Typhoon (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)

A hurricane is a severe tropical storm that forms in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E. Hurricanes need warm tropical oceans, moisture and light winds above them. If the right conditions last long enough, a hurricane can produce violent winds, incredible waves, torrential rains and floods. In other regions of the world, these types of storms have different names.

• 
  Typhoon — (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)
  
• 
  Severe Tropical Cyclone — (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E)
  
• 
  Severe Cyclonic Storm — (the North Indian Ocean)
  
• 
  Tropical Cyclone — (the Southwest Indian Ocean)
  

Hurricanes typically last from two to fourteen days. They tend to move from east to west, at speeds between 10 and 30 mph. Their intensity is ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 called the Saffir-Simpson scale. This scale measures three types of activity: wind speed, air pressure, and storm surge. The storm surge is a 50 to 100-mile-wide dome of water that sweeps across the coastline near where a hurricane makes landfall.

	Saffir-Simpson Category	Maximum sustained wind speed (mph)	Minimum surface pressure (mb)	Storm surge (feet)
	1	74–95 mph	980mb	3–5 ft
	2	96–110	979–965	6–8
	3	111–130	964–945	9–12
	4	131–155	944–920	13–18
	5	> 155	< 920	> 18
How are Hurricanes Named? Hurricanes names are chosen from a list selected by the World Meteorological Organization. The Atlantic is assigned six lists of names, with one list used each year. Every sixth year, the first list begins again. Each name on the list starts with a different letter, for example, the name of the very first hurricane of the season starts with the letter A, the next starts with the letter B, and so on. The letters "Q", "U", "X", "Y" and "Z", however, are not used. Often when an unusually destructive hurricane hits, that hurricane's name is retired and never used again. Since 1954, forty names have been retired. In 1996 Hurricane Luis was retired. Is your name among the currently used or retired hurricane names?					Retired Names Retired Name Replacement Name Allison Andrea Floyd Franklin Georges Gaston Iris Ingrid Keith Kirk Lenny Lee Michelle Melissa
Hurricane Names Selected for the Atlantic Basin 1997/2003 1998/2004 1999/2005 2000/2006 2001/2007 2002/2008 Ana Alex Arlene Alberto Allison* Arthur Bill Bonnie Bret Beryl Barry Bertha Claudette Charley Cindy Chris Chantal Cesar Danny Danielle Dennis Debby Dean Dolly Erika Earl Emily Ernesto Erin Edouard Fabian Frances Floyd* Florence Felix Fran Grace Georges* Gert Gordon Gabrielle Gustav Henri Hermine Harvey Helene Humberto Horrtense Isabel Ivan Irene Isaac Iris* Isidore Juan Jeanne Jose Joyce Jerry Josephine Kate Karl Katrina Keith* Karen Kyle Larry Lisa Lenny* Leslie Lorenzo Lili Mindy Mitch* Maria Michael Michelle* Marco Nicholas Nicole Nate Nadine Noel Nana Odette Otto Ophelia Oscar Olga Omar Peter Paula Phillippe Patty Pablo Paloma Rose Richard Rita Rafael Rebekah Rene Sam Shary Stan Sandy Sebastien Sally Teresa Tomas Tammy Tony Tanya Teddy Victor Virginie Vince Valerie Van Vicky Wanda Walter Wilma William Wendy Wilfred * Hurricanes retired since 1985.

Below you will find the listing of hurricane names for the Atlantic Ocean for the year 2014. For every year, there is a pre-approved list of tropical storm and hurricane names. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. At first, the lists consisted of only female names; however, since 1979, the lists alternate between male and female.

Bertha

Dolly

Fay

Hanna

Josephine

Kyle

Laura

Nana

Paulette

Sally

Vicky

Hurricane Katrina brings disaster to Gulf Coast; Lennox Lions reach out to help

Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 square miles of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. The hurricane left an estimated five million people without power, and it may be up to two months before all power is restored. Disaster relief plans are in operation in the affected areas.

Early in the morning of August 30, 2005 and as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina, breaches in three places of the levee system on the Lake Pontchartrain side of New Orleans caused a second and even greater disaster. Heavy flooding covered almost the entire city over a sustained period, forcing the total evacuation of over a million people.

On Sept. 3, 2005 US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as "probably the worst catastrophe, or set of catastrophes" in the country's history, referring to the Hurricane itself plus the flooding of New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina will be remembered for its vast devastation of the Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The hurricane will also be remembered for the ineffective planning for hurricane preparedness, as well as the slow response on the part of federal, state and local governments to provide effective search and rescue and safe refuge for the storm's victims.

Around the country, people are reaching out to help the victims of this disaster.

If a storm has been particularly deadly at the annual meeting of the WMO committee the name can be retired.