Hurricane Irma: 5 Hurricanes That Have Impacted Georgia

Hurricane Irma was churning through the Caribbean early Thursday as a massive Category 5 hurricane, threatening to strike Florida — or possibly coastal Georgia — as early as this weekend.

As the region prepares, here's a look at some of the biggest hurricanes that have impacted Georgia in modern times, and what they did to the state.

Hurricane David (1979)

Hurricane David was a deadly storm that made its way through the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of 175 m.p.h. It had weakened, however, by the time it reached Georgia. Savannah recorded sustained winds of 58 m.p.h. and many people were left without power for up to two weeks after the storm. Two people were killed due to heavy surf.

Hurricane Hugo (1989)

In 1989, Hurricane Hugo threatened Georgia's coast before scooping northward and making a direct strike near Charleston, S.C. Briefly a Category 5 storm, it weakened over the Atlantic, but picked back up enough steam to strike just north of Charleston as a Category 4 on Sept. 21 with 140 m.p.h sustained winds. It caused 34 deaths, mostly in the Caribbean and South Carolina. High winds and downed trees were reported in Savannah and Brunswick.

Hurricane Floyd (1999)

Another storm that appeared to have Georgia in its crosshairs before moving further north, Hurricane Floyd triggered the third-largest evacuation in U.S. history. That included a mandatory evacuation of much of coastal Georgia, which left people on the highways for hours, even though Floyd would eventually hit Cape Fear, North Carolina as a weakened storm.

Hurricane Cindy (2005)

Hurricane Cindy came up through the Gulf Coast and made landfall in Louisiana. Though that seems far away from Georgia, weather related to Cindy caused an unusually strong F2 tornado that ripped through Georgia, causing severe damage in Hampton. Atlanta Motor Speedway and Tara Field suffered $40 million in damage and three people were killed. Four other Cindy-related tornadoes were confirmed across the state.

Hurricane Dennis (2005)

Just days after Cindy, the wrath of Hurricane Dennis was felt in Georgia in what was to become a record-breaking year for hurricanes in the United States. Dennis hit Cuba twice as a Category 4 hurricane and made landfall on the Florida Panhandle as a Category 3 storm. It killed 88 people in the U.S. and Caribbean and caused more than $2.2 billion in damage. In Georgia, there was heavy flooding, including flash floods in metro Atlanta areas still soaked from Cindy. A man was killed in Decatur when a tree fell on him.

Watch: Top 5 Most Devastating Hurricanes To Hit The U.S.

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Photos by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, via Wikimedia Commons