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Galveston Hurricane
A category 4 hurricane ripped through the port city of Galveston, Texas with winds over 135 miles per hour. Storm surges rose 15 feet and completely devastated the prosperous and, at the time, one of the biggest cities in Texas, with over 40,000 inhabitants. In the wake of the destruction, a renewed focus was brought on the study of hurricane prediction in an effort to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. —(NOAA) -
San Francisco Earthquake
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 struck San Francisco, CA. Violent shocks lasted approximately 40-60 seconds and was felt from southern Oregon to the south of Los Angeles and inland as far as Central Nevada. Fires that resulted from broken gas mains raged for three days, and the pipeline carrying water to the city was severed.—(USGS) Impact:
Approximately 3,000 fatalities
Estimated Damage Costs: >$400 million (1906) (approx. 10.4 trillion today) -
Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919
In the spring of 1918, the first wave of the influenza epidemic struck, but was generally mild. Those who contracted the flu usually recovered after several days. However, when the second wave hit in the autumn of 1918, it proved to be much more serious. Victims died within only hours or days of the symptoms appearing, with young adults ages 20-40 being among the hardest hit groups. (NARA) Impact:
675,000 fatalities estimated in the US
500 million fatalities estimated worldwide -
Dust Bowl Era of the 1930s
Following in the wake of the Homestead Act, settlers began populating and farming on the Great Plains, planting an abundance of dry-land wheat. Beginning in 1930 and lasting for nearly a decade, the Great Plains suffered a severe drought. When the winds began to sweep across the plains, it caused great dust storms that could completely block out the sun’s light for days. Thousands of farm families abandoned their land to flee westward to become migrant laborers. —LOC -
Attack of Pearl Harbor
Six Japanese carriers launched 181 planes carrying torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. Only 30 minutes later 170 more aircraft launched their attack on the Harbor. The attack was intended to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with Japanese military actions, but spurred the U.S. into war instead. Impact:
2,403 fatalities
1,178 injured
Property Damage: 21 ships sunk or damaged; 300 aircraft lost -
3 Mile Island
The Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) experienced a partial meltdown and was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history. Luckily, there were no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public from the small radioactive releases, but the event spurred significant changes to nuclear power plant regulations and emergency response preparedness. -
Creation of FEMA
Executive Order 12127 merged many of separate disaster-related responsibilities into a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA was created to: Coordinate Federal emergency authorities, including the administration of disaster response and recovery programs. -
U.S. Embassy Bombings Beirut 1983 and 1984
In 1983 and again in 1984, suicide bombers detonated vehicle borne bombs at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. -
Hurricane Andrew
Until Hurricane Irma, it was the most destructive to ever hit Florida, and is still one of the costliest hurricanes to date–(NHC). Florida governor at the time, Governor Lawton Chiles, declared a state of emergency and nearly 1.2 million people evacuated the Florida coast, with thousands more evacuating further inland. In Louisiana, Governor Edwin Edwards also declared a state of emergency, and about 1.25 million people evacuated from central and south Louisiana. -
September 11, 2001
19 al Qaeda members hijacked four US passenger airliners. One would hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., another would crash into the Pennsylvania countryside after passengers tried to take control of the plane headed towards Washington, D.C., and two would crash into the Twin Towers in New York. They are considered the most lethal terrorist attacks in history and would greatly alter anti-terror approaches around the world, as the U.S. launched the War on Terror. —FBI -
Patriot Act
Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act (the Act) in response to the terrorists’ attacks of September 11, 2001. The Act gives federal officials greater authority to track and intercept communications, both for law enforcement and foreign intelligence gathering purposes. It creates new crimes, new penalties, and new procedural efficiencies for use against domestic and international terrorists. Although it is not without safeguards, critics contend some of its provisions go too far. -
Creation of DHS
Eleven days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was appointed as the first Director of the Office of Homeland Security in the White House. The office oversaw and coordinated a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard the country against terrorism and respond to any future attacks. Department of Homeland Security formally came into being as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department on March 1, 2003. -
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina created a path of destruction across southern Florida, and caused devastation into parts of southeast Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The storm then tracked northward into Tennessee and Kentucky and points northeast from there, where heavy rainfall was the main impact of the storm. Total losses as a result of the storm are estimated at just over $160 billion in damages and more than 1,800 deaths. -
Ft. Hood Terrorist Attack
Army Major Nidal Hasan opened fire at an Army processing center where soldiers were taking care of preparations for overseas deployment. As a matter of practice, soldiers do not carry weapons at Fort Hood, and Hasan is said to have had two handguns with him, one of them a semi-automatic. Hasan was not charged with terrorism, but it is seen by many as a terrorist attack. He was given the death penalty. — Fort Hood Shooting (DOD.gov) -
Deep Water Horizon
The oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank. In 87 days following the explosion, approximately 210,000,000 gallons of oil were spilled around 68,000 square miles of the Gulf before finally being capped on July 15, 2010. It is the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling in the United States.—(EPA) -
OPM Data Breach
The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) “concluded with high confidence that sensitive information, including the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of 21.5 million individuals, was stolen from the background investigation databases. This includes 19.7 million individuals that applied for a background investigation, and 1.8 million non-applicants, predominantly spouses or co-habitants of applicants. -
Dallas Police Officer Massacre
“Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, armed with two rifles and a handgun, began shooting at the end of a protest in Dallas, Texas. Five law enforcement officers were killed; nine were wounded, including seven law enforcement officers. The shooter was killed by a bomb-carrying robot.” — FBI, Active Shooter Incidents -
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting
On February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 19 year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on staff and students. Prior to the incident, the FBI had received a tip learning of Cruz’s intentions on the FBI’s Public Access Line, but an error kept the information from reaching the Miami office. Cruz had been expelled from the school the previous year and bragged on social media that he was going to be “a professional school shooter”. -
COVID-19
The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the State of Washington reported the diagnosis of a patient with the first confirmed case of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) (CDC). A 35-year-old man visited an urgent care clinic in Snohomish County, WA with symptoms of a cough and fever that had persisted for four days, as well as nausea and vomiting for two days. “He disclosed that he had returned to Washington State on January 15 after traveling to visit family in Wuhan, China.