Hurricane Belle

Hurricane Belle

Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Belle near peak intensity on August 8
Formed	August 6, 1976
Dissipated	August 15, 1976
(Extratropical after August 10)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 120 mph (195 km/h)
Lowest pressure	957 mbar (hPa); 28.26 inHg
Fatalities	12 total
Damage	$100 million (1976 USD)
Areas affected	North Carolina, Mid-Atlantic states, New England, and Atlantic Canada
Part of the 1976 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Belle was a Category 3 Atlantic tropical cyclone in August 1976. The storm, at one point, had winds around 120 miles per hour (190 kilometres per hour) before it moved northward up the East Coast of the United States.

The storm formed on August 6; it became Tropical Storm Belle on August 7. Later on August 7, it became a hurricane. On August 9, Belle's winds peaked at 120 miles per hour (190 kilometres per hour).

Because of Hurricane Belle's proximity, hurricane watches were issued from Georgia to Maine.

The hurricane brushed the North Carolina coast with gale-force winds. Unlike most storms that threaten the Northeastern United States, Belle didn't accelerate as it came closer to land.

On the morning of August 10, Belle came ashore as a minimal hurricane near Jones Beach on Long Island, New York. Just after crossing the Long Island Sound, it came ashore as a strong tropical storm near Bridgeport and New Haven, Connecticut.

Belle took twelve lives when it struck the East Coast of the United States. Damage was $100 million.