Deadliest Hurricanes in the U.S.

Q: What is the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history?

The deadliest hurricane—as well as the deadliest natural disaster—in U.S. history is the Galveston hurricane of 1900 . The category 4 hurricane struck the Texas city on September 8 and killed more than 8,000 people. (At the time, Galveston’s total population was approximately 40,000.)

Q: When is hurricane season?

The hurricane season for the Atlantic Ocean is June 1 through November 30. However, hurricanes can strike months outside this window. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , the earliest known Atlantic hurricane occurred on March 6–9, 1908. The category 2 hurricane struck the Leeward Islands . The islands were also the target of a hurricane that was the latest to form. Hurricane Alice developed on December 31, 1954, and continued until January 5, 1955. It is the only known Atlantic hurricane to span two calendar years.

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History

What is the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history?

When is hurricane season?

Hurricanes are the deadliest weather-related disasters in the United States. Since 1930 approximately 10,000 people have died as a direct result of these storms—though some experts have suggested that hurricanes have indirectly contributed to the deaths of millions. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 is the deadliest on record, killing more than 8,000 people. Next on the list is Hurricane Maria, which struck the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in 2017. While there is some uncertainty about Maria’s death toll, the official count is 2,975. Below is a table of other deadly hurricanes in U.S. history.

Deadliest hurricanes in the U.S.¹
rank	hurricane location (and name, if any)	year	category	deaths
¹Includes U.S. territories.
²Death toll may have been as high as 12,000.
³Death toll may have been more than 4,600.
⁴Death toll may have been as high as 3,000.
⁵Includes those lost at sea.
⁶Death toll may have been as high as 2,000.
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
1	Galveston, Texas	1900	4	8,000²
2	Puerto Rico (San Ciriaco Hurricane)	1899	4	3,400
3	Puerto Rico (Hurricane Maria)	2017	4	2,975³
4	Lake Okeechobee, Florida	1928	4	2,500⁴
5	Chenière Caminada, Louisiana	1893	4	2,000⁵
6	southeastern Louisiana; southeastern Florida; Mississippi (Hurricane Katrina)	2005	3	1,400
7	Sea Islands, South Carolina and Georgia	1893	3	1,000⁶
8	Georgia; South Carolina	1881	2	700
9	New England	1938	3	600⁵
9	Florida Keys; southern Texas	1919	4	600⁵
11	southwestern Louisiana; northern Texas (Hurricane Audrey)	1957	4	416
12	Florida Keys	1935	5	408
13	Last Island, Louisiana	1856	4	400
14	Florida; Mississippi; Alabama	1926	4	372
15	Grand Isle, Louisiana	1909	3	350
16	New Orleans, Louisiana	1915	4	275⁵
17	Galveston, Texas	1915	4	275
18	Mississippi; southeastern Louisiana; Virginia (Hurricane Camille)	1969	5	256
19	Florida, southeastern U.S. (Hurricane Helene)	2024	4	252
20	northeastern U.S. (Hurricane Diane)	1955	1	184
21	Georgia; South Carolina; North Carolina	1898	4	179
22	Texas	1875	3	176
23	southeastern Florida	1906	3	164
24	Florida; North Carolina; South Carolina (Hurricane Ian)	2022	4	156
25	Texas (Hurricane Indianola)	1886	4	150
26	Mississippi; Alabama; northwestern Florida	1906	2	134
27	Florida; Georgia; South Carolina	1896	3	130
28	northeastern U.S. (Hurricane Sandy)	2012	1	125
29	Florida; northeastern U.S. (Hurricane Agnes)	1972	1	122

Deadly Hurricanes

Five hands on a concrete wall; above a torn edge are scenes of outdoor dining, floodwater, and a crowded street; text reads “Who gets to move on?”

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Camille

Hurricane Helene

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.