Central America Hurricane of 1941

The Central America Hurricane of 1941 was a powerful category 3 hurricane and the deadliest hurricane of the 1941 Atlantic hurricane season. The hurricane killed 50 people, most of them at sea.

Meteorological history
The exact origin of the hurricane is unclear, it is assumed that the storm formed earlier from a tropical wave moving off the coast of Africa. It was already a tropical storm when it was detected 75 miles northwest of Barbados. Moving almost due west, the storm passed south of St Lucia and entered the Caribbean Sea. The storm then rapidly reached hurricane strength as it moved due west. On September 27, the hurricane strengthened into a category 3 hurricane with maximum winds of 120 mph before making landfall in northeastern Nicaragua. Still maintaining hurricane strength, the storm crashed though Honduras bringing 100 mph winds to the country. A low barometric pressure of 992 millibars was recorded in La Ceiba, the exact overall pressure however is unknown. After briefly passing over the Gulf of Honduras, the hurricane made a second landfall in Belize as a moderate tropical storm on September 28. The hurricane then moved inland though Guatemala and the southern Yucatán Peninsula before emerging in the Bay of Campeche as a tropical depression, the remnants then dissipated as it made landfall in Veracruz, Mexico.

Impact
About 30-50 people died in the Central America Hurricane of 1941, most of the deaths were from ships that sank during the storm.

Caribbean
The SS Ethel Sakel was the first ship to fall victim to the hurricane. On September 25, rescuers received an SOS or "sinking" message from the stricken ship which was located about 125 miles north Aruba. Help came late when the ship loaded with steel girders sank, taking 20 of the 33 crew men with her, only 13 sailors were rescued. Two other ships were also caught in the storm, one of which sank drowning 27 crewmen.

Nicaragua
The town of Cape Gracias was leveled by the hurricanes 120 mph winds, most of the buildings including a weather station were ether severely damaged or destroyed. There were only three deaths from the hurricane, thanks to an early warning system. Along the coast, the storm brought a storm surge of 2 meters which caused severe damage to coastal communities.

Belize
The hurricane caused severe tree damage in the Silk Creek Reserve. About 10% of the pine trees were blown down by the storm. There was also minor damage to the lay islands off the coast of Belize.