Prof. Martin Andres Medina Elizalde Assistant Professor Geology Department, Amherst College (USA).In light of their power and precipitation fluxes, tropical storms and particularly hurricanes are agents of significant societal stress. Cyclone precipitation fluxes, conversely, could play a positive societal and environmental role during times and locations with a tendency towards dryness. New evidence from speleothems suggests that shifts in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms explain precipitation variability in the Yucatan Peninsula lowlands during the disintegration and collapse of the Maya civilization.