History of Florida
Hurricane Andrew in August 1992 struck Homestead, just south of Miami, as a Category 5 hurricane, leaving forty people dead, 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed, more than a million people left without electricity, and damages of $20–30 billion. Much of South Florida's sensitive vegetation was severely damaged. The region had not seen a storm of such power in decades. Besides heavy property damage, the hurricane nearly destroyed the region's insurance industry.
1991 Atlantic hurricane season
Damage totaled over $200 million (1991 USD) and the death toll was thirteen. Most of the damage occurred while the storm was extratropical, after waves up to struck the coastline from Canada to Florida and southeastward to Puerto Rico. In Massachusetts, where damage was heaviest, over 100 homes were destroyed or severely damaged. To the north, more than 100 homes were affected in Maine, including the vacation home of George H.W. Bush, the president at the time. More than 38,000 people were left without power, and along the coast high waves inundated roads and buildings. In portions of New England, damage was worse than had occurred from Hurricane Bob two months prior. However, aside from tidal flooding along rivers, the storm's effects were primarily along the coastline. A buoy off the coast of Nova Scotia reported a wave height of 100.7 ft (30.7 m), the highest ever recorded in the province's offshore waters. In the middle of the storm, the "Andrea Gail" sunk, claiming the lives of its crew of six, which later inspired the book as well as the movie "The Perfect Storm". Off the coast of New York, a Coast Guard helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed, and although four members of its crew were rescued, one was killed. Two people died after their boat sank off Staten Island. High waves swept a person to their death in both Rhode Island and Puerto Rico, and another person was blown off a bridge in New York. The tropical cyclone that formed late in the storm's duration caused little impact, limited to power outages and slick roads; one person was killed in Newfoundland from a traffic accident related to the storm.
The list below shows the names that appeared on the tropical cyclone naming list in the Atlantic basin in 1991. Although the Perfect Storm later evolved into a hurricane, in which could have been named "Henri", the National Hurricane Center left it unnamed due to the heavy damage and media interest in the predecessor extratropical storm. It later received the name the "Perfect Storm" after a conversation between Boston National Weather Service forecaster Robert Case and author Sebastian Junger. The names not retired from this list in 1991 appeared again on the naming list for the 1997 season. This is the same list used for the 1985 season, with the exception of the names Erika and Grace, which replaced the names Elena and Gloria after the 1985 season, and were used for the first time in 1991. Names that were not assigned are marked in .