Hurricanes seasons in the Caribbean have been very quiet for about 12 years. I guess it was due for an active one.
During those quiet years, folks get over-confident about ocean side building. Grand Turk is an example. A cruise I was on stopped there when it was first being built up as a cruise ship port. At the time, the guide of an island tour actually said that Grand Turk never had hurricanes because ocean currents turned them away.