Hurricane Leah
| Category 4 hurricane | |
|---|---|
 Hurricane Leah at its peak on May 7th, 2023 | |
| Formed | May 2, 2022 |
| Dissipated | May 11, 2022 |
| Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 280 km/h (175 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 937 hPa (mbar); 27.67 inHg |
| Fatalities | 222 deaths >540 injuries
|
| Areas affected | Ossinia, Lower Aseu Southeastern Zamastan |
Hurricane Leah was a deadly and destructive Category 4 hurricane that formed in the Cantalle Ocean and was the fourth named storm in the 2022 season, as well as the deadliest and strongest formed. 222 people died in Lower Aseu, Marivista, Ossinia, and Zamastan. It originated from a large tropical wave that moved off the Southwest Adulan coast on May 2 and became a tropical depression on May 4th. Leah intensified into a tropical storm a day later, becoming the earliest twelfth named storm on record in the Cantalle basin. Leah first hit the Northern Cantalle Islands, killing 31 people in Lower Aseu and 22 in Marivista. The storm then moved across the length of Ossinia, strengthening in rapid intensification just beforehand on May 7th. That day, Leah became a major hurricane, and later attained its peak 1-minute sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h), making it a Category 4 hurricane. The storm devastated Ossinia's west coast, leaving 167 people dead and destroying much of the city of Beauchamp. The approaching storm prompted the issuing of many warnings and watches for Alenchon province, with Governor Peter Younggrain ordering the evacuation of the island of Antry and several coastal communities on the mainland. 2 people died in Alenchon as a result of flooding in Salland. After landfall, Leah caused significant wind damage in southwest and central Alenchon and Tregueux before becoming a tropical storm later that day. It weakened further to a tropical depression over Alutiana on May 11th and dissipated in Titania Bay, becoming one of six recorded tropical storms to cross over mainland from the Ossinia Sea into Titania Bay.
The effects of Leah were devastating in large part due to the effects of Hurricane Jude two months prior, which had left much of the region in recovery. Infrastructure damaged during Jude, which was a less-powerful storm, was not able to accomodate for the intensity of Hurricane Leah, which brought a 10-foot high storm surge in Ossinia. 5-foot surges were observed in Marivista and Lower Aseu. While mainland Zamastan was largely spared from the severity of flooding seen throughout the Northern Cantalle Islands, wind was a major damage factor throughout affected provinces.