Broken windows, fallen trees, removed roofs, and lost power are some of the effects of every category of hurricane. In the last two decades, the United States has experienced some of the worst hurricanes it ever has before. Multiple names in 2004 and 2005 retiring showed great destruction to most citizens living in the eastern part of North America.

Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, was one of the five deadliest tropical storms to the present day. It affected most of eastern North America killing 1,833 total and causing over 100 billion dollars of destruction. Sophomore Lindsey Harper commented on the lack of destruction to her home from Katrina but recalled many trees being down on her neighbors’ houses and in their yards. Harper also says that she remembers it taking at least a week for power to return to anyone in her neighborhood.

With 2017 being the most active hurricane season since 2005, Floridians have been in quite the panic. The main storm of concern was Irma which kept students out of school for seven days in most counties and people out of power for a week. Irma was very unpredictable and kept news casters and viewers on their toes the whole time it threatened to strengthen. Irma’s path was difficult to follow but because of its 425-mile diameter, disaster was ensured.

This tropical storm caused a chaotic evacuation for millions of Floridians. Senior Hannah Enoch says “My family and I fled to New Smyrna beach and stayed there for close to a week just to avoid any impact from the storm. When we got home we still didn’t have power and my dad spent hours cleaning up tree debris in our yard”. The severity of the evacuation has innumerable worried for the next perilous storm to hit.

The upcoming storms are expected to be less effective being only category 2’s. Lee and Maria both are maintaining similar paths or Bermuda and have both caused rough tides and harsh rip current warnings to be issued to areas in range.

The final day in the season this year is November 30th, hopefully there are no more harmful storms in the near future, many areas are still in ruins and others are flooded.

Click here for a video from the Weather Channel explaining the difference between the hurricane categories.