about the storm when Captain General Felipe de Beaumont y Navarra served as Governor of Puerto Rico. This document, now archived at General Archive of the Indies, describes a great storm of water and air crashing houses of wood and some of stone, leaving others without door and window tiles. The storm hit the countryside with similar damage with some deaths and injuries to persons; it isolated and destroyed cassava and sugarcane. It drove aground carracks from the port with most of their cargo lost. The residents asked the king for a reduction in their tribute. Other commentators note that the storm destroyed the Capital of Puerto Rico.

1700s
1738 - Hurricane Santa Rosa was a hurricane caused damage to agriculture and many homes in Puerto Rico. It is estimated that it entered Puerto Rico in the east and crossed over the entire island, then passed on to the Dominican Republic.

June 13, 1780 - Hurricane San Antonio "caused deaths and losses" on Puerto Rico, after having also struck St. Lucia, where it killed around 4,000 to 5,000 people. It is also known as the St. Lucia Hurricane. It later went on to the Dominican Republic.

1780 - "Great Hurricane," also known as the San Calixto hurricane, was a tropical cyclone that killed an estimated 20,000-22,000 people and had winds of 200mph, didn't do considerable damage even though. passing close to Puerto Rico. The hurricane steadily neared Puerto Rico as it paralleled the southern coastline, and on October 14 made its closest point of approach, to the southwest portion of the island. It subsequently turned to the northwest, going through the Mona Passage before making landfall near the present-day Dominican Republic province of Samaná.

1800s
1825 -

1835 -

1837 -

1852 -

1867 -

1876 -

1893 -

1896 -

1899 -

1900s
1916 -

1926 -


 * September 13, 1928 - Hurricane San Felipe Segundo was a major hurricane that made landfall near Guayama as a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest on record to strike the island. On September 13, the 15 mi eye crossed Puerto Rico in eight hours from the southeast to the northwest, moving ashore near Guayama and exiting between Aguadilla and Isabela. A ship near the southern coast reported a pressure of 931 mbar, and the cup anemometer at San Juan reported sustained winds of 160 mph before failing. As the wind station was 30 mi north of the storm's center, winds near the landfall point were unofficially estimated as high as 200 mph. On this basis, the hurricane is believed to have made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, although there was uncertainty in the peak intensity, due to the large size and slow movement of the storm. After emerging from Puerto Rico, the hurricane had weakened to winds of about 140 mph, based on a pressure reading of 941 mbar at Isabela.

1956 -

1970 - Tropicla Depression Fifteen was the wettest tropical cyclone on record to affect Puerto Rico. The depression left 10,000 people homeless across Puerto Rico, with 3,000 housed in emergency shelters in San Juan. At least 600 houses were destroyed and another 1,000 damaged. Damage was particularly severe in Barceloneta, Aibonito, and Coamo. Across the island, the depression affected at least 40 state roads, with fifteen blocked by landslides, and eleven bridges destroyed. Flooding forced the closure of Puerto Rico Highway 2 between Manatí and Barceloneta. The depression left more than $40 million (1970 USD, $ USD) in crop damage, primarily to sugarcane and coffee, as reported by William R. Poage, the chair of the House Agricultural Committee. Throughout Puerto Rico, the depression caused damage estimated at $65 million (1970 USD, $ USD), as well as at least 18 confirmed fatalities. A report six months after the depression indicated there were 34 people missing, although their status is unknown.

1989 -

1996 -

1998 -

2000s

 * August 23, 2003 - Tropical Depression Nine's remnants caused moderate rainfall in Puerto Rico, where two to three inches (50 to 75 mm) of precipitation were recorded. Damage in Puerto Rico totaled $20,000 (2003 USD, $ USD).


 * September 15, 2004 - Tropical Storm Jeanne was a hurricane that made landfall in Puerto Rico as a tropical storm. The storm made landfall close to Guayama, Puerto Rico, while it moved across the island at 10 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were near 65 mph with higher gusts. Eight people were killed in the island.


 * August 25, 2011 - Hurricane Irene was a hurricane that made landfall in Puerto Rico as Category 1. The governor at the the time declared a state of emergency for the storm. Across Puerto Rico, heavy rains caused extensive damage to roads while hurricane-force winds toppled many trees and utility poles, which led more than 1 million residences without power. Former president of the United States Barack Obama declared a state of emergency. About 121,000 customers were cut off from potable water service at the height of the storm, and islandwide at least 771 people had to take shelter. At higher elevations, winds estimated by radar neared 111 mph.


 * September 6, 2017 - Hurricane Irma passed north of Puerto Rico, but still caused significant damage to the United States territory. Along the coast, a tide gauge observed waves up to 1.5 ft mean higher high water. Much of the main island experienced sustained tropical storm force winds, with a peak sustained wind speed of 55 mph at a weather station along San Juan Bay, while the same site observed a peak wind gust of 74 mph. However, on the island of Culebra, a wind gust of 111 mph was reported. Mainly due to strong winds, approximately 1.1 million out of 1.5 million of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's customers lost electricity. Portions of Puerto Rico received heavy rainfall, with a peak total of 13.04 in in Bayamón.


 * September 20, 2017 - Hurricane Maria made landfall near Yabucoa with sustained winds of 155 mph (250 km/h), making it a strong Category 4 hurricane; this made Maria the strongest hurricane to hit the island since 1928. Monetary damage from Maria was estimated $90 billion for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, making Maria the third-costliest hurricane in the United States, as well as the costliest hurricane to affect the island, greatly surpassing that of Hurricane Georges in 1998. The death toll from Maria, originally set at 65, was later increased to 2,981 fatalities, making Maria one of the deadliest hurricanes in the United States. Maria produced a 6 to 9 ft storm surge near where it moved ashore, as well as torrential rainfall reaching 37.9 in near Caguas. The heavy rains caused flooding and landslides. The hurricane knocked down about 80% of the power poles across the island, leaving almost the entirety of the territory without power. On the island of Vieques, Maria destroyed all of the wooden structures, and nearby Culebra had similar levels of damage.


 * July 10, 2018 - Gusty winds from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl left about 24,000 people without power. In the wake of July 10, approximately 24,000 Puerto Ricans lost power on the island as a result of gusty winds and flooding from Beryl's remnants. The enhanced rainfall also triggered flash flooding that closed several roadways and downed several trees. A landslide was reported in the town of Naranjito, although there were no reports of fatalities or injuries.


 * August 28, 2019 - Hurricane Dorian produced 62 mph wind gusts and 5.44 in of rainfall while intensifying north of the island. Approximately 23,000 households lost power across the territory. A man in Bayamón died when he fell off his roof trying to clean drains in advance of the storm.


 * September 19, 2019 - Swells from Hurricane Humberto hit the north coast of Puerto Rico, causing extensive beach erosion and some coastal damage.


 * September 24, 2019 - Tropical Storm Karen struck the islands of Culebra and Vieques. Heavy rainfall in Puerto Rico caused power outages and landslides.


 * July 30, 2020 - Tropical Storm Isaias produced flooding across Puerto Rico while passing southwest of the island. In Puerto Rico, about 448,000 customers and 23 hospitals lost power and about 150,000 customers lost water service due to electric blackouts and blocked intakes.  A woman was dragged by an river in Rincón, Puerto Rico while she was crossing a bridge due to heavy rain; she was found dead two days later.

Deadly storms
The following is a list of Atlantic tropical storms that caused fatalities in Puerto Rico.