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Tropical Storm Barry was a strong tropical storm that made landfall on the Florida Panhandle during August 2001. The third tropical cyclone and second named storm of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season, Barry developed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on July 24 and tracked westward. The wave entered the Caribbean on July 29 and spawned a low pressure area that organized into Tropical Storm Barry on August 3. After fluctuating in intensity and track, the system attained peak winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) over the Gulf of Mexico, and headed northward before moving ashore on the Gulf Coast. Unlike the devastating Tropical Storm Allison earlier in the season, Barry's effects were moderate. Nine deaths occurred, six in Cuba and three in Florida. As a tropical cyclone, rainfall peaked at 8.9 in (230 mm) at Tallahassee, and wind gusts topped out at 79 mph (127 km/h). The wave that would become Barry dropped large amounts of rain across southern Florida, leading to significant flooding and structural damage. Moderate flooding occurred throughout the Panhandle, where damage as a result of high wind gusts was also reported. Barry is estimated to have caused $30 million (2001 USD) in damage. (more...)
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