The Atlantic just finished its busiest hurricane month on record

NOAA

The United States was already on edge about the Atlantic tropics when the month of September began, as Hurricane Harvey had just slogged through Texas and delivered devastating inland flooding to a large stretch of the state, including the fourth largest city in the country. Harvey may end up ranking as the costliest hurricane on US record, although damages haven't been officially determined.

But this Category 4 hurricane was but a prelude for what was to come in September. Five hurricanes-Irma, Jose, Katia, Lee, and Maria-would form. Four would become major hurricanes. Two of the storms, Irma and Maria, would reach Category 5 status and bring widespread devastation, especially in the Caribbean Islands, and to a lesser extent in the mainland United States.

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