Hurricane timeline: 1950 to 1990

Sun-Sentinel

Satellites, computer models and improved transportation ushered in the modern era of hurricane forecasting.

1953 -- Forecasters begin giving hurricanes female names

1954 -- Carol and Edna swamp New England
Carol made landfall Aug. 31 over Long Island, N.Y. and Connecticut. Carol was responsible for 60 deaths and $461 million in damage in the United States. The remarkably similar Hurricane Edna formed a few days later and followed a very similar path, making landfall Sept. 10 over Cape Cod. The storm was responsible for 20 deaths.

1954 -- Hazel brings heavy rains to Pennsylvania, New York
Hazel came ashore in the Carolinas on Oct. 15 and from there slogged north through Pennsylvania and New York and into Canada with heavy rains producing severe floods. Hazel was responsible for 95 deaths in the United States, 100 deaths in Canada and an estimated 400 fatalities in Haiti.

1955 -- Connie and Diane flood the Mid-Atlantic states
These two hurricanes struck the North Carolina coast only five days apart in early August and rain from Connie set the stage for the devastating floods from North Carolina to Massachusetts caused by Diane. The floods were responsible were 184 deaths.

1957 -- Hurricane Audrey hits southwest Louisiana and Texas
Audrey struck the Texas-Louisiana border on June 27 then turned toward Mississippi. Strong storm surges penetrated as far inland as 25 miles over portions of low-lying southwestern Louisiana. These surges were responsible for the vast majority of the 390 deaths from Audrey.

1960 -- Donna affects entire East Coast
Donna struck Florida Sept. 11 and then moved north, eventually reaching New England. Donna is the only storm to produce hurricane-force winds in Florida, the Mid-Atlantic states and New England. It was responsible for 50 deaths in the United States.

1963 -- More than 7,000 in Haiti and Cuba fall victim to Flora

1965 -- Betsy rampages through Florida Keys, Gulf Coast
The storm plowed through the Bahamas, then mauled South Florida a day later. The tempest, more than 600 miles from edge to edge, flooded Miami and Fort Lauderdale with a six-foot tide.

1969 -- Camille thrashes Gulf Coast
This storm made landfall Aug. 17 along the Mississippi coast and moved north. A storm tide of 24.6 feet occurred at Pass Christian, Miss. The combination of winds, surges, and rain killed 143 on the Gulf Coast and 113 in Virginia floods.

1971 -- Ginger sets endurance record
Hurricane Ginger wanders the North Atlantic, the Bermuda Triangle and the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia for a record 31 days (20 of them with hurricane force winds).

1972 -- Agnes hits Florida, floods the Mid-Atlantic
Agnes hit the Florida panhandle on Aug. 19, moved into Georgia and headed north, reaching New York on the 22nd. Rains produced widespread severe flooding from Virginia northward to New York and caused 122 deaths in the United States.

1974 -- Fifi kills as many as 10,000 people in Honduras
The hurricane, which hit on Sept. 18 and 19, destroyed 80 percent of the banana crop and drowned two-fifths of the country's cattle.

1975 -- Saffir-Simpson scale created
Meteorologists Herbert Saffir and Robert Simpson develop the Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricanes.

1979 -- Weather officials begin using male names for hurricanes

1979 -- Frederic smashes the Gulf Coast, causing $3.5 billion in damage
Earlier in the season, Hurricane David ripped through the Caribbean, Florida and the Carolinas, killing 2,000 people.

1983 -- Early warning crucial as Alicia hammers Texas
Alicia battered Galveston and Houston on Aug. 18. Wind gusts in downtown Houston littered the streets with broken glass as windows broke in the high-rise buildings. The storm was responsible for 21 deaths and $2 billion in damage in the United States.

1989 -- Hugo wrecks Charleston, S.C.
After passing over Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Hugo made landfall near Charleston, S.C., on Sept. 22. Storm surges swamped the coast from Charleston to Myrtle Beach, with maximum tides of 20 feet. Hugo was responsible for 21 deaths in mainland United States, five more in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 24 elsewhere in the Caribbean. Damage estimates are $7 billion in the mainland United States.

See also: 500 years of hurricane history
| | | 1950-1990 |