Deadliest Hurricanes and Costliest Hurricanes in U.S. History
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Reports are now coming out that over 900 people have been cremated in the country in the weeks following the hurricane. The US Government is not counting them because no coroner was available to certify the deaths. The 900 far exceeds the number of cremations normally done in a similar time frame. People are dying of disease, Starvation and other post storm related malaise. How will you count them in?
Hi, Beth, As noted in the article above, the statistics cited are from the US National Hurricane Center, which tracks fatalities and damage brought by hurricanes and tropical storms to the U.S. mainland. These figures only include the mainland U.S., so the effects in the Caribbean, Mexico, and other locations are not included. You make an excellent point; the fatalities and damage on Puerto Rico deserve recognition and respect. To that end, the matter and question should be put to the Center as the source of this information.
Thanks for giving us inflation adjusted costs and for pointing out that coastlines were not as populated as they are today so everyone would expect higher damage amounts. It is also nice that the advent of satellite tracking is pointed out since most reports just say EVER and do not say EVER starts in the late 1960s and early 70s.
Maybe in another 100 years we can see if there is a pattern forming. It would also be interesting to see where we were in the Sun spot cycle as compared to the early 1900s. And yes, I know Alexa and Google could tell us that. But we know more and can observe more now and we will know even more in 100 years.
The damage in Florida is not just "mostly downed or damaged palm trees". We in the Florida Keys have sustained major damage to homes and many people are homeless. The beginning of the article is very misleading whereas it should have stated what part of Florida was just "mostly downed or damaged palm trees".
I do recognize that there was major damage in some parts of Florida—for example, my brother-in-law had substantial damage to his apartment in the Tampa area—and I apologize for my unclear writing. When I wrote: “I recently went to Florida to visit my sister and saw damage from Hurricane Irma—mostly downed or damaged palm trees”—I was referring to the damage I saw in the area where my sister lives, Boca Raton, and not to the greater damage in other parts of Florida. –Mike