HURRICANE SANDY 2012: A home that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, is seen in Union Beach, New Jersey, November 12, 2012. At least 121 people perished in the storm, which caused an estimated $50 billion in property damage and economic losses and ranks as one of the most destructive natural disasters to hit the US Northeast. Eric Thayer/Reuters
HURRICANE GUSTAV, 2008: People in St. Paul, Minn., watch the status of hurricane Gustav on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the city's Xcel center on Sept. 1. Gustav prompted the largest evacuation in US history, with 3 million people fleeing the oncoming hurricane. Gustav made landfall in Haiti and Cuba, then gradually weakened as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall again in Cocodrie, La., on Sept. 1. President George W. Bush declared 34 areas of Louisiana disaster areas. Events at the RNC were postponed and nominee Sen. John McCain cancelled all nonessential opening-day festivities at the convention. Mary Knox Merrill/Staff/FILE
HURRICANE WILMA, 2005: A shed is blown across a road by the winds of hurricane Wilma on Oct. 24 in downtown Naples, Fla. A Category 5 storm, Wilma is the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, but it was a Category 3 when it made landfall in several places, causing the most destruction in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Cuba, and Florida. Wilfredo Lee/AP/FILE
HURRICANE RITA, 2005: Officials prepare for hurricane Rita evacuees on Sept. 21 at the First Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. After being pummeled by hurricane Katrina a month earlier, the New Orleans delayed its reopening because of Rita. A pre-landfall storm surge overwhelmed a levee in the Industrial Canal, which protects New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, a section of the city almost wiped out by Katrina. Rita made landfall on Sept. 24 between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnsons Bayou, La. Extreme damage resulted along the Louisiana and Texas coasts, particularly to the oil industry. DJ Peters/Tyler Morning Telegraph/AP/FILE
HURRICANE KATRINA, 2005: The New Orleans area took the brunt of this infamous Category 5 storm. The city's levee system failed, and the federal flood protection system failed at more than 50 places. Eventually, 80 percent of the city flooded, and 1,836 people lost their lives. Here, stranded people make their way along a flooded Canal Street in New Orleans on Aug. 30. Gary Coronado/The Palm Beach Post/AP/FILE
HURRICANE IVAN, 2004: Ivan, a Category 5, was the size of Texas at its peak. Damages to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and the western tip of Cuba were catastrophic, and the storm caused an estimated $13 billion in damage to the US. In some places in Florida, sand three feet high was pushed into homes as part of the storm surge from hurricane Ivan. Mari Darr Welch/The Northwest Florida Daily News/AP/FILE
HURRICANE CHARLEY, 2004: The Category 4 hurricane struck Florida at full strength, making it the strongest hurricane to hit the US since hurricane Andrew. It also struck Florida 22 hours after tropical storm Bonnie had hit the state. This was the first time in history that two tropical cyclones hit the same state in a 24-hour period. Here, boats lay in disarray at a marina in Punta Gorda, Fla., on Aug. 14. J. Pat Carter/AP/FILE
HURRICANE ISABEL, 2003: On Sept. 19, Glenda Giovanoni, co-owner of Old Town Fish Market in Alexandria, Va., cleans up an ice cream parlor next door after it was swamped by floodwaters from the storm surge of hurricane Isabel. Virginia reported the most deaths and damage from the Category 5 hurricane. Andy Nelson/The Christian Science Monitor/FILE
HURRICANE FLOYD, 1999: In Longport, N.J., the surf whipped up by the approaching hurricane Floyd crashes against the bulkhead on Sept. 16. The Category 4 hurricane triggered the third-largest evacuation in US history (behind hurricanes Gustav and Rita), when 2.6 million coastal residents of five states were ordered from their homes. The storm struck as a Category 2 in North Carolina, and then traveled up the East Coast through the Midatlantic region and into New England. Chris Polk/AP/FILE
HURRICANE MITCH, 1998: A Nicaraguan soldier leads a group of residents toward a military helicopter in La Cenicera, which was affected by heavy flooding from hurricane Mitch, on Nov. 1. The Category 5 hurricane was slow-moving and dropped historic amounts of rainfall in Honduras and Nicaragua. Nearly 11,000 people were killed, many by floods. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes in the aftermath of Mitch. Mario Lopez/AP/FILE
HURRICANE OPAL, 1995: Residents of Destin, Fla., take a look at damage along the oceanfront boardwalk on Oct. 6, 1995. A Category 4 hurricane, Opal had rainfall that peaked in Florida at 15.45 inches, and a storm surge of 15 feet was recorded in the Pensacola area in the Florida Panhandle. Flooding in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala reportedly killed 50 people. Colin Braley/Reuters/FILE
HURRICANE HUGO, 1989: A sailboat lies in the street of Charleston, S.C., on Sept. 22, after it was washed ashore by hurricane Hugo. Hugo, a Category 5 hurricane, killed 109 people and left nearly 100,000 homeless. Lou Krasky/AP/FILE
HURRICANE ANDREW, 1992: Andrew, one of the most intense and the last of the three Category 5 hurricanes to make US landfall in the 20th century, caused the most damage in Florida. Here, a water tower, and landmark in Florida City, still stands on Aug. 25, while a coastal community lies in ruins. Andrew had sustained winds of 165 miles per hour, which made it a Category 5. AP/FILE
Warm sea-surface temperatures and the long-reaching effect of conditions in the tropical Pacific are among the factors that could mean above-normal activity during the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season.
The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1, is shaping up to deliver above-normal activity again this year, according to several seasonal forecasts.
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