National Geographic photographer Erin Trieb photographed floodwaters at the intersection of Highway 610 and Evergreen Street in Bellaire, Texas, after evacuating her family during Hurricane Harvey.
- Science
- Explainer
Here’s how hurricanes form—and why they’re so destructive
Also known as typhoons and cyclones, these storms can annihilate coastal areas. The Atlantic Ocean’s hurricane season peaks from mid-August to late October.
Centuries ago European explorers learned the indigenous word hurakan, signifying evil spirits and weather gods, to describe the storms that battered their ships in the Caribbean. Today, "hurricane" is one of three names for giant, spiraling tropical storms with winds of at least 74 miles (119 kilometers) an hour.
Called hurricanes when they develop over the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific, these rotating storms are known as cyclones when they form over the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, and typhoons when they develop in the Northwest Pacific. (Learn more about National Geographic's role in the history of storm mapping.)
Whatever the moniker, tropical cyclones can annihilate coastal areas and cause massive death tolls. Rated on the
