MIAMI, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane season wound down Wednesday with defiance, as Tropical Storm Epsilon swirled westward over the Atlantic Ocean.
There were 26 named storms this year, of which a record 13 grew into hurricanes. United Press International records show at least 3,000 people were killed in the storms, nearly half of them in the United States.
Statistics from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show 2005 was the country's third deadliest season behind 1900 and 1928. NOAA said 54 percent of the last two seasons' major hurricanes made landfall, compared with an average of 9 percent during 1995-2003.
In late August, Katrina became the most destructive storm on record with an estimated $50 billion of insured damage in Gulf states, breaking the estimated $25 billion record (in 2005 dollars) set by Andrew in south Florida in 1992. Total damage estimates are as high as $135 billion for Katrina.
In October, Wilma, which struck south Florida, became the third Category 5 storm of the season, the first time three Category 5 storms formed in one year.
Also in October, Hurricane Vince became the first known tropical system to veer north and strike Spain and Portugal.
