Deadly Hurricanes Have Their Names Retired
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate will no longer be used to name hurricanes.
The World Meteorological Organization's Region IV Hurricane Committee retired the names because they were so deadly and destructive that reusing the name would be insensitive to victims. Names are usually reused on a six-year cycle.
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Hurricane Harvey was a category-4 hurricane that made landfall along the middle Texas coast on Aug. 25. The storm dropped historic rainfall amounts that added up to five feet. Catastrophic flooding followed, and 68 people died.
Hurricane Irma reached category 5 intensity on Sept. 5 and made seven total landfalls, four across the northern Caribbean Islands. The storm was a category-4 when it landed in the Florida Keys on Sept. 10. Due to Irma's strong winds, heavy rain and high surf, 44 direct deaths were recorded outside the U.S. In the country, seven direct deaths were reported, and an additional 85 indirect deaths occurred. Hundreds more were injured.
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Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Dominica as a category 5 on Sept. 19 and later, Puerto Rico as a category 4. Other islands of the northeastern Caribbean Sea were also damaged. Maria caused 31 direct deaths with 34 missing in Dominica, and two direct deaths in Guadeloupe. Sixty-five people were killed in Puerto Rico. It is not known how many are direct or indirect.
Hurricane Nate made landfall as a category 1 hurricane on the northern Gulf Coast. Significant rainfall impacted Central America and 44 deaths were reported as a result. After a shipwreck in Panama, the death toll rose to 45. Nine people were missing in the region.
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The names will be replaced with Harold, Idalia, Margot, and Nigel and will first appear in the 2023 list of storm names.
These four names makes 86 total names retired since 1954, when storms first began being named.
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