Portal:Tropical cyclones/Featured article/2005 Atlantic hurricane season

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The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, shattering previous records on repeated occasions. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with at least 2,048 deaths and record damages of over $100 billion USD. The season's five landfalling major hurricanes—Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma—were responsible for most of the destruction. The Mexican state of Quintana Roo and the U.S. states of Florida and Louisiana were each struck twice by major hurricanes; Cuba, Mississippi, Texas, and Tamaulipas were each struck once and in each case brushed by at least one more. The most catastrophic effects of the season were felt on the United States' Gulf Coast, where a 30-foot storm surge from Hurricane Katrina caused devastating flooding that inundated New Orleans, Louisiana and destroyed most structures on the Mississippi coastline, and in Guatemala, where Hurricane Stan combined with an extratropical system to cause extremely deadly mudslides.

The season officially began on June 1, 2005, and lasted until November 30, 2005, although effectively the season persisted into January 2006 due to continued storm activity. A record twenty-eight tropical and subtropical storms formed, of which a record fifteen became hurricanes. Of these, seven strengthened into major hurricanes, a record-tying five became Category 4 hurricanes and a record four reached Category 5 strength, the highest categorization for hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Among these Category 5 storms was Hurricane Wilma, the most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic.

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