The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season may have been slower than expectations, but it was was consistent with expectations and costly:
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season ended Sunday, marking the finish of one of the busiest and costliest hurricane seasons ever.
The damage caused by this year's Atlantic hurricanes is estimated at $54 billion, according to the National Climatic Data Center. That's second in recorded history only to 2005, the year Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast. The total that year was an estimated $128 billion.
Government studies have noted that, when adjusted for inflation and other factors such as population density in coastal areas, some hurricane seasons from early last century could be seen as more expensive.
Still, the huge financial impact of this year's storms took their toll on an already-struggling economy.
It was the fourth busiest Atlantic hurricane year since 1944. The National Climatic Data Center said 2008 is "the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the north Atlantic."