Hurricane Luis was a long lived and powerful Category 4 hurricane. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall and the third-most intense hurricane recorded during the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm, along with Humberto, Iris, and Karen, was one of four simultaneous tropical systems in the Atlantic basin. Luis caused very extensive damage to Antigua, St. Barthelemy, the island of St. Martin and Anguilla as it affected Bermuda. The storm accounted for 19 confirmed deaths, left nearly 20,000 homeless (mostly in Anguilla, Barbuda, and St. Martin), and affected more than 70,000 people. Total damage was estimated at $3.3 billion (1995 USD) across the affected areas. Earlier Category 4 storms that impacted the Leeward Islands in the 20th century include Hurricane Dog in 1950, Hurricane Donna in 1960, Hurricane David in 1979, and Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Luis was the second of three tropical cyclones to affect Guadeloupe in a short period; Hurricane Iris had hit a week before, and Hurricane Marilyn only 10 days after. After Hurricane Luis, the Leeward Islands were struck the following years by numerous hurricanes : Hurricane Bertha and Hortense in 1996, Erika in 1997, Georges in 1998, Jose and Lenny in 1999, and Debby in 2000. The system formed from a tropical wave, south of Cape Verde islands west of Africa, on August 27, and attained tropical storm status on August 29. The storm reached hurricane status on August 31 and later developed into a Category 4 hurricane. Luis affected the Leeward Islands at this strength from September 4 to September 6. By the time Luis made landfall on Newfoundland, it had weakened down to a Category 1 hurricane and then became extratropical on September 11. Meteorological history On August 26, 1995, an area of disturbed weather associated with a tropical wave emerged over the eastern Atlantic Ocean, between the western coast of Africa and the Cape Verde Islands. A low-level circulation center formed and moved westward until it developed a weak surface low on August 27, and at around 1200 UTC on August 27, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) designated the system as Tropical Depression Thirteen. 36 hours later, on August 29, the NHC upgraded the system to Tropical Storm Luis. Although convective activity fluctuated over the next two days as the result of a nearby wind shear, the storm continued to intensify as pressure rose. When the wind shear relented, an