page_title: Tropical Storm Hanna (2002)
section_title: U.S. Gulf Coast
hierarchical_section_title: Tropical Storm Hanna (2002) / Impact / U.S. Gulf Coast
caption_attribution_description: English: Rainfall produced by Tropical Storm Hanna during September 2002.
context_page_description: Tropical Storm Hanna was a moderately strong tropical storm that affected the Gulf Coast and Southeastern regions of the United States. The tenth tropical cyclone and eighth named storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season, Hanna formed through the complex interaction of a surface trough, a tropical wave, and an upper-level low pressure system, a disturbance in the upper atmosphere. Designated a tropical depression at 0000 UTC on September 12, the storm remained disorganized throughout its duration, though it attained tropical storm status and a peak intensity of 1,001 mbar, with winds of 60 miles per hour. Hanna crossed extreme southeastern Louisiana, and made a second landfall along the Alabama–Mississippi border.
  Because most of the associated convective activity was east of the center of circulation, Louisiana and Mississippi received minimal damage. However, on Dauphin Island, Alabama, the storm caused coastal flooding which closed roads and forced the evacuation of residents. Florida received high wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and strong surf that resulted in the deaths of three swimmers. 20,000 homes in the state lost electricity.
context_section_description: In Louisiana, damage was light, as the majority of Hanna's convective activity was to the east. Rainfall was mostly less than 1 inches (25 mm), and little rise in tide was reported. Little or no damage occurred in neighboring Mississippi, where similar effects were reported.
  Damage was greater in Alabama, where rain reached 7.55 inches (192 mm) at Coden and 5.75 inches (146 mm) at Belle Fontaine. Sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) were reported at Dauphin Island, with gusts up to 51 mph (82 km/h). The lowest barometric pressure was also at Dauphin Island; it reportedly fell to 1005 mb. Storm tides of 3.7 feet (1.1 m) caused minor coastal flooding and beach erosion in some areas, including along the causeway that crosses the Mobile Bay. One tornado, an F0 on the Fujita Scale, touched down in south Mobile County, knocking down trees. Some residents were left without electric power, and there was flooding on both ends of Dauphin Island, leading to road closures. The storm forced the evacuation of some residents on the western end of the island. In addition to the heavy rains, trees were downed in parts of Baldwin County.
  In Florida, peak gusts were recorded at 68 miles per hour (109 km/h) near Pensacola Beach. The winds, combined with associated thunderstorms, caused minor damage, and brought down small trees and power lines. Throughout Walton County, Hanna left approximately 15,000 customers without power, forming a statewide total of 20,000 power outages. Due to high winds, bridges to offshore islands were closed. Minor beach erosion was reported along the coast of Walton, Bay and Gulf counties. Three people drowned in high surf; one near Pensacola Beach, one at Seagrove Beach and another at Panama City Beach. The fatalities prompted a local Police Major to comment, "People are getting into the water and not paying attention to the warning flags." Heavy rain fell throughout the central and western Panhandle; the highest reported total was 9.68 inches (246 mm), at Chipley. As a result, rivers topped their banks, while county roads and homes in Perry, as well as streets in the Tallahassee region, were flooded. The total damage in Florida is estimated at $400,000 (2002 USD).
caption: Rainfall totals