Female hurricanes are deadlier than male hurricanes, study says

A study suggests people prepare differently for hurricanes depending on whether the storm has a male or female name. "Feminine-named hurricanes (vs. masculine-named hurricanes) cause significantly more deaths, apparently because they lead to a lower perceived risk and consequently less preparedness," a team of researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In other words, a hurricane named "Priscilla" might not make people flee like a hurricane named "Bruno" would. The study analyzed death rates from U.S. hurricanes from 1950 to 2012. It suggests that changing a severe hurricane's name from Charley to Eloise could nearly triple its death toll. "For severe storms, where taking protective action would have the greatest potential to save lives, the masculinity-femininity of a hurricane's name predicted its death toll," the study said. Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which left more than 1,800 people dead, was not included in the study because it was considered a statistical outlier. Neither was Hurricane Audrey in 1957, which killed 416 people. The study does note that both of those very deadly hurricanes had female names. Read more