(CNN) Wind often gets the headlines, but water is most responsible for deaths in a hurricane.

Water has accounted for more than 75% of all hurricane-related fatalities in the US from 1963 to 2012. Wind, on the other hand, is only responsible for 8% of all deaths.

That's why Hurricane Florence is still an incredibly dangerous storm -- it will contain extreme amounts of water, both coming up from the ocean in storm surge, and falling from the sky in heavy rain bands.

About half of all deaths in hurricanes come from storm surge. Even though Florence has weakened to Category 2, it will contain a storm surge more like a major hurricane thanks to its massive size and slow movement.

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