A hurricane or typhoon is a system with sustained winds of at least 34 metres per second (66 kn) or 74 miles per hour (119 km/h). The word hurricane, used in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, is derived from huracán, the Spanish word for the Carib/Taino storm god, Juracán.
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.
Here are the 10 most Deadliest Hurricane in U.S. History
10. Hurricane Camille, 1969
Hurricane Camille was the third and strongest tropical cyclone and second hurricane during the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the second of three catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century (the others being 1935’s Labor Day hurricane and 1992’s Hurricane Andrew), which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River on the night of August 17. Camille was the second strongest U.S. landfalling hurricane in recorded history in terms of atmospheric pressure, behind the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935.
The storm formed on 14 August and rapidly deepened. It scraped the western edge of Cuba at Category 2 intensity. Camille rapidly deepened once again over the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall with a pressure of 900 mbar (hPa; 26.58 inHg), estimated sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a peak official storm surge of 24 feet (7.3 m). The hurricane flattened nearly everything along the coast of the U.S. state of Mississippi, and caused additional flooding and deaths inland while crossing the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. In total, Camille killed 259 people and caused $1.42 billion (1969 USD, $9.16 billion 2016 USD) in damages. To date, a complete understanding of the reasons for the system’s power, extremely rapid intensification over open water and strength at landfall has not been achieved.
9. Storm of the Century, 1993
The 1993 Storm of the Century, also known as the ’93 Super Storm, the Great Blizzard of 1993, or the No Name Storm was a large cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The storm eventually dissipated in the North Atlantic Ocean on March 15, 1993. It was unique for its intensity, massive size, and wide-reaching effects, particularly in the southeastern United States. At its height, the storm stretched from Canada to Central America, but it impacted mainly the eastern United States and Cuba. The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico and then through the eastern United States before moving onto Canada.
Areas as far south as central Alabama and Georgia received 7 to 8 inches (18 to 20 cm) of snow. Areas such as Birmingham, Alabama received up to 13 inches (33 cm) with isolated reports of 16 inches (41 cm). The Florida Panhandle reported up to 4 inches (10 cm), with hurricane-force wind gusts and record low barometric pressures. Between Louisiana and Cuba, the hurricane-force winds produced high storm surges across north-western Florida which, in combination with scattered tornadoes, killed dozens of people.
8. Labor Day hurricane, 1935
The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane is the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the United States and anywhere in the western hemisphere. The second tropical cyclone, second hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season, the Labor Day Hurricane was the first of three Category 5 hurricanes to strike the United States at that intensity during the 20th century (the other two being 1969’s Hurricane Camille and 1992’s Hurricane Andrew). After forming as a weak tropical storm east of the Bahamas on August 29, it slowly proceeded westward and became a hurricane on September 1.
Northeast storm warnings were ordered displayed from Fort Pierce to Fort Myers in the September 1, 9:30 AM Weather Bureau advisory. Upon receipt of this advisory the U.S. Coast Guard Station, Miami, FL, sent a plane along the coast to advise boaters and campers of the impending danger by dropping message blocks. A second flight was made Sunday afternoon. All planes were placed in the hangar and its door closed at 10:00 AM Monday morning.
7. New England hurricane, 1938
The 1938 New England Hurricane was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to impact New England. The storm formed near the coast of Africa on September 9, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale before making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Long Island on September 21. The hurricane was estimated to have killed 682 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.7 billion in 2016). Even as late as 1951, damaged trees and buildings were still seen in the affected areas. It remains the most powerful and deadliest hurricane in recent New England history, eclipsed in landfall intensity perhaps only by the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635.
6. Florida Keys Hurricane, 1919
The 1919 Florida Keys hurricane (also known as the 1919 Key West hurricane)[1] was a massive and damaging tropical cyclone that swept across areas of the northern Caribbean Sea and the United States Gulf Coast in September 1919. Remaining an intense Atlantic hurricane throughout much of its existence, the storm’s slow-movement and sheer size prolonged and enlarged the scope of the hurricane’s effects, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes in United States history. Impacts were largely concentrated around the Florida Keys and South Texas areas, though lesser but nonetheless significant effects were felt in Cuba and other areas of the United States Gulf Coast.
5. Sea Islands, Georgia and South Carolina, 1893
On August 27, 1893 a major hurricane which came to be known as the Sea Islands Hurricane struck the United States near Savannah, Georgia. It was one of three deadly hurricanes during the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season; the storm killed an estimated 1,000–2,000 people, mostly from storm surge. This is also the storm that made famous United States Life-Saving Service Keeper Dunbar Davis.
The hurricane carried with it a heavy storm surge (16 ft or 4.9 m, according to Clara Barton, although the modern NOAA SLOSH model calculates that some areas may have been inundated up to 30 feet), which caused great destruction along the coastline and offshore Sea Islands in Georgia and South Carolina.
4. Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana and Mississippi, 2005
Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh named storm and fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. The storm is currently ranked as the third most intense United States landfalling tropical cyclone, behind only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it the deadliest United States hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Total property damage was estimated at $108 billion (2005 USD), roughly four times the damage brought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
3. Cheniere Caminada Island, Louisiana, 1893
The Chenière Caminada hurricane, also known as the Great October Storm, was a powerful hurricane that devastated the island of Chenière Caminada, Louisiana in early October 1893. It was one of three deadly hurricanes during the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season; the storm killed an estimated 2,000 people, mostly from storm surge.
The hurricane was first observed on September 27, 1893, in the northwest Caribbean Sea. Its previous history is unknown; possibly it formed from a trough of low pressure in the area, a similar method of formation for two other storms this season. The storm moved to the northwest, quickly strengthening into a hurricane on September 28. It continued to intensify to 95 mph winds before hitting near Cancún of the Yucatán Peninsula on the 29th.
2. Lake Okeechobee, Florida, 1928
The Okeechobee hurricane, also known as San Felipe Segundo hurricane and The Forgotten Storm, was one of the deadliest tropical cyclones in the recorded history of the North Atlantic basin. The fourth tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and only major hurricane of the 1928 season, this system developed just offshore the west coast of Africa on September 6. Initially a tropical depression, it strengthened into a tropical storm later that day, shortly before passing south of the Cape Verde Islands.
Further intensification was slow and halted by late on September 7. About 48 hours later, the storm resumed strengthening and became a Category 1 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Still moving westward, the system reached Category 4 intensity before striking Guadeloupe on September 12. There, the storm brought “great destruction” and 1,200 deaths. The islands of Martinique, Montserrat, and Nevis also reported damage and fatalities, but not nearly as severe as in Guadeloupe.
1. Galveston, Texas, 1900
The Hurricane of 1900, also known as the Great Galveston Hurricane, made landfall on September 8, 1900, in Galveston, Texas, in the United States. It had estimated winds of 145 miles per hour (233 km/h) at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. It was the deadliest hurricane in US history, and the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history based on the dollar’s 2005 value (to compare costs with those of Hurricane Katrina and others).
The hurricane caused great loss of life with a death toll of between 6,000 and 12,000 people; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000, giving the storm the third-highest number of deaths or injuries of any Atlantic hurricane, after the Great Hurricane of 1780 and 1998’s Hurricane Mitch. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. The second-deadliest storm to strike the United States, the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, caused more than 2,500 deaths, and the deadliest storm of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, claimed the lives of approximately 1,800 people.
Top 10 Deadliest Hurricane in U.S. History
Sign up here with your email