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1900 Galveston Hurricane
The deadliest hurricane in U.S. history hit the Upper Texas coast in 1900. It began as a tropical storm in the central Atlantic and followed a path south of Hispaniola. As it moved over Cuba, it remained a tropical storm. It rapidly intensified and reached hurricane status as it passed just west of Key West, Florida.An estimated 8,000 to 12,000 people lost their lives, mostly in the Galveston area. More than 3,000 homes were destroye. -
1926 Miami Hurricane
Residents of the city, unfamiliar with hurricanes, thought the storm was over and emerged from their places of refuge out into the city streets. The lull lasted only about 35 minutes, according to the NOAA. The worst part of the hurricane brought 10-foot storm surge onto Miami Beach. As the hurricane moved inland, water from Lake Okeechobee was blown toward the southwest shore and the town. A weakened muck dike that had been constructed to protect Moore Haven broke in several places. -
1928 Okeechobee Hurricane
The storm made landfall near West Palm Beach with winds of 145 mph. In the city, more than 1,711 homes were destroyed, but the impact was worse Lake Okeechobee. Storm surge caused the lake to overflow and put the surrounding area under 10 to 15 feet of water. Numerous houses and buildings were swept away in Belle Glade, Canal Point, Chosen, Pahokee and South Bay. At least 2,500 people drowned, but it's possible this number is as high as 3,000. -
1935 Labor Day Hurricane
Category 5 Labor Day hurricane of 1935 is the most intense hurricane on record to hit the United States. The very small hurricane underwent an amazing amount of strengthening from a Category 1 to a Category 5 as it moved from Andros Island in the Bahamas on Sept. 1, 1935 to the Florida Keys on the the evening of Sept. 2. According to NOAA, maximum sustained winds at landfall were estimated to be 185 mph with storm surge reaching 20 feet. -
1938 Hurricane
The tide completely enveloped Fire Island on the south side of Long Island. More than 150 homes were destroyed at Westhampton. Wind gusts of over 180 miles per hour were recorded at the Blue Hill Observatory south of Boston. Providence, Rhode Island, experienced terrible flooding as the tide, even inside the city, rose to almost 14 feet.
The 1938 storm was a Category 3 on the SS Scale. Damage exceeded $306 million and 256 people were killed in the storm. -
Hurricane Camille
The exact wind speeds in Camille will never be known, as all wind-measuring instruments near the core of the storm were destroyed.The storm surge of 24 feet in southern Mississippi set a U.S. record that would later be surpassed by Hurricane Katrina. Because Camille was compact, the devastating surge focused on a narrower swath of coastline than that of Katrina. -
Hurricane Andrew
The intense winds caused catastrophic damage in southern Florida, destroying or damaging approximately 127,000 homes. Andrew's total cost was $26.5 billion, mostly in Dade County, Florida. At the time, it was the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history. Incredibly, a landfall just a few miles farther north would have caused catastrophic damage to downtown Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. -
Hurricane "Charley"
Charley later made a second landfall south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and tracked into southeast Virginia before losing its tropical characteristics. At the time, Hurricane Charley had become the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history, with damage estimated around $15 billion (2004 dollars). -
Hurricane Katrina
The large field of strong onshore winds pushed catastrophic storm surge into the Mississippi Gulf Coast, peaking at an estimated 28 feet around Waveland and Pass Christian, the highest surge on record in the U.S. The surge penetrated six miles inland across most of South Mississippi, and up to 12 miles inland along bays and rivers. Over 200 people lost their lives in Mississippi, mostly due to the surge. -
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Hurricane Sandy
A total of 650,000 houses were either damaged or destroyed by Sandy, mostly from storm surge. 41 of the 72 direct deaths associated with Sandy in the U.S. were related to storm surge flooding.Sandy affected 24 states. Its storm surge hit New York City on Oct. 29, 2012, flooding streets, tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city. Around 8.5 million customers in the Northeast lost power due to the winds from Sandy. Some were without power for weeks.
