2009 hurricane season facts

The north Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and lasts through November. Here is a list of hurricane facts from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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. Approximately 12 percent 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. Seven percent of the nation’s population lived in these areas at that time.

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

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

Ana – The name of the first Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean storm of 2009. The second storm will be named Bill.

17.9 million – Estimated 2008 coastal population of Florida, accounting for half (50 percent) of the coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas. Among the Sunshine State’s coastal population, approximately 10.6 million lived along the Atlantic and 7.3 million along the Gulf.

1 percent – 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).

1950 – The year the Weather Bureau officially began naming hurricanes.

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 5 status. For the first time, the alternate Greek alphabet scheme for naming storms has to be employed.

455,056 – 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.

29,431 – The population of Homestead, Fla., near the point of landfall of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In 2007, the population of Homestead was 56,601.

37,789 – Population of Galveston, Texas, at the time of the city’s “Great Storm” on Sept. 8, 1900, which killed more than 8,000 people.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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