Although hurricanes occasionally form in the Pacific, they seldom affect El Salvador, with the notable exception of Hurricane Mitch and Hurricane Emily in 1998.

The heavy rainfall, flooding, and mudslides caused by Hurricane Mitch also severely damaged El Salvador's road network.

The Ministry of Health recorded a total of 109, 038 medical cases related to Hurricane Mitch between October 31 and November 18, 1998 ; 23 % of these cases were respiratory infections, followed by skin ailments, diarrhea, and conjunctivitis.

The Hurricane Mitch disaster prompted a tremendous response from the international community governments, nongovernmental organizations ( NGOs ), and private citizens alike.

In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras, leaving more than 5, 000 people dead and 1. 5 million displaced.

In 1998 Hurricane Mitch became the most deadly hurricane to strike the Western Hemisphere in the last two centuries.

Hurricane Mitch caused severe damage.

Bananas, formerly the country's second-largest export until being virtually wiped out by 1998's Hurricane Mitch, recovered in 2000 to 57 % of pre-Mitch levels.

Honduras received significant debt relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, including the suspension bilateral debt service payments and bilateral debt reduction by the Paris Club — including the U. S. -- worth over $ 400 million.

Another major blow to Honduran agriculture came from Hurricane Mitch and its aftermath in 1998 and 1999.

The Dutch consistently provide significant amounts of relief aid to victims of natural disasters, such as Hurricane Mitch in Central America, the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, and more recent catastrophes in Pakistan and Burma.

Alemán continued to privatize the economy and promote infrastructure projects such as highways, bridges, and wells, assisted in large part by foreign assistance received after Hurricane Mitch hit Nicaragua in October 1998.

The country partly rebuilt its economy during the 1990s, but was hit hard by Hurricane Mitch at the end of October 1998, almost exactly a decade after the similarly destructive Hurricane Joan and again in 2007 it was hit by Hurricane Felix a category 5 hurricane.

* 1998 – Hurricane Mitch, the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, makes landfall in Honduras.

* The most prominent natural disasters of the decade include: Hurricane Andrew striking South Florida in August 1992, the crippling super storm of March 1993 along the Eastern Seaboard, the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles, the Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe, Japan in January 1995, the Blizzard of 1996 in the eastern U. S., the US drought of 1999, the deadly Hurricane Mitch which struck Central America in October 1998, and the destructive Oklahoma tornado outbreak in May 1999, the August 1999 İzmit earthquake in Turkey, and the September 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan.

* October 29 – Hurricane Mitch makes landfall in Central America, killing an estimated 18, 000 people.

Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph ( 285 km / h ).

Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch was the most notable hurricane in the season.

At the time, Hurricane Mitch was the strongest Atlantic hurricane observed in the month of October, though it has since been surpassed by Hurricane Wilma of the 2005 season.

A National Hurricane Center satellite specialist, James Lushine, stated " during very unstable weather conditions the downburst of cold air from aloft can hit the surface like a bomb, exploding outward like a giant squall line of wind and water.

In September 2004, The Cayman Islands were hit by Hurricane Ivan, causing mass devastation, loss of human and animal life ( both wild and domestic / livestock ) and flooding, with some accounts reporting that 25 % or more of Grand Cayman had been underwater and with the lower floors of buildings being completely flooded.

Examples of alternate disaster recovery sites being compromised by the same disaster that affected the primary site include having had a primary site in World Trade Center I and the recovery site in 7 World Trade Center, both of which were destroyed in the 9 / 11 attack, and having one's primary site and recovery site in the same coastal region, which leads to both being vulnerable to hurricane damage ( for example, primary site in New Orleans and recovery site in Jefferson Parish, both of which were hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 ).

In 1979, Dominica was hit directly by Category 5 Hurricane David, causing widespread and extreme damage.

On August 17, 2007, Hurricane Dean, a Category 1 at the time, hit the island.

Onstage in Oslo, Norway, on 18 June, Bowie was hit in the eye with a lollipop thrown by a fan ; a week later he suffered chest pain while performing at the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel, Germany.

Hurricane KatrinaSince these darker times the Gulf Coast has been hit with numerous other hurricanes.

On 22 September 1955 Hurricane Janet hit Grenada killing 500 people and destroying 75 % of the nutmeg trees.

On September 7, 2004, Grenada was hit directly by category four Hurricane Ivan.

Economic conditions worsened when Hurricane Ivan hit the country in September 2004 ; progress in fiscal consolidation was impeded as government revenues fell and policy priority was shifted to post-hurricane relief.

The business community and the government benefited from favorable economic conditions until Hurricane Hazel hit the island in 1954.

Powerful hurricanes which have hit the island directly causing death and destruction include Hurricane Charlie in 1951 and Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.

In September 2005, Kid Rock filled in for Johnny Van Zant, the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd on the band's hit " Sweet Home Alabama " at the Hurricane Katrina benefit concert.

In November 1999, Nevis was hit by Hurricane Lenny, which caused some heavy damage to the island's infrastructure on the western coast, because of the storm's unusual track from west to east.

* 1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state.

The islands lie outside the hurricane belt ; despite this, Hurricane Flora damaged Tobago in 1963, and Tropical Storm Alma hit Trinidad in 1974, causing damage before obtaining full strength.

* Rebuilding or repairing thousands of houses following Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the El Salvador earthquakes in 2002, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Away from this centre is the more modern Pachuca, with warehouses, factories, supermarkets and a large football stadium called “ El Huracán ” ( The Hurricane ).

El Balalaika is a cafeteria / liquor store which opened its doors around 1962 and hasn't been closed since, with the exceptions of Hurricane Hugo and the occasional political elections.

* El Ciclón ( The Cyclone ), in opposition to their traditional opponent Huracán ( The Hurricane ).

John formed during the strong El Niño of 1991 to 1994 and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, the highest categorization for hurricanes.

Hurricane Adrian was an early season hurricane which took an unusual southwest to northeast track, bringing it closer to El Salvador than any other hurricane since reliable records began in 1949.

Operationally, this weakening was not noticed by the NHC, leading to their assessment of the storm making landfall in El Salvador around 11: 00 pm PDT ( 0600 UTC on May 20 ) as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir – Simpson Hurricane Scale.

However, the season wildly exceeded these bounds, as climatological effects including an El Niño caused Hurricane Ekeka to form on January 26.

Mad Hurricane, Ikarus Wing, Majin, Rocky, Mosquito, Cherry Bomber, Iron Killer, Blue Hawaii, El Matador, Stardust, Ganchanko, Hiryu, Pretty Rosa, Big Bang, Asteroid, Death Trap, Devil, Yoga, Great America, Western Buffalo, Red Arrow, JJ, El Cid, Mad Maximum, Great Simba, Siegfried, Ivan, Jupiter.