Heavy wave action during storms will dislodge, fracture and fragment corals. The removal and loss of corals, injuries and abrasions to live tissue, smothering and burial by translocated sediments, algal blooms, sudden temperature changes, and reduced light levels are some of the consequences of hurricanes.

Colony of Montastraea annularis that has been fragmented.

Because corals consist of multiple polyps that can function independently, detached portions of colonies often survive and can reattach to the reef. Fragmentation is a type of asexual reproduction that may promote the expansion of coverage by certain coral species. For instance,fragmentation has been found to be a key
reproductive strategy of staghorn and elkhorn coral that is largely responsible for the formation of characteristic coral thickets in shallow exposed reef environments that were typical of Caribbean reefs before 1980.