Incredible Couple Married for 75 Years, Shares Names With Hurricanes

Petr Svab
9/9/2017
Updated:
10/5/2018

List of hurricane names for years 2017-2022. (Screenshot via NOAA)
List of hurricane names for years 2017-2022. (Screenshot via NOAA)

But the Schluters have been married for 75 years—how come they’ve never seen namesake storms before?

It’s because the naming has another rule: If a hurricane causes a lot of damage, its name becomes part of history and it would be confusing or even insensitive to use the same name again. That’s why names of prominent hurricanes get retired and replaced on the list.

Harvey was actually always followed by Irene. But since Hurricane Irene caused over $16 billion in damage and killed 49 people in 2011, the name was retired. When the same name list came up again in 2017, Harvey was, for the first time, followed by Irma.

It will probably also be the last time. Both Harvey and Irma have been (and Irma still is) historic hurricanes and their names are certain candidates for retirement.