The Season's Storms

The following is a list of Atlantic basin storms during the 1998 hurricane season:

• Tropical Storm Alex: July 27-Aug. 3, no deaths. Dissipated without threatening land.

• Hurricane Bonnie: Aug. 19-30, three deaths. Struck the North Carolina coast near Cape Fear before heading back out to sea.

• Tropical Storm Charley: Aug. 21-22, a total of 21 deaths. Came ashore in Texas a day after forming in the western Gulf of Mexico.

• Hurricane Danielle: Aug. 24-Sept. 3, no deaths. Headed toward land on a path initially similar to Bonnie's, but turned back seaward before striking.

• Hurricane Earl: Aug. 31-Sept. 3, three deaths. Struck the Florida panhandle near Panama City after forming in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Tropical Storm Frances:, Sept. 8-12, one death. Like Charley, formed in the Gulf and struck Texas, where it damaged many homes in the Houston-Galveston area.

• Hurricane Georges: Sept. 15-29, a total of 617 deaths. Traced a path through the Caribbean battering Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Key West, Fla., then turned north to strike the Gulf Coast, causing damage in four states. Insurance companies estimated it will cost $2.5 billion in the United States and its territories, trailing only Hugo in 1989 and Andrew in 1992. The American Red Cross said Georges cost $104 million in disaster-relief expenses, second only to Andrew.

• Tropical Storm Hermine: Sept. 17-20, no deaths. Came ashore near Cocodrie, La., dumping heavy rainfall and forcing evacuation of several coastal communities.

• Hurricane Ivan: Sept. 20-27, no deaths. Formed off the coast of Africa but turned north and did not cross the Atlantic.

• Hurricane Jeanne: Sept. 21-Oct. 1, no deaths. Weakened before striking the Azores off the African coast.

• Hurricane Karl: Sept. 23-28, no deaths. Formed in the Atlantic with no threat to land.

• Hurricane Lisa: Oct. 5-9, no deaths. Formed in the Atlantic, tracked north in midocean.

• Hurricane Mitch: Oct. 22-Nov. 5, a total of 10,000 deaths estimated. Formed in the Caribbean Sea and grew to the one of the strongest storms on record, tied with 1969's Camille for central pressure. Battered Central America doing massive flood damage in Honduras, Nicaragua, and neighboring countries, crossed the Yucatan Peninsula, then headed northwest and crossed Florida before going out to sea.

• Hurricane Nicole, Nov. 24-, no deaths. Tropical storm became a minimal hurricane Sunday with sustained winds of 75 mph but was expected to weaken. More than 700 miles southwest of the Azores in the mid-Atlantic and moving to the northeast, it posed no threat to land.