A devastating 2017 hurricane season leads to four retired names

Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate officially retired

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration retired four hurricane names from the 2017 hurricane season.

Hurricane Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate caused extensive damage across parts of the United States and Caribbean.

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These names will never be used again.

Hurricane Harvey is the second costliest hurricane after Hurricane Katrina (2005).

Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane near Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 25.

The highest wind gust of 132 miles per hour was reported near Port Aransas, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm stalled over Texas for four days.

In that time, it dumped historic rainfall across parts of southeastern Texas, totaling over 4 feet in some locations.

Hurricane Harvey killed 68 people and caused over $125 billion of damage.

Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean Islands as a Category 5 on Sept. 5.

It killed more than 100 people and devastated the island of Barbuda and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Irma then slammed into the Florida Keys as a Category 4 on Sept. 10 and again as a Category 3 near southwestern Florida.

In all, Hurricane Irma made seven separate landfalls as it ripped across the Caribbean Islands and the southeastern United States.  

Irma is only one of five hurricanes to reach sustained wind speeds of 185 mph or greater in the Atlantic.

It maintained a Category 5 hurricane for three days, which is rare.

Irma is the fifth costliest hurricane with over $50 billion of damage.

Hurricane Maria rapidly strengthened as a Category 5 hurricane as it struck the island of Dominica on Sept. 19.

Then it hit Puerto Rico as a high-end Category 4 hurricane.

It also caused major damage on other islands of the Caribbean Sea.

According to NOAA, it caused 31 direct deaths with 34 missing in Dominica, and two direct deaths in Guadeloupe.

In Puerto Rico, the death toll stands at 65, which includes an unknown number of indirect deaths.

Puerto Rico is still recovering seven months later after Maria devastated the region.

Maria is the third costliest hurricane in United States history with $90 billion of damage.

Nate crossed northeastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras as a tropical storm.

Heavy rain caused widespread flooding and mudslides in Central America, which caused 44 deaths in the region.

Nate made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at the mouth of the Mississippi River on Oct. 8, packing winds near 85 mph.

Nate weakened rapidly after landfall but it maintained gusty winds.

Reports of wind gusts up to 60 mph stretched from Alabama to southwest Virginia.

Heavy rainfall plagued states from the Gulf Coast to the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Parts of southwest Virginia received over 2 inches of rain from the remnants of Nate. 

Nate caused over $700 million of damage.


NOAA will replace Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate with Harold, Idalia, Margot and Nigel, respectively.

All in all, there are now 86 hurricane names that have been retired.
 


About the Author

Beverly Perry is an Emmy award-winning meteorologist who came to Roanoke in September 2017.

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