Not since 1886, when records began, have there been so many Category four hurricanes as there were in the 1999 hurricane season.

One of them was the deadliest hurricane in 27 years, Hurricane Floyd, which devastated much of North Carolina and killed 57 people.

Bermuda's most memorable hurricane in 1999 was Gert, which reached wind speeds of 150 mph and killed two people elsewhere.

Although Gert merely brushed Bermuda with 64 mph winds as she passed 130 miles to the east of the islands, some of her power was demonstrated in the tumultuous ocean off the South Shore.

Gert did some serious coastal erosion and provided Bermudians with a stunning display of ranks breaking waves and giant plumes of sea spray exploding off reef and rock.

"The 1999 hurricane season was correctly forecast as an over-active year, although not as active as the 1998 season,'' said Kimberly Stevenson, meteorologist with the Bermuda Weather Service.

"During the 1999 season the first tropical formation was quite punctual,'' Ms Stevenson said.

It developed within the first two weeks of June, heralding a steady spawn of systems throughout the entire season. Several systems exhibited unusual behaviour, in particular Hurricane Lenny, and added a new facet to tropical climatology records.

"The season produced twelve named storms, eight of which were hurricanes, including five major hurricanes all reaching category four, with winds of at least 131 mph,'' she said.

This was a record number of category four hurricanes during a season since records began in 1886. The total of 41 hurricanes and 20 major storms during the past five years (1995-1999) is also unmatched.

Constant threat: Hurricanes and storms eroded many of Bermuda's beachers during 1999.

Hurricane havoc: The 1999 Hurricane Gert and various storms eroded many docks and shores.