14 DAY TRIAL // Information shared with the public by the World Meteorological Organization says that Sandy has officially been pulled from the list of names available for the tropical cyclones that form in the Atlantic Basin.
The names currently found on this list get to be reused once every six years. However, should one such storm end up causing tremendous damage, it is only natural to pull its name off the list for both scientific and moral considerations.
As explained on the official website for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, for short), “If a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of the name would be insensitive or confusing, the WMO hurricane committee, which includes personnel from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, may retire the name.”
The same source informs us that the decision to retire Sandy from this list was taken after analyzing the damage caused by this storm from Jamaica and Cuba all the way to the Mid-Atlantic United States.
Thus, when it struck said regions back in October 2012, the storm ended claiming a total of 147 lives. As well as this, it is believed that the damage it caused to the United States amounts to $50 billion (about €38.20 billion).
“Sandy was a classic late-season hurricane in the southwestern Caribbean Sea. The cyclone made landfall as a category 1 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) in Jamaica, and as a 115 mph category 3 hurricane in eastern Cuba.”
“Hurricane Sandy merged with a frontal system hours before making landfall as a post-tropical cyclone near Brigantine, N.J., and its size and strength caused catastrophic damage all along the mid-Atlantic shoreline,” NOAA further writes on its website.
Sandy is the 77th name crossed out this list since 1954 and up until present day. By the looks of it, its place is to be taken by Sara, a name expected to be made usable in 2018.