User blog comment:Bobnekaro/Earl may be a serious contender for retirement/@comment-28470696-20160808105507

Although indeed the number of fatalities plays into a storms retirement, damage is important as well. If we get a large amount of damage, Earl has a good shot at being retired.

Of coarse, there are exceptions. Hurricane Gordon of 1994 caused $594 million (1994 USD), $948 million (2016 USD) dollars in damages. Also, 1,149 direct and 3 indirect deaths were attributed to the storm. Gordon was not retired, and sits on the lists today, waiting for its next turn in 2018.