It Was a Dark and Stormy Night Quiz

Answer: Yes

The famous boardwalk was first built in 1870, but hurricanes in 1884, 1889 and 1944 (and, more recently, 2012), required the boardwalk to be replaced. Originally, the boardwalk was 10 feet wide in 12-foot sections that were dismantled and stored during the winter months. By the 21st century, the much more permanent structure extended six miles along the coast with a width of 60 feet.

When Hurricane Sandy was at its peak, it reached the level of Category 2 hurricane, with a windspeed of 110 mph recorded. Thankfully it had already downgraded to a post-hurricane tropical storm by the time it hit the Atlantic coast at Atlantic City with the large population centers in the region. The Caribbean, however, did not get off so lucky. The storm first formed on October 22nd in the Caribbean Sea, becoming a full-fledged hurricane two days later before striking Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas in turn. Other islands in the vicinity, though not directly struck, also experienced the brunt of the force of the hurricane.

After striking land at Atlantic City, the storm dissipated to a 'remnant trough' over Pennsylvania. Even so, much of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada experienced high levels of rainfall, flooding, and power outages, along with the high winds.

Answer: 2005

After all the proverbial dust had settled, the cost of Hurricane Katrina set a (at the time) record as the costliest hurricane in US history, with damages in excess $100 billion. Monetary considerations aside, there were also more than 1,800 lives lost as well that added a cost that cannot be measured.

The major damage to the city came not from direct storm effects such as wind and debris, but rather from the storm surge that caused over 50 levee breaches. Those breaches resulted in 80% of the city being flooded.

An area nearly the size of the United Kingdom (approx. 90,000 square miles) was declared disaster areas, and more than three million people were left without electricity for a time.

Answer: Andrew

As this was the first hurricane of 1992, the name would have to begin with the letter 'A', thus limiting the choices.

The practice of assigning names to tropical storms and hurricanes began officially in 1945 with western Pacific Ocean hurricanes, and by 1950 the US Weather Bureau were doing it for Atlantic Ocean storms as well. It wasn't until 1979 that a set of six lists of predetermined names was established and rotated through. If a significant storm occurred (such as Andrew), then that name would be removed from that list and replaced with another for the next time it would be used (six years hence).

At the time, Andrew set the record as being the costliest hurricane in US recorded history, at a price tag of $26.5 billion.

Answer: Gilbert

Gilbert was one of the largest hurricanes ever seen in the Atlantic basin ... perhaps not the most powerful, or with the fastest winds ever, but it was one of the largest, at one point measured at 588 miles in diameter. Being a huge hurricane, it also caused damages to the tune of $7.1 billion with 433 people confirmed dead.

Gilbert's infamy earned it the privilege of having its name retired from the list. The next time the same rotation called for a "G" name, it was Gordon.

Answer: 1960

Since the modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896, the Games had been held every four years (except in World War I and II). Rome hosted the 17th Olympiad in 1960 from August 25th until September 11th.

Hurricane Donna formed on August 29th, achieving full hurricane status on September 1st. She finally downgraded to an extratropical over eastern Canada on September 13th. Records are sketchy, so the number of fatalities reported varies between 164 and 364, and the economic cost was approximately $900 million (not adjusted to today's dollars).

Answer: Diane

Connie and Diane - two consecutive storms bearing consecutive letters of the alphabet - were neither of them separately very formidable, but the flooding after effects were. Ranging from North Carolina to Massachussetts, widespread flooding caused damage valued at $832 million, as well as 184 deaths.

Answer: 1944

The US Weather Bureau began assigning names to Hurricanes in 1950, so this storm was simply dubbed 'The Great Atlantic Hurricane'. The toll on the seas was greater than the effects on land, as a comparatively small number of deaths occurred on land - 43. Even with the hurricane's path that basically swept all the way up the eastern seaboard, economic costs only reached $100 million.

Answer: All of these

Because of the sudden acceleration, there was little warning of the arrival of the hurricane. Between 680 and 800 people are estimated to have died, with $306 million worth of damage. In today's dollars that would be nearly $5 billion. The Wikipedia page on the 1938 New England hurricane cited a report on how only one scientist believed the storm would track north:

"Charlie Pierce, a young research forecaster for the Bureau concluded that the storm would not continue to move northeast and curve out to sea but would instead track due north. He was overruled by more senior meteorologists and the official forecast was for cloudy skies and gusty conditions - but no hurricane (Francis, 1998). Because the official forecast was not cause for alarm, even as the winds picked up speed and the waves rolled in, nobody realized that a catastrophe was only a few hours away."

Answer: Okeechobee Hurricane

The death toll from the Okeechobee Hurricane was highest in Florida, where more than 2,500 died from the hurricane and flooding. Guadeloupe (in the Lesser Antilles), tallied more than 1,200 dead. While Puerto Rico's count was comparatively small at approximately 300, the damage from the Category 5-strong storm left hundreds of thousands homeless.

Answer: Galveston

Exact numbers for the death toll in Galveston ranged from 6,000 to 12,000 - an incredible number given the population of the city at the end of the 19th century was approximately 37,000. There have been deadlier hurricanes (Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America in 1998 leaving tune of more than 22,000 dead), but this was the deadliest to hit the United States. By comparison, Katrina in 2005, while a devastating hurricane, only claimed approximately 1,800 lives.