Hurricane

A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean or the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The term is regional, not categorical: a hurricane is the same physical phenomenon as a typhoon in the western Pacific or a cyclone in the Indian Ocean. The distinction is linguistic, meteorological, and institutional — a product of the colonial histories of the basins, not of any physical difference in the storms themselves.

The word 'hurricane' derives from the Taíno deity *Huracán*, a god of storm and wind. The etymology is fitting: Atlantic hurricanes have shaped the history of the Caribbean and the southeastern United States more than any other natural hazard. The 1900 Galveston hurricane killed an estimated 6,000–12,000 people, making it the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane killed over 2,500 in Florida. The 2005 Atlantic season — featuring Katrina, Rita, and Wilma — remains the costliest on record.

See: Atlantic hurricane, Tropical cyclone, Storm surge, Extratropical cyclone