Whew! Record Breaking Hurricane Season Comes To An End

November 30, 2008

It’s finally time to put away those bottles of water and those other hurricane preparedness items…the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends today.

While it was a quiet hurricane season for us here in North Escambia, today actually marks the end of a record season that was one of the most active since 1944, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There were 16 named storms this year. Eight were hurricanes, five of them major at Category 3 or higher.

Tropical Storm Fay was Florida’s biggest problem as it caused flooding across the state with a record four landfalls in August.

It was also a record season because it was the first Atlantic season to have a major hurricane form in five consectutive months from July to November.

For the first time ever, six consecutive storms (Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike) hit the United States. A record three hurricanes (Gustav, Ike and Paloma) hit Cuba.

Now that hurricanes season is over, state officials say that it is time to — you guessed — start preparing for the next hurricane season.

“Preparedness does not end with the hurricane season. Now is an excellent time to review, update your plans, take inventory of disaster supplies, and recycle goods and batteries,” said Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News