The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on 1 June, with numerous predictions as to the ferocity and intensity of forthcoming storms inundating the online weather pages. To many readers the names ‘Katrina’ and ‘Sandy’ will conjure images of widespread devastation, with shocking news footage of flooded streets and thousands of buildings reduced to rubble. Yet these are just two of the many hurricanes that have swept across the Atlantic and Pacific over the centuries.