I was searching websites concerning hurricanes once (haven’t been able to find this particular website since, but I know the story is out there somewhere) and read about a hurricane so severe that Spain actually stopped colonizing Florida for a while. It happened, I think, in the 1500’s - totally wiped out a larger settlement, and the Spanish said hmmm, let’s think about this.
Giant storms are not increasing, they’ve always been there. Very few people know that the British were driven out of Wash DC while burning the WH because a violent tornado materialized in front of them - scared the living daylights out of them. Certainly a rare event.
I read that too:
http://www.hurricanescience.org/history/storms/pre1900s/1559/