Hurricane Frances: 10 Years Later

Hurricane Frances started as a tropical wave off the coast of Africa, and dissipated 12 days later over the St. Lawrence basin. During those 12 days, Frances wrecked havoc on the agricultural economy of the Bahamas, destroying nearly all the banana, pineapple and corn crop. The Texas-sized storm then made landfall on Florida's Hutchinson Island, and moved across the state at a snail's pace towards just north of Tampa, where it exited into the gulf. Frances then made landfall again, this time in the Florida panhandle, and traveled up through several states, causing wind and flood damages. All told, the storm killed 49 people and caused $9 billion in damages.