Irma Stritesky is a hurricane? Husband Jeff seems to think so.

Farewell Irene – Here Comes Irma!

According to Jeff  Stritesky who has been married for years to Irma from Miami, we better watch out! Our dear Spanish teacher at LBHS– Jeff how could you! He is joking of course but he has information about the naming of storms. Enjoy!

The name “Irene” has been retired from the official list of Atlantic hurricane names by the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) hurricane committee, because of the death and destruction it caused in August 2011.

It will be replaced by Irma.

Storm names are reused every six years, unless retired for causing a considerable amount of casualties or damage.

Irene is the 76th name to be retired from the Atlantic list since 1954.

Forecasters formally begin naming Atlantic Basin in 1950, using names from the international phonetic alphabet of the time: Able, Baker, Charlie, and so on. They started using female, English-language names in 1953, and switched to alternating male and female names in 1979. They also began using French and Spanish male and female names at this time.

Irene was directly responsible for 49 deaths: five in the Dominican Republic, three in Haiti, and 41 in the United States. For the USA, six deaths are attributed to storm surge/waves or rip currents, 15 to wind, including falling trees, and 21 to rainfall-induced floods. Including flood losses, damage in the United States is estimated to be $15.8 billion.

– submitted by Jeff Stritesky