We’ve had hurricanes for centuries, but does anyone know the history? As of 2023, there have been 1,708 tropical storms, 953 minor hurricanes, and 330 major hurricanes since 1851. No one ever pays attention to hurricanes unless they are near you. Hurricanes are very costly natural disasters. The major hurricanes are the most dangerous, but what are their names and how have they affected us?
The Last Island Hurricane: On August 8th, 1856 the United States had a hurricane called the Last Island hurricane. The hurricane hit Louisiana hard as a category 4 hurricane, killing 400 people and the island itself was split in half by this hurricane.
The Labor Day Hurricane: The Labor Day hurricane appeared in Florida in September of 1935. The hurricane was the first ever recorded Category 5 hurricane. It killed 485 people, including 260 World War 1 veterans who were working overseas.
Hurricane Audrey: Hurricane Audrey was one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history, killing at least 416 people in its devastation of the southwestern Louisiana coast in 1957. It was also the strongest June hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin as measured by pressure.
Hurricane Katrina: 18 years ago we had a category 5 hurricane called Katrina. Katrina was the costliest hurricane to ever hit the United States. It affected the areas of New Orleans, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and more. This hurricane caused more fatalities than Ian did. Katrina caused 1,392 deaths and almost 125 billion dollars in damage. The aftermath of Katrina was devastating, claiming another 1,800 lives.
Hurricane Ian: 2 years we had a category 5 hurricane called Ian. Hurricane Ian made landfall in southern Florida and caused some major damage. There were 161 fatalities and 13 people went missing. The damage Ian caused cost 113 billion dollars.
Hurricane Maria: Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths.
Hurricanes form all along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts but not all are deadly. Some may cause only a little to no damage.
Are past hurricanes connected to recent hurricanes? The answer is yes. Looking at the recent hurricane names you can see that all the names go in alphabet order and are just like past hurricanes. Some hurricane names get retired after so long. Future hurricane names are just like this year’s names. For example this year we had a hurricane named Arelene and next year the first hurricane is gonna be named Alberto. The first hurricane of every season starts with the letter A.
Sources Used
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames_history.shtml
https://hurricanescience.org/history/storms/2010s/index.html
