2011 Hurricane Season Now Just a (Bad) Memory

Although Nov. 30 is the official end of the hurricane and tropical storm season, meteorologists say the big blows are virtually over by now (insert crowd applause). With 18 named storms — from Arlene to Rina — the 2011 season tied with 1969 as the sixth most-active hurricane season on record.

We bid the season good-bye — and good riddance — with these tidbits:

• FEMA has extended the filing date for Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee victims in New York state until Dec. 15. To see if you’re eligible, register at DisasterAssistance.gov. You can also call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET, seven days a week. People with hearing disabilities, use the TTY number: 800-462-7585.

• When an arctic hurricane-strength storm slammed into Alaska on Nov. 9, natives and neighbors pulled together. They performed tribal weather dances, shared stores of bowhead whale blubber, and lined up cars with headlights ablaze to guide supply planes onto whited-out runways. Winds reached nearly 100 mph, equivalent to a category 2 tropical hurricane.

• Project Home Again, a $20 million housing program to help New Orleans victims of Hurricane Katrina, gave away its 101st (and last) brand-new, energy-efficient home Nov. 11.

How did the 2011 hurricane season treat you? Did you suffer any damage?