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The 2005 hurricane season unexpectedly became the busiest season in history to date with 5 major landfalling storms for the United States. Damages during the 2005 season topped $100 billion and caused at least 1,918 deaths.
The state of Florida was struck twice by major hurricanes during the 2005 season. Hurricanes Dennis and Wilma left behind a path of destruction many will never forget.
 Hurricane Dennis made landfall on the Panhandle as a category 3 storm on July 10, 2005 and caused over 2 billion dollars (2005 US dollars) in damages.
Dennis produced a storm surge of 6 to 7 feet above normal tide levels on Santa Rosa Island near where the center made landfall and overwashed Santa Rosa Island near Navarre Beach.
A storm surge of 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels occurred in Apalachee Bay, Florida, which inundated parts of the towns of St. Marks, Carrabelle, Eastpoint, St. George Island, Apalachicola, and other nearby coastal towns. The surge was higher than known wind reports supported for these areas. The surge was likely triggered by an oceanic trapped shelf wave that propagated northward along the Florida west coast. Modeling results from the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies at Florida State University suggest that although Dennis was roughly 150 miles northwest of the area, this remotely generated sea-level rise added 3 to 4 feet to the surge in and around the Apalachee Bay area.
Storm surges of 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels occurred elsewhere along the Florida west coast, in the Florida Keys, and along the coast of Alabama. Tides of 2 to 4 feet above normal were reported along the coasts of Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana.
Dennis produced widespread heavy rainfall and caused severe damage most every where it touched. Reports indicated that Dennis was directly responsible for 42 deaths – 22 in Haiti, 16 in Cuba, 3 in the United States, and 1 in Jamaica.
Dennis was also indirectly responsible for 12 deaths in Florida – 2 from electrocution, 2 from carbon monoxide poisoning, 4 from automobile accidents, 2 accidental falls during clean-up, and 2 cases of natural causes exacerbated by storm stress.
The American Insurance Services Group estimated the insured property damage in the United States at $1.115 billion. Based on a doubling of this figure to account for uninsured property damage, the total United States damage estimated for Dennis was $2.23 billion.
 Wilma formed and became an extremely intense hurricane over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. It had the all-time lowest central pressure for an Atlantic basin hurricane, and it devastated the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula. Wilma also inflicted extensive damage over southern Florida when it made landfall on October 24, 2005.
A storm surge of 4 to 8 feet was reported from coastal Collier Counter. It is likely, however, that higher storm surges occurred over uninhabited areas of southwestern Florida to the south of where Wilma made landfall. Storm surges of 4 to 5 feet were observed over much of the lower and middle Florida Keys, with other areas’ surge being observed to nearly 7 feet. However, a storm surge of near 9 feet was estimated visually in the Marathon area. The overall storm surge resulted in considerable flooding over substantial portions of the Florida Keys.
In southern Florida, damage was unusually widespread, including numerous downed trees, substantial crop losses, downed power lines and poles, broken windows, extensive roof damage, and destruction of mobile homes. Wilma caused the largest disruption to electrical service ever experienced in Florida. Media reports indicated up to 98% of South Florida lost electrical service, and power outages were reported in 42 Florida counties.
Wilma produced 10 tornadoes over the Florida peninsula on October 23rd and 24th: one each in Collier, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Okeechobee, and Polk Counties, and 4 in Brevard County.
Twenty-two deaths were directly attributed to Wilma: 12 in Haiti, 1 in Jamaica, 4 in Mexico, and 5 in Florida.
Preliminary reports of the amount of total insured damage compiled by the Property Claims Service was $6.1 billion. Based on a doubling of this figure to account for uninsured property damage, the total estimated United States damage for Wilma was $12.2 billion.
The storms for the 2005 season were as follows:
 Tropical Storm Arlene
Tropical Storm Bret
Hurricane Cindy**
Hurricane Dennis
Hurricane Emily
Tropical Storm Franklin
Tropical Storm Gert
Tropical Storm Harvey
Hurricane Irene
Tropical Depression Ten
Tropical Storm Jose
Hurricane Katrina
Tropical Storm Lee
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Nate
Hurricane Ophelia
Hurricane Philippe
Hurricane Rita
Tropical Depression Nineteen
Hurricane Stan
Tropical Storm Tammy
Subtropical Depression Twenty-Two
Hurricane Vince
Hurricane Wilma
Tropical Storm Alpha
Hurricane Beta
Tropical Storm Gamma
Tropical Storm Delta
Hurricane Epsilon
Tropical Storm Zeta
*Cindy was redesignated as a hurricane in a post-storm analysis.
** Tropical Depressions listed above are those that did not reach tropical storm strength.
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