Top 15 Costliest United States Hurricanes

Hurricanes are a destructive force from nature that occur every year and are more prominent in the  months of June through November. With those months in mind, the ocean waters are warmer and lately, have been warmer than average leaving 2017 with a very costly hurricane season.

Along with Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, thirteen other hurricanes ranging from 1965 to 2011 made the rank for the top 15 costliest hurricanes in the United States.

Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 hurricane which hit Texas this year, is estimated to cost roughly 190 billion US dollars. Another money making hurricane was Hurricane Irma which hit Florida this year as well. Irma, a category 5, is estimated to cost the United States roughly 150 billion US dollars. Shockingly, these two hurricanes are ranked the highest for the most expensive hurricanes to hit the United States. A known hurricane that greatly impacted, and still impacts the United States, is Hurricane Katrina which used to be the costliest hurricane settling at 130 billion US dollars, and now has been dropped to third place.

The rank for the costliest hurricanes goes Harvey, Irma, Katrina, Andrew, Ike, Wilma, Ivan, Charley, Irene, Rita, Agnes, Betsy, Frances, Hugo, and lastly Camille.

To look at hurricanes during the season and to see what is stirring up in the oceans, the National Hurricane Center keeps viewers updated with probability percentages of the disturbance turning into a hurricane, and if an actually hurricane is formed.

4th Annual Virginia Tech Science Festival

Rain doesn't stop families from enjoying Virginia Tech's Science Festival. 

Virginia Tech hosted the 4th Annual Science Festival on November 4, 2017 from 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.  The science festival is a popular, free-of-charge event for the whole family. Even though, this year the festival was a muggy and rainy one, that did not stop the community from coming out and learning. The Virginia Tech Science Festival's website states that this was a rain or shine event even though there are some attractions/booths outdoors, but most of the events are inside. The outdoor attractions did have a possibility of being cancelled or delayed. The science festival has been an ongoing event since 2014, when Virginia Tech collaborated with the Science Museum of Western Virginia. Last year was a hit where more than 6,000 people, from all around Virginia, showed up to learn all about science. Science was a broad topic at the science festival, where robotics, rocketry, weather, 3-D printing, space, engineering, animals, and much more came together to excite the minds of kids. The event took place in the Moss Arts Center, down the street of Alumni Mall, Torgersen Hall, and Newman Library and was open to everyone, but the event was geared for younger kids. Attendees have stated that in the past, the Moss Arts Center is typically the busiest because they have the most attractions. Best advice for attending the festival would be to start at Newman Library, then venture into Torgersen Hall, walk down Alumni Mall, and end the festival at the Moss Arts Center.