the southeast of the United States hit by multiple hurricanes for 20 years

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, it could be one of the worst episodes of the century. But for 20 years, the southeast of the United States has not been spared from these weather phenomena.

Florida, still on alert before the arrival of Hurricane Milton which is expected to make landfall on the night of Wednesday October 9 to Thursday October 10. This hurricane could be “the worst storm” to hit this peninsula in a century, in the words of US President Joe Biden. It was classified as category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, this is the highest level. Hurricanes have occurred one after the other over the past twenty years in the southeast of the United States, from Louisiana to North Carolina via Florida, and more widely the Gulf of Mexico, and Cuba.

Let’s go back to 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in Louisiana. It was the deadliest episode of the United States in half a century. It caused more than 1,800 deaths and 150,000 victims. After his visit, a third of the inhabitants never returned home andwas permanently relocated.

In 2017, Hurricane Irma devastated Florida, Saint Martin, and Cuba. The cEstimated damage costs were $100 billion. Six million residents had to be evacuated in the state of Florida alone.

Just two years later, in 2019, Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas, south of Florida. Hundreds of people are missing and several dozen deaths are reported. In September 2022, it’s the hurricane Ian sweeping Florida. It is the second costliest hurricane with 60 billion dollars in damage.

In 2023, the United States suffered Hurricane Idalia. Thousands of homes are without electricity, and two people have died. Just a few days ago, at the end of September 2024, Hurricane Helene caused considerable damage in six states in the south of the country and became the deadliest episode in the United States since Katrina, with 130 deaths.

Cyclones feed on the heat of the oceans and the ever-increasing humidity in the atmosphere. The IPCC, a group of experts on climate, even makes a direct link between rising global temperatures and the intensity of cyclones.

At the start of 2024, scientists have even suggested creating a sixth category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, thetool that allows us to measure the intensity of hurricanes. It would concern episodes with winds exceeding 309 km/h. They are becoming more and more common.

Nearly 200 cyclones have been recorded across the world from 1980 to 2021. Among them, five have already entered this sixth level, which is currently fictitious. They all happened after 2013.