At a Glance

Hurricane Dorian has obliterated parts of the northwestern Bahamas.The devastation there will likely lead to the name Dorian being retired.Dorian will also likely be damaging in the Southeast U.S., similar to another retired hurricane, Matthew.

Hurricane Dorian has already been a destructive and notable storm and as a result the name Dorian will likely be retired from future use as an Atlantic hurricane name after 2019.

Dorian was a hurricane that made landfall in the Abaco Islands, Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph and a central pressure of 910 mb, making it the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the Bahamas.

It also made landfall on Grand Bahama Island with winds of 185 mph and was the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall there.

Dorian stalled, lashed the northwestern Bahamas for about 48 hours and may have set a new record for the since records began in 1851.

Satellite image of Hurricane Dorian on September 2, 2019.

The exact toll that Dorian has taken on the northwestern Bahamas remains unknown, but it is clear that damage is extensive.

As many as 13,000 houses may have been , the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.

Several deaths due to Dorian have already been reported and that number will likely increase in the days ahead.

(MORE: Impacts on the Bahamas)

Recently the Bahamas were impacted by another intense hurricane that was retired. Four years ago, remained near the Bahamas for several days as a storm. The central Bahamas was hit hard and about with at least 5 feet of water and there was significant damage to buildings and homes. Extensive damage was also reported on Acklins Island, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador Island.

Joaquin was responsible for 34 deaths, almost all of which occurred when the El Faro cargo ship was lost at sea.

Track of Hurricane Joaquin

Due to the serious damage in the Bahamas, as well as the sinking of the El Faro, the name Joaquin was retired from the rotation of hurricane names.

Given the catastrophe that this appears to be for the Bahamas, it seems likely that Dorian will also qualify to be retired. This means that there will never be another storm named Dorian in the future.

In addition, more damage is likely as Dorian tracks near the Southeast coast.

in 2016 took a similar path to where Dorian is expected to track. Matthew was a powerful Category 5 hurricane in the Caribbean and was responsible for nearly 600 deaths, mostly in Haiti. However, there were 34 direct deaths in the U.S. and the combination of storm surge and very heavy rainfall caused more than 1 million structures to be damaged by flooding. As a result, the name Matthew was also retired.

Track of Hurricane Matthew

Atlantic hurricane and tropical storm name lists repeat every six years, unless one is so destructive and/or deadly, like Joaquin and Matthew, that a committee of the World Meteorological Organization votes to retire that name from future lists.

(MORE: The Most Notorious Atlantic Storms Since 1954)

This is only the second time the name Dorian has been used in the Atlantic. Dorian replaced Dean, which was a Category 5 hurricane that tore through the Yucatan Peninsula at peak strength in 2007. in the Caribbean.

Through 2018, 89 Atlantic hurricane or tropical storm names have been retired and given current estimates of the impacts of Dorian, it will likely join that list.