Be ready for a storm

History shows hurricanes still strike in calm seasons.

The initial hurricane outlook calls for a calm season with only seven named storms this year — but don’t exhale yet.

In the past century, 27 seasons have had seven or fewer storms, but Florida was hit by a hurricane or tropical storm in 20 of them.

South Florida was struck in nine of those tranquil seasons and often by powerful hurricanes. Among them: the Category 4 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane in 1928, the Category 5 Labor Day Hurricane in 1935 and Category 5 Andrew in 1992.

In two of those slow years, South Florida was hit not once, but twice.

“It only takes one storm hitting your area to make it a bad year, regardless of whether it is a slow or active hurricane season,” said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.

The 2015 Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. Phil Klotzbach and William Gray of Colorado State University call for seven named storms, including three hurricanes, one intense. That would amount to less than half the normal tropical activity.

The prediction of fewer storms overall suggests fewer hurricanes. But history has shown that Florida, the most storm-battered state in the nation, has taken some hard hits during slow seasons. Among them:

1917: A Category 3 hurricane struck near Fort Walton Beach, damaging boats, homes and crops and killing five people; four named storms formed that