DENNIS, Emily, Rita, Katrina and Wilma. They destroyed lives, demolished houses and wrecked the land. They also smashed records. They were among the angriest, most violent hurricanes ever to rip their way across the North Atlantic and batter the Caribbean and the Gulf coast.
The year saw 26 tropical storms, 12 more than 2004 and the most for any year since records began in 1928. Fourteen of them reached hurricane strength and three of those made it to category 5 - a first for any season. And hurricane Wilma was the most intense storm ever recorded in the North Atlantic.
But the hurricane that wreaked the most havoc was Katrina. Rain and a 6-metre storm surge smashed levees protecting low-lying New Orleans, and once the city's defences had been breached its fate was sealed. Nearly 1000 people perished, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. The financial cost may top ...
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