Hurricane Season

Hurricane Season 2017 Devastates U.S. Coastlines

Madilynn Peterson

Hurricanes devastated the U.S. coasts on August 25, and September 10, 2017, leaving America with over 290 billion dollars in damage costs.

Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas on August 25, 2017, could potentially be the most costly hurricane in U.S. history. At 180 billion dollars in projected damage, Harvey could top Katrina, which costed the U.S. 108 billion dollars. Affecting 13 million people across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, Harvey could take months to years to clean and replace cities to what they were before.

Irma hit Florida on September 10, 2017, and is projected to cost anywhere from 100 to 200 billion dollars, which would add to the amount America would need to recover from this hurricane season. With Florida and Georgia taking most of Irma’s force, more than seven thousand people were left without power in those two states alone.

Hurricane Harvey left at least seventy dead in Texas, while Irma can be blamed for around seven deaths.

Harvey did not call for any evacuations, but Irma had 6.5 million people packing up their belongings and heading inland, which may have been the reason for less casualties.

With almost two months left in the Atlantic Hurricane season, the U.S. is not done with these storms yet. Hurricane Jose is projected to have sent tropical storm like winds and rain on September 20 and 21 affecting the north east coast, though it might not reach land.

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday September 20 and is on path to hit an already storm-wrecked Bahamas on September 21 and 22. By September 23 and 24 Maria is projected to hit North and South Carolina along with the rest of the north east coast.

Hurricane Irma swept through the Caribbean Islands destroying all in its path. These islands now appear brown due to all the trees and plants that were knocked down and destr