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It's been 120 years since Georgia had a major hurricane like Michael

These are the major hurricanes that have hit the state of Georgia since records began in 1851. 

ATLANTA — How rare is it for Georgia to experience a major hurricane?

Severe Weather Team 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz has been digging into research and found that only four major hurricanes have ever hit Georgia since records started being kept in 1851.

It's been 120 years since Georgia last saw a major hurricane, according to Nitz.

[RELATED: Hurricane Michael is first Category 4 ever to make landfall on Florida Panhandle]

The previous four major hurricanes happened before storms started receiving names in 1953:

  • The 1854 coastal hurricane made landfall near St. Catherines Island, Georgia as a Category 3.
  • The 1893 "Sea Islands" hurricane made landfall near Savannah as a Category 3.
  • The 1896 "Cedar Keys" hurricane made landfall in Florida before moving into southeast Georgia.
  • 1898 "Georgia" hurricane made landfall near Cumberland Island on Oct. 2, 1898.