Harvey And Irma, Devoted Foster Parents, Married 75 Years Before The Storms: NYT

NEW YORK, NY — Harvey and Irma, neither a particularly popular name, became synonymous with devastation and destruction over the last few weeks as hurricanes bearing the monikers brought flooding and fierce winds to the United States. Harvey and Irma Schluter, a couple of long-time foster parents married for 75 years, expressed their wonder at the coincidence in a brief but sweet report in the New York Times.

Irma Schluter, 93, told the Times she had no idea how the official storm-naming conventions brought about the result. But as reporter Jonah Engel Bromwich explains, the answer is relatively simple. Hurricane are labelled based on a preexisting list that alternates between male and female names going in alphabetical order. (Notice that the two storms that formed after Irma are Jose and Katia.) Whenever a storm becomes particularly memorable and noteworthy, it's name is retired — and "Irene" was taken off the list after a ferocious hurricane in 2011 bore the title. "Irma" took Irene's place on the list.

Harvey has increased in popularity as a baby name in recent decades in the United States. Between 2000 and 2016, it jumped from the 988th most popular name to the 412th spot, according to the Social Security Administration. Meanwhile, Irma hasn't even registered in the top 1,000 names in SSA's database since the turn of the century. Given the severity of both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma so far, neither name is likely to be given to another storm any time soon.

Read the full story at the New York Times>>

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