Source: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty
The catastrophic 2017 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended Thursday and will return June 1, 2018.
Ten hurricanes ripped through the Atlantic this year, hurtling through parts of the US and the Caribbean and thrashing islands in their path, including Barbuda and Puerto Rico. One storm even veered as far east as Ireland — underscoring how bizarre this hurricane season was.
A trio of major hurricanes hit US soil this year, in what could be the most expensive hurricane season with damage estimates ranging up to $300-$475 billion. Harvey, Irma and Maria are major hurricanes, meaning they reached Category 3 or higher. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to release a cost assessment later this year that includes total costs for these three hurricanes.
Although these storms were devastating, it still wasn’t a record year. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season — the year of Katrina — blew away records with 28 named storms, of which 15 were hurricanes.
