When an especially destructive hurricane causes severe damage to a region, the affected country can request that its name be "retired" from the official naming list. Retirement shows respect for those whose lives were affected by the storm and avoids future confusion in legal and business matters having to do with storm damage. The World Meteorological Association decides which hurricane names will be retired.

The following is a list of retired Atlantic basin hurricane names since 1995.

Cesar (1996)
Cesar, a Category 1 storm, killed an estimated 51 people when it struck islands in the Caribbean Sea and parts of Central America before continuing into the Pacific, where it was renamed Douglas. Most of Cesar's victims were killed by floods, which were devastating and widespread.

Floyd (1999)
The National Hurricane Center described Hurricane Floyd as a "large and intense" storm. Floyd was a Category 4 storm that reached the "threshold" of Category 5 before striking North Carolina and the eastern seaboard of the United States. Floyd caused major flooding and killed an estimated 57 people.

Fran (1996)
Hurricane Fran reached Category 3 strength before striking North Carolina. Fran caused storm surge flooding, wind damage and extensive rainfall that led to floods as far inland as Pennsylvania. Flooding from Fran was responsible for an estimated 34 deaths.

Hortense (1996)
Hortense was a "wet" Category 4 storm that dumped torrential rains on Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic before continuing northward to Nova Scotia. Hortense's flooding killed an estimated 21 people.

Lenny (1999)
Lenny became the fifth Category 4 hurricane to develop in 1999, setting a record for the most Category 4 storms in a single season. Lenny brought high winds, storm surge and flooding from rainfall to the islands of the Caribbean Sea, killing an estimated 17 people.

Luis (1995)
Luis was a Category 4 hurricane that "wreaked harm and havoc" on some of the Caribbean's Leeward Islands (St. Martin, Antigua, Barbuda, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe) before moving north to Newfoundland. Luis's high winds and floods killed an estimated 17 people and caused beach erosion and severe damage to structures.

Marilyn (1995)
Marilyn was a Category 2 storm that was close to Category 3 strength when it struck the U.S. Virgin Islands. Marilyn killed an estimated 18 people, destroyed 80 percent of the homes and businesses on St. Thomas and left 10,000 people homeless.

Mitch (1998)
Mitch, a Category 5 hurricane, was one of the deadliest storms in history, killing an estimated 9,000 people, most of whom died in massive floods as the storm dumped torrential rains on Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Mitch destroyed around 50 percent of Honduran crops and damaged 70,000 homes from Central America to Florida, where it spawned devastating tornadoes.

Opal (1995)
Opal was a Category 3 storm that brought devastating floods to areas of Mexico and Guatemala before continuing on to Pensacola, Fla. Opal killed an estimated 59 people, most of whom perished in floods near the Mexico-Guatemala border. Opal's storm surge caused extensive damage to areas along the Florida panhandle. At the time, Opal was the first major hurricane to hit Florida's Gulf Coast in 20 years.

Roxanne (1995)
Roxanne was a Category 3 storm when it struck the Yucatan Peninsula and continued a slow, deadly march along the Mexican coast causing floods and further destruction to areas that had just been slammed by Hurricane Opal. Roxanne killed an estimated 14 people.

Source: NOAA, National Hurricane Center

-- By Jason Manning, Online NewsHour