Hurricanes by the Numbers (Atlantic hurricane statistics)

Millions live in the paths of the biggest storms

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

In Harm's Way

35.7 million
Estimated July 1, 2008, population most threatened by Atlantic hurricanes: the coastal portion of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas. 12% of the nation’s population lived in these areas.

10.2 million
The 1950 coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas. 7% of the nation’s population resided in these areas.

25.1 million
Number of people added to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas between 1950 and 2007. Florida alone was responsible for the bulk of this increase (almost 15 million).

251%
Percentage growth of the coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas between 1950 and 2008.

180,155
Collective land area, in square miles, of the coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas.

3 of the 20 most populous metro areas in 2008 that were within Atlantic or Gulf coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas. These areas are Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas (sixth); Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla. (seventh), and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (20th).

Ana
The name given to the first Atlantic storm of 2009. The next Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean storm will be named Bill.

8
The number of hurricanes during the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. Five were major hurricanes at Category 3 strength or higher.

About 50 to 100
Number of people killed by hurricanes striking the U.S. coastline in an average three-year period.

Florida

17.9 million
Estimated 2008 coastal population of Florida, accounting for half of the coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas. Among the Sunshine State’s coastal population, 10.6 million lived along the Atlantic and 7.3 million along the Gulf.

1.0%
Percentage growth of Florida’s coastal population between 2007 and 2008.

Fay
The only storm on record to make landfall four times in the state of Florida, and to prompt tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings for the state's entire coastline (at various times during its August 2008 lifespan).

Hurricanes Past

38,000
Population of Galveston, Texas, at the time of the city's devastating hurricane of 1900. At that time, Galveston, Dallas and Houston had similar populations.

57,526
Galveston's population in 2006—nowhere near that of Dallas (1,232,940) and Houston (2,144,491).

2005
In one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, 28 named storms form, 15 of them hurricanes, seven of which are major, and four reach Category Five status. For the first time the alternate Greek alphabet scheme for naming storms has to be employed.

452,170
Estimated population of New Orleans on July 1, 2005—about two months before Hurricane Katrina struck.

311,853
Estimated population of New Orleans on July 1, 2008 — three years after Hurricane Katrina struck.

1950
The year the Weather Bureau officially began naming hurricanes.

NOTE: Coastal counties include those with at least 15% of their total land area within the nation’s coastal watershed.