Like the jersey numbers of sports stars, the names of hurricanes are sometimes retired. Whenever a hurricane has a major impact on lives or property, any country affected by the storm can request that the name not be used again. Over the years, approximately 50 Atlantic hurricanes names have been retired.

The list of retired names contains some that had a direct impact on our area, including Hazel from 1954, Connie and Diane from '55, Agnes in '72, and Floyd from 1999. Other infamous storms that didn't directly impact us but devastated parts of the U.S. are also on the list, including Camille in 1969, Hugo from '89, and Andrew in '92. Then there are retired names of storms that you may have never heard of, such as Inez in 1966, Klaus in 1990, and most recently Keith in 2000.

When a name is retired, a new name of the same gender and starting with the same letter is chosen to replace the retired name. For example, Floyd, which was part of a list that will be used again in 2005, has been replaced by Franklin.