The World’s Worst Storms Of 2020

The Most Dangerous Storms of 2020

2020 was a horrific year for many with death and disease some of the most talked-about subjects this year. However, for many, the weather also presented itself in the extreme in 2020, causing absolute havoc to land, livestock, livelihoods, and lives, with severe storms that all but destroyed. Let’s look back at some of the worst storms to hit the world in 2020.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season

The Atlantic Hurricane Season was no doubt one of the worst on record. 2020 marked the only second time in history that the entire alphabetical list of hurricane names was used up. This meant that the Greek alphabet needed to be used to name future storms from as early as the 18^th of September. 2020 heralded 30 named storms, which are storms that reached 39 to 73 miles per hour, 13 hurricanes, and six major hurricanes.

Canada was largely unaffected, but Florida was one of the hardest-hit areas in the United States, with the record-breaking Tropical Storm Eta being the 12^th storm to hit the United States in a single season. Before 2020, 1916 saw the most storms of one season, with nine recorded. Louisiana however recorded the most ever storms in one season in a single state, with five in 2020. Hurricane Laura, which hit southwest Louisiana on the 27^th of August as a category 4 storm was the most damaging and strongest of the US storms.

September was the worst month with 10 named storms recorded in this month alone. In fact, three storms, namely Wilfred, Alpha and Beta, all formed on the same day on the 18^th of September. 2020 also brought on a category 5 Hurricane in November with Hurricane Iota.

Hurricane’s Eta and Iota

It wasn’t just the United States that experienced the devastation of 2020’s hurricanes. Hurricane Eta made landfall in November in Nicaragua bringing with it large amounts of rainfall for an extended period. This caused massive flooding in large parts of Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama resulting in the loss of 215 people with another 49 missing.

Just two weeks after the devastating effects of Hurricane Eta, Hurricane Iota arrived. The storm made landfall just 15 miles from Eta’s location in a completely unprecedented event, again bringing with it torrential rains. Combined tolls from the two hurricanes left more than 300 dead or missing and an impact of around $738 million on the country. In Honduras, damages from the hurricanes exceeded $10 billion, which is a sizeable sum even by the standard of mega casino bonuses. $10 billion  is around 40% of the country’s GDP. This set the poverty-stricken nation back about 22 years in economic development.

Typhoon Vamco

Across the world in the Philippines, Typhoon Vamco caused devastation in Manila on the 13^th of November. The typhoon was the 21^st to hit the country in 2020 and no doubt the deadliest, killing over 40 people. It also resulted in some of the worst flooding the country has ever seen. Unfortunately, Vamco was subsequently followed by Typhoon Goni, the strongest Typhoon of the year which only compounded the damage already caused.