Sandy Retired From Storm Names

We all remember the images that came out of "Superstorm Sandy" last year. They were incredible, even unbelieveable at times.

Sandy caused at least 150 fatalities, with over 70 of them being in the Northeast alone. That is the highest number of fatalities from a tropical storm to happen outside of the southeastern states since Hurricane Agnes over 40 years ago. Sandy was the costliest storm system, only behind Hurricane Katrina, with an estimated $50 billion in damages.

Because of these statistics, the name Sandy will be retired from the list of Atlantic Ocean list. The National Hurricane Center has been using that list since 1954. The names are on cycles, and get re-used every six years, which means a new name, Sara, will replace the Sandy's slot in 2018.

Properties that lacked the protection of robust sand dunes. Courtesy: NASA

The surprise??? Isaac will not be retired. Despite the fact that the storm ravaged Louisiana on the anniversary of Katrina with over $2 billion in damages, 34 fatalities, and caused millions of power outages, the World Metoeorological Organization (the committee who makes these decisions), decided it wasn't enough to retire the name.

Hurricane Katrina from space

So why retire the names in the first place? If I said to you that my parents survived Hurricane Katrina, do you think about the storm that annihilated the Gulf Coast in 2005, or the storm that hit Cuba and the Bahamas back in 1981? Exactly. Nobody remembers the Katrina from 1981, but everyone remembers the one from 2005. When a storm name becomes tied to a very large, memorable event, a decision is made to retire it, so there is no confusion recalling events. other big names to be retired are Hugo, Andrew, Opal, Ivan, Wilma, and Irene to name a few. Note: Allison is the only name on the retired list that never made it to hurricane status. During its entire life, Allison was only a tropical storm with maximum winds of 60mph. Most of the damage from Allison did not come from the wind, but rather the rain. Allison's track made a complete 360, causing Houston to take a double dose of heavy downpours.

 

Sources: NOAA, NCSU, The Times, Scientific American, NHC