The Devastating 2020 Hurricane Season
By Rosemarie Hunter
This article was originally published on December 23rd, 2020.
Hurricanes and tropical storms are devastating — these storms leave hundreds of lives and billions of dollars of damage in their wake, and we’ve had to deal with more this year than any other on record. We’ve reached 30 named storms, beating 2005’s record of 28 named storms. We’re currently on Hurricane Iota, the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. Only after we have exhausted the season’s allotted names do we dip into the Greek alphabet; this is just the second time that we’ve had to do so in history. The only other time that we came close to this number of storms was in 2005, which never even reached Eta (the seventh letter) — the 28th storm was added retrospectively in the annual review process, as they missed it the first time around.
Tropical storms must have a sustained wind speed of at least 39 miles per hour to be eligible for their title. Storms with wind speeds 38 mph or less are considered tropical depressions, while storms with sustained wind speeds above 74 mph are considered hurricanes. Hurricanes are grouped into five categories, with progressively higher wind speeds. A hurricane becomes a major hurricane (category three or above) when it reaches sustained wind speeds above 111 miles per hour. The highest classification of hurricanes, category five, are uncommon and incredibly damage-intensive, with sustained wind speeds above 157 mph. Names are cycled through every six years, exempting names that are “retired” and replaced after having been assigned to particularly devastating or traumatic hurricanes.
The most recent storm was Hurricane Iota, a major category five hurricane which dampened into a category four before hitting the coast in Nicaragua, less than 20 miles away from the impact zone of Hurricane Eta two weeks prior. As of November 18, there are 59 known casualties and 99 people missing. Hurricane Iota is the strongest hurricane that has ever hit Nicaragua.
This hurricane season (June 1 — November 30) didn’t start off with the record-breaking numbers which we’re seeing now. While the significant number and rate of hurricanes has stayed steady throughout the season, they were at first more minor and less damaging, totaling up to only $1 billion of property and infrastructure damage in the first two months. At first glance, this seems rather high, but compared to other storms, it’s a stroll in the park. Hurricane Isaias started off the slew of damage-intensive hurricanes with an estimated $6 billion in damage, followed also by Hurricane Laura ($10–12 billion) and Hurricane Sally ($8–10 billion). Hurricanes Delta, Zeta, and Eta are also likely to have substantial damage expenses. To date, more than 200 people have died.
Notable hurricanes from throughout the 2020 season include Sally, a slow-moving hurricane which dumped feet of rain on Florida, Major Hurricane Eta, whose heavy rains collapsed multiple buildings, killing more than 70 people, and Hurricane Laura, a major category 4 hurricane which led to an official disaster declaration, killing 77 and leaving hundreds of thousands of people without water.
The 2020 season should be concluding soon, although the year has been full of surprises. In a normal year, the peak would have occurred sometime around September, with the number of hurricanes and the respective intensities decreasing throughout October and November, leaving November as a relatively quiet month. December hurricanes are exceedingly rare, but not unknown. Worries have been voiced that the season will continue throughout November and into December with the seemingly continual development of new storms.
Sources
https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2020-atlantic-hurricane-season/
