Washington Couple Harvey And Irma Watch Deadly Storms From Afar

SPOKANE, WA - Of all the things Harvey and Irma Schulter have witnessed in 75 years of marriage, this is probably the strangest. The couple has watched in shock as two deadly hurricanes with their same names have barreled across the Southeast U.S. and Caribbean in recent weeks.

"I don't know how that worked out," Irma Schulter told the New York Times this week.

The couple married on March 12, 1942. As a couple, they've lived through every world-changing historical event since World War II. For them only, this one might be the most strange.

The explanation is mathematical: the World Meteorological Organization uses six lists of English names for men and women and alternates them each hurricane season, according to the Times. Names are only removed from the list if they cause memorable destruction - Andrew, Katrina, Sandy, for example.

"Harvey was first used as a storm name in 1981, and six other storms have had that name. The gale that followed Harvey every six years used to be called Irene. But in 2011, Hurricane Irene pummeled the Caribbean and many cities on the East Coast, so that name was retired," the Times wrote of the Irma-Harvey coincidence.

If forecasts hold, both names will likely be removed from the lists. Harvey, of course, flooded the Houston area, delivering the most rainfall of any hurricane on record. Irma is shaping up to bring damaging winds in excess of 100 MPH to Florida.

Remarkably, the couple is remarkable in other ways. They fostered over 120 children, according to the Spokesman-Review, and Harvey, who spent his life as a barber, turned 103 in August. Irma, who is only 92, wanted to adopt all those children to increase the size of the family.

Three-thousand miles away from Miami in northeast Washington, the couple can only observe the destruction lingering from Harvey and still to come from Irma.

"Really sad," Irma Schulter told the Times.

Image via National Weather Service