(WBTW) – Florence and Michael have been retired as names for hurricanes by the World Meteorological Organization.
The names of the two storms were retired by the WMO’s Region IV Hurricane Committee, which includes NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, according to NOAA’s website. “Storm names are retired if they were so deadly or destructive that the future use of the name would be insensitive – otherwise, names are reused on a six-year cycle.”
The committee also selected replacement names for Florence and Michael. Francine and Milton will first appear in the 2024 list of storm names.
Including these two names, 88 names have been retired from the Atlantic basin list of names since 1953, NOAA’s website also said. The 2005 hurricane season had five retired names, the most for one season.
Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina on September 14. The storm caused at least 51 deaths.
Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida on October 10 with about 155 mph sustained winds.
“This was the third most intense hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous U.S. based on central pressure, and the fourth most intense based on wind speed,” NOAA’s website said. “It was also the most intense hurricane on record to make landfall along the Florida Panhandle, where it caused widespread devastation and farther inland across Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia.”
There were at least 45 fatalities related to the storm in the US.
Storms named in the 2018 hurricane season also included Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Nadine, and Oscar.
Storm names for the 2019 hurricane season, which begins on June 1, include Andrea, Erin, Gabrielle, Imelda, Lorenzo, and Pablo.
