Tropical cyclones or Hurricanes as they are called in the Atlantic or Eastern Pacific region have been tormenting the Southern part of East Coast America for a very long time. The oldest known record of a tropical cyclone was in 1523 where two ships and their crew were lost. Through the years more than tens of thousands of lives have been lost to hurricanes. Property damage has been amassed in billions of dollars. Miami has always been one major city on almost any hurricane's hit list. Dade County in specific has always had high damage. In tune with that, Dade County in Miami has specified building code regulations for installation of Hurricane shutters in all major high rise and low rise buildings. Dade County recommends that the set up in installed by a certified installation specialist.

In 1919, the Florida Keys hurricane ripped through Florida Keys and Texas. It was an intense hurricane killing around 600 people. Most of these causalities were aboard ships near the coast. The barometric pressure of the hurricane was measured by a ship on the coast of Texas. It was found to be the most intense hurricane to strike the Key West in the 19th century.

The Miami Hurricane (Great Miami Hurricane) devastated Miami, Florida in September 1926. The storm was intense with around 25,000-50,000 people left homeless. Very few buildings were even left intact in Miami Beach. This hurricane was the major cause for the end of Florida's land boom in the 1920's. In fact the University of Miami at Dade County which was founded in 1925 was hit by major financial strain due to the hurricane. Several other coastal regions were also affected but the damage there simply paled in comparison to Miami's plight.

The Okeechobee Hurricane was a deadly hurricane that struck Florida in September 1928. It was the first recorded hurricane that reached a mind blowing category 5 in the Atlantic basin and then made it to the list of the top ten most intense hurricanes to make landfall in the United States. The storm was named after Lake Okeechobee whose dikes were breached by a storm surge. This led to the flooding of an area covering several hundred square miles. The hurricane in its path killed around 4078 people of which more than 2500 were from the United States.

If Okeechobee was not intense enough, The Labour day hurricane of 1935 proved to be even more intense having a landfall speed of 140 knots. The Hurricane made its mark in Florida Keys, Georgia, North and South Carolina. The storm caused comprehensive damage to infrastructure in these states, ripping railroad tracks and destroying most buildings in the Islamorada area. Thankfully the rate of causalities was comparatively much lower than Okeechobee with the storm claiming around 400-600 deaths.

All these were some of the hurricanes that were recorded. There have been many more in the past that have claimed much more. In the past there was a lack of knowledge about the methods of protection against hurricanes. Today with the availability of hurricane shelters things are much more protected. In fact with the amount of development that has happened, protection and safety is important in South Florida.