While Hurricane Irma hit
Florida as a ferocious category 4 storm last month, the sunshine state has withstood much stronger storms in the past.
According to new research, category 5 hurricanes may have slammed Florida repeatedly 12,000 years ago, during a climatic shift called The Younger Dryas.
While there were hurricane-suppressing cooler sea surface temperatures at the time, these conditions were outweighed by slowed ocean circulation - which plays a powerful role when it comes to generating hurricanes.
