This week in history: Hurricane Cleo churns up the coast
On August 27, 1964, Hurricane Cleo was the first major hurricane to hit Palm Beach County since 1949. The Category 2 storm made landfall at Miami and left a path of destruction up to Melbourne. Damage was relatively minor, but widespread — power outages, broken glass, downed trees and overturned trailers. The Palm Beach Times was unable to publish for the first time since the 1949 hurricane.
Some images and descriptions from the August 28, 1964, Palm Beach Post:
Tags: hurricanes, This Week in History
Posted in Flashback blog August 23, 2010 at 6:00 am. 2 comments
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Although Cleo was a category 2 hurricane that is not considered a major hurricane.
You’re right, jbl, major was a poor choice of words. Cleo has been described as major, probably because of the widespread property damage, but it doesn’t fit the official definition of major hurricane, which is reserved for Category 3, 4 and 5 storms.