Does TS Fay 2008 have retirement cred?

[M_0331]

I don't think it will be retired. Only the extreme get retired.

[RL3AO]

I don't think it will be retired. Only the extreme get retired.

Tell that to the French government.

[fasterdisaster]

OH MY GOD HURRICANE KLAUS 80 MPH WINDS COMPLETE CARNAGE AND DEVASTATION EVERYWHERE!!!

[CrazyC83]

I don't think Fay is worthy of retirement. I'd be surprised if the damage reaches $1 billion at this point.

[Clipper96]

Considering the diminished value of the dollar over recent years, damage valuations probably shouldn't be a relevant criteria. Totality of damage in an area should be relevant criteria.

IMO, Allison shouldn't have been retired due to flooding in Houston (a city with poor drainage), but due to the interesting behavior of the storm over land on its trek all the way across the southeast.

[HurricaneRobert]

The death toll in the US is now 12. I didn't see this in the media before, but Fay killed as many as 50 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

[Clipper96]

That's a light death toll by Haiti standards.

[bob rulz]

Considering the diminished value of the dollar over recent years, damage valuations probably shouldn't be a relevant criteria. Totality of damage in an area should be relevant criteria.

IMO, Allison shouldn't have been retired due to flooding in Houston (a city with poor drainage), but due to the interesting behavior of the storm over land on its trek all the way across the southeast.

So you're saying it should've been retired because it was unusual, not because it killed 55 people?

[Clipper96]

Yes. (Otherwise there's this macabre ritual of demands for retirement of every storm that kills an arbitrarily "sufficient" number of people, as if doing so amount to vicarious revenge, like a Maasai hunter killing a man-eating lion and laying its pelt on his father's grave.)

- If Fay is retired, it should set a worthy record of some sort. Like "biggest tropical storm" (it's huge) or "longest tropical storm".

[HurricaneBill]

I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but another reason I'd be reluctant to retire Fay is because she never reached hurricane status.

Yes, I know Allison was retired. However, Allison was far worse than Fay.

[jinftl]

If we retire Fay, we would have to consider retiring any named system that inflicted damage and unfortunately death. That is not the criteria for retiring a storm's name...it is based on a consideration of overall sensitivty and confusion that may result. Another Fay in 7 years would not meet there criteria.

[O Town]

There are still major concerns with flooding. Fay is gone, but there are still evacuations taking place in communities along the St. Johns river. It is still rising and still quite a few communities that could be flooded in the coming days, so it may be a week or more before we know the full extent of damage from flooding.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... 9934.story

Whoever said FL is sand so we can take 40 days and nights of rain is crazy.
Our ground is so saturated right now we can't even take a sprinkle without starting flood again, we need a long break before we can take anymore heavy rain. I just pray we don't get anymore storms anytime soon.

[VeniceInlet]

I can't believe this is even being debated. Fay should be retired because it flooded some places and killed some poor unfortunate people in the Caribbean, which 9 out of every 10 named storms do?

Why not just retire every single strong tropical storm or hurricane, then? Because they ALL DO THAT.

[Ad Novoxium]

If you ask me, a retired tropical storm will always be the first one you think of when you think of its name. In the cases of David, Frederic, Allen, Alicia, Lenny, Michelle, Roxanne, Rita, Stan, and Wilma, only one storm had those names: The one that caused its retirement. But what about names with more than one usage?

Like, suppose I say "tropical storm" and "Katrina". There were three storms with that name. An 81 hurricane which hit Cuba, a weak tropical storm that went right up Central America (and killed nobody), and of course, THE Katrina. Suppose I said those two things, which do you think people will remember the most in unaffected areas? Of course, the 05 hurricane. Same with Andrew. There was an 86 tropical storm with the name, with 50 total deaths, just slightly down from Andrew of 92. 86 TS Andrew crept up the Carolina coast. If I said "Andrew" and "tropical cyclone", 92 will come up every time, unless someone who survived 86's was asked. With Fay, it IS an ingrained name due to this storm, well, in comparison to the almost negligible 02 storm of the same name. But do I see it as having done enough to make a retirement?

I want to see damage first. Totals, not estimated.

[Clipper96]

O Town, it's being debated because people have nothing better to do until there's a real major hurricane to get all excited about.

[O Town]

O Town, it's being debated because people have nothing better to do until there's a real major hurricane to get all excited about.

Ahm, I didn't say that. LOL
*OTown points to VeniceInlet

[bob rulz]

Yes. (Otherwise there's this macabre ritual of demands for retirement of every storm that kills an arbitrarily "sufficient" number of people, as if doing so amount to vicarious revenge, like a Maasai hunter killing a man-eating lion and laying its pelt on his father's grave.)

- If Fay is retired, it should set a worthy record of some sort. Like "biggest tropical storm" (it's huge) or "longest tropical storm".

It also caused nearly $6.5 billion in damage (adjusted for inflation). Far less damaging hurricanes have been retired before. That amount of damage is enough to get anything retired. Also, while 55 deaths may not be too unusual for Hispaniola, that's pretty deadly by U.S. standards.

So saying that it should be retired because of how unusual it was and not because of the damage and deaths that it caused is underestimating just how damaging Allison was.