Here is a fact that may surprise you: Seven of the top ten costliest hurricanes to hit the United States made landfall in either 2004 or 2005. They are: Katrina (1), Wilma (3), Charley (4), Ivan (5), Rita (6), Frances (7) and Jeanne (9). Why? Population growth along the coast. Just looking at Wilma alone tells a phenomenal story. The category 1 (possibly 2) hurricane impacted southeast Florida where millions of people live. Most of the major population areas were within the strong right-front quadrant of the hurricane as it passed across Florida. This resulted in billions of dollars in damage and numerous deaths. Wilma was the last in a series of historic hurricanes to hit the United States in 2005; and it became the third costliest of all time.

Other hurricanes have become infamous for their lethal effects. Katrina is the most recent example of how storm surge remains the single greatest killing agent of a hurricane. Not since 1928 have we seen a United States' hurricane responsible for so many deaths. Others have been worse. The 1900 Galveston hurricane killed perhaps as many as 8,000 people- mostly due to storm surge. In Georgia and South Carolina, hurricanes have claimed thousands of lives near the end of the 19th Century.

Since the Turn of the Century, hurricane related deaths have dropped considerably while property damage has increased in the extreme. The reason is obvious: hurricane forecasting has improved with time so that watches and warnings are getting to people with plenty of time to evacuate and prepare. We are getting out of harm's way when the hurricanes strike, but our property is getting ever closer to danger's edge. With the explosion of growth along our coastal regions, it is no wonder that we have billion dollar hurricanes; sometimes, multi-billion dollar hurricanes. We have seen the grief, hardship and devastation that hurricanes such as Katrina and Rita cause. Even though New Orleans was the focus of much attention in the wake of Katrina, there are other major cities that are quite vulnerable to the effects of even minor hurricanes: Miami, New York, Tampa, Houston and Myrtle Beach (just to name a few). Even our oil industry is affected by these annual threats and a direct hit by a substantial hurricane in an area such as Houston would potentially harm our national economy.

Though the United States has suffered from massive floods, tornado outbreaks, earthquakes and volcanoes, hurricanes pose a greater risk in any given year to our lives and our economy than other natural disasters. Hurricanes have played a role in our nation's history both in present day as well as during Colonial times. It's just a matter of time until the next one makes hurricane history.

Below are some links to other sites with excellent historic information as well as a few great books on hurricane history: