On Nov. 22, 1969, Martha became a Category 1 hurricane looming off theCaribbean coast of Panama and Costa Rica.Drifting southward, Martha went on to make landfall over western Panama, wherethe storm dissipated on the 25th.
Martha killed five people in Costa Rica while wreaking damage worth about $180million (2010).
Flooding rain, especially for Costa Rica, was the storm's most destructiveaspect.
The path of Martha was unusually far south for an Atlantic hurricane, andMartha made the most southerly landfall on record. Moreover, Martha's Caribbeanlandfall on Panama is the only such landfall on record.
By AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews
