Busier than usual hurricane season caused 62 deaths

MIAMI -- The 2003 Atlantic hurricane season was busier thanusual, with 14 named storms blamed for 62 deaths by the season's endSunday, but forecasters say it could have been worse.

Hurricane Fabian was the strongest of the storms to hit land,raking Bermuda with 120 mph wind that tore up roofs and roads inearly September. Two weeks later, Hurricane Isabel plowed into NorthCarolina's Outer Banks with 100 mph wind and became the season'sdeadliest and most damaging storm.

"North Carolina and Virginia were not lucky this year, but therest of the East Coast was," said Bill Gray, a hurricane forecasterat Colorado State University.

The six-month hurricane season …