According to the World Meteorological Organization, the names of two storms that destroyed the Caribbean in 2016 have been taken off the list of Atlantic Storm names.
A press release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the names Matthew and Otto “ravaged the Caribbean so much last year their names have been retired.”
Now, the World Meteorological Organization says the two will be replaced by the names Martin and Owen when the list from this past year is used again in 2022.
Matthew and Otto will be the 81st and 82nd names to be removed from the list of Atlantic Storms. Other retired names on the Atlantic list include Sandy, Katrina, Joaquin, Hazel and Irene.
Storm names are generally taken off the list if they are classified as so “deadly and destructive that the future use of the name would be insensitive.”
Matthew made landfall along the coast of southwestern Haiti, extreme eastern Cuba, western Grand Bahama Island and central South Carolina. Matthew was responsible for 585 direct deaths, with more than 500 deaths occurring in Haiti, making it the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005.
Otto was a tropical cyclone that intensified rapidly to a category 3 hurricane before making landfall in southern Nicaragua. Heavy rainfall and flooding from the hurricane caused 18 fatalities in Central America.
