Tropical Storm Bret (1993)

Tropical Storm Bret

Tropical Storm Bret shortly after peak intensity on August 6
Meteorological history
Formed	August 4, 1993
Dissipated	August 11, 1993
Tropical storm
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS)
Highest winds	60 mph (95 km/h)
Lowest pressure	1002 mbar (hPa); 29.59 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	213 total
Damage	$35.7 million (1993 USD)
Areas affected	Windward Islands, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua
IBTrACS
Part of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Bret was the deadliest natural disaster in Venezuela since the 1967 Caracas earthquake. The third tropical cyclone of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane season, Bret formed on August 4 from a westward-moving, African tropical wave. Bret would later peak as a 60 mph (97 km/h) tropical storm as it neared Trinidad. It took an extremely southerly course through the Caribbean, passing over the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. High terrain in the northern parts of those countries severely disrupted the circulation of the storm, and Bret had weakened to a tropical depression before emerging over the extreme southwestern Caribbean Sea. There, it restrengthened to a tropical storm and made landfall in Nicaragua on August 10, dissipating soon after. Bret's remnants reached the Pacific Ocean, where they would later regenerate into Hurricane Greg.

Though Bret was only a weak tropical storm at landfall, it caused extreme flooding and nearly 200 deaths as it moved through South America, mostly in Venezuela. The first tropical storm to strike the country in 100 years, Bret deluged northern regions with 13.35 in (339 mm) of rainfall. The capital, Caracas, received 4.72 in (120 mm) of rain over seven hours, resulting in widespread mudslides in the hills around the city that buried houses and carried away cars. There were 173 deaths in the country, and damage was estimated at US$25 million (1993 USD).^{[nb 1]} Volunteers and firefighters helped storm victims cope with the damage, while workers cleared roads to restore transportation.

Outside of Venezuela, Bret first affected Trinidad and Tobago, causing minor flooding and power outages. It passed just south of Curaçao, where the storm damaged the coral reef and the roofs of 17 homes. The storm later brushed northern Colombia, killing one person there, before hitting Central America. In Nicaragua, Bret killed 31 people and left US$3 million in damage, with many coastal towns isolated by floods. There was one death in neighboring Costa Rica and seven in Honduras, all due to flooding. In Central America, damage would be compounded by Hurricane Gert as it traversed the region in early September.
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