North Carolina's Hurricane History
Third Edition

by Jay Barnes

304 pp., 253 photos, 45 maps, 3 tables, index
$19.95 paperback, $34.95 hardcover
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Popular American culture is rich with famous names. Einstein, Elvis, Oswald, and Madonna--all are household words that evoke vivid images of colorful characters. Also part of our recent past are such well-known names as Hazel, Hugo, Andrew, and Fran. For many, these names conjure up nightmarish memories of tropical terrorism. The naming of hurricanes and tropical storms began in the early 1950s, in an effort to manage storm tracking, provide historical reference, and alert and involve the general public. Often, these storms developed their own "personalities," which are forever linked to the names they received. This personification of disaster may help us better understand and cope with the emotional scars left by hurricanes.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, very few hurricanes were given names. Sometimes, extreme storms were named for the islands they devastated, the ships they sunk, or the religious holidays nearest the time of their approach. The Cuba Hurricane of 1811, the Santa Ana Storm of 1825, and Racer's Storm in 1837 are some of the few early hurricanes that were given names. But most early storms are known only for the dates of their occurrences, such as the Great Storm of 1750 or the Great Wind of 1885. With so few early hurricanes identified by name, references and comparisons were somewhat difficult for those who kept historical records.

Hurricane Emily will be remembered for many years on the Outer Banks. (Photo courtesy of Drew Wilson/Virginian-Pilot/Carolina Coast)

In the early days of hurricane tracking in the twentieth century, references to storms were made by their position at sea--the latitude and longitude of the latest ship report. This numerical system proved to be quite confusing, especially when several tropical disturbances were active at the same time. Eventually, military weathermen began using code names for storms in alphabetic sequence--Adam, Baker, Charlie, and so on--which made each storm easier to distinguish and track. In 1953, a system was adopted that used women's names to identify individual tropical storms and hurricanes, and that practice continued through the 1970s. In 1979, women's groups and several nations lobbied the World Meteorological Organization to change the naming system to include men's names and names of Hispanic origin. A complete list of names is now cycled with each hurricane season and then repeated every seven years. The names of significant hurricanes, like Hugo, Andrew and Fran, are retired, never to be used again. This international system of identification has proven effective in eliminating confusion and promoting awareness in coastal communities.


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