Hurricanes Florence, Michael ravaged Carolinas. There won’t be another with those names

When these hurricanes hit the Carolinas in 2018, Florence and Michael caused an extensive amount of death and destruction.

As a result, no storm will use either name again, according to a news release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

“Florence and Michael won’t have another chance to wreak havoc in the Atlantic Basin,” NOAA said in the release. “The names of these two storms … have been retired by the World Meteorological Organization’s Region IV Hurricane Committee, which includes NOAA’s National Hurricane Center.”

The names were retired out of sensitivity concerns, because the storms resulted in so much damage and caused a number of fatalities, according to NOAA. At least 50 people died as a result of Hurricane Florence, according to the News & Observer, while the death toll from Hurricane Michael was at least 45 deaths, WSFA reported.

Names are typically reused on a six-year cycle, so Florence and Michael will be replaced by the names “Francine and Milton,” for the 2024 storm season, NOAA reported.

Overall, 88 names have been retired from use by the World Meteorological Organization, including devastating storms Hugo, Irma and Katrina among others, according to the news release.

The final cost of damage caused by Hurricane Florence was estimated at $24 billion, according to NOAA. Hurricane Michael “caused an estimated $25 billion in damage when it came ashore on the Florida panhandle,” making it the most expensive natural disaster of 2018, the News & Observer reported.