Historical reference

Hurricanes in US history

Every major (Cat 3+) hurricane to hit the US since 1900. What happened, what died, and what changed.

1900-1919

1900 Galveston — Cat 4. 6,000-12,000 dead. Deadliest US natural disaster ever.
1903 New Jersey — Cat 2. Regional damage.
1906 Florida Keys — Cat 3. 240 dead.
1909 Grand Isle LA — Cat 3. 350 dead.
1915 New Orleans — Cat 4. 275 dead.
1915 Galveston — Cat 4. 275 dead in second Galveston hit.
1916 Alabama — Cat 3.
1919 Florida Keys — Cat 4. 800 dead including sinking of Corydon.

1920s

1926 Great Miami — Cat 4. 372 dead. $200M ($6B in 2024 dollars).
1928 Okeechobee — Cat 4. 2,500+ dead. Lake Okeechobee levee failed.

1930s

1932 Freeport TX — Cat 4. 40 dead.
1935 Labor Day (Florida Keys) — Cat 5. 408 dead. 892 mb — record lowest US landfall.
1938 New England Hurricane — Cat 3. 682 dead. Undetected by weather bureau.

1940s

1944 Great Atlantic — Cat 4. 390 dead.
1947 Fort Lauderdale — Cat 4. 51 dead.

1950s

1954 Hazel — Cat 4. 95 dead in US.
1954 Carol — Cat 3. 68 dead.
1955 Diane — Cat 1 at landfall. 200+ dead from freshwater flooding.
1957 Audrey — Cat 3. 416 dead in Louisiana.
1957 Betsy — Cat 4. 76 dead.

1960s

1960 Donna — Cat 4. 50 dead.
1961 Carla — Cat 4. 46 dead. First hurricane TV broadcast.
1964 Cleo — Cat 2.
1964 Dora — Cat 2. Florida.
1965 Betsy — Cat 4. 81 dead. First "billion-dollar hurricane."
1969 Camille — Cat 5. 259 dead in Mississippi. 909 mb landfall.

1970s

1972 Agnes — Cat 1 at landfall. 128 dead from freshwater flooding across mid-Atlantic.
1975 Eloise — Cat 3.
1979 David — Cat 2.
1979 Frederic — Cat 3. 5 dead.

1980s

1983 Alicia — Cat 3. 21 dead Texas.
1985 Elena — Cat 3.
1985 Gloria — Cat 3 at landfall NC.
1988 Gilbert — Cat 3. 30 dead (in US alone).
1989 Hugo — Cat 4. 49 dead. $10B damage.

1990s

1992 Andrew — Cat 5. 65 dead. $27B damage. Rewrote Florida building codes.
1995 Opal — Cat 3.
1996 Fran — Cat 3. 27 dead.
1998 Georges — Cat 2.
1999 Floyd — Cat 2. 57 dead. Massive NC flooding.

2000s

2004 Charley — Cat 4. 15 dead.
2004 Ivan — Cat 3. 25 dead in US. Massive tornado outbreak spawn.
2004 Frances — Cat 2.
2004 Jeanne — Cat 3.
2005 Dennis — Cat 3.
2005 Katrina — Cat 3 landfall. 1,833 dead. $170B. Levee failures.
2005 Rita — Cat 3. 120 dead. Massive TX/LA evacuation deaths.
2005 Wilma — Cat 3. 5 dead.
2008 Ike — Cat 2. 84 dead. $30B damage.
2008 Gustav — Cat 2.

2010s

2011 Irene — Cat 1 at landfall NC. 45 dead. VT flooding.
2012 Sandy — post-tropical landfall NJ. 233 dead. $70B damage.
2016 Matthew — Cat 3 offshore.
2017 Harvey — Cat 4. 107 dead. Historic rainfall Texas.
2017 Irma — Cat 4 landfall FL. 92 dead.
2017 Maria — Cat 4 landfall PR. 2,975 dead.
2018 Michael — Cat 5. 74 dead. FL Panhandle destroyed.
2018 Florence — Cat 1 landfall. 55 dead. Historic NC flooding.
2019 Dorian — Cat 5 at Bahamas. 84 dead.

2020s

2020 Laura — Cat 4. 47 dead LA.
2020 Sally — Cat 2.
2020 Zeta — Cat 2.
2021 Ida — Cat 4 landfall LA. 107 dead including NYC subway flood.
2022 Ian — Cat 4 landfall FL. 156 dead. $113B damage.
2022 Nicole — Cat 1.
2023 Idalia — Cat 3. FL Big Bend.
2024 Helene — Cat 4 landfall FL. 230+ dead. Massive Appalachian flooding.
2024 Milton — Cat 3 landfall FL. Damage TBD.
2025 season — ongoing.

The trends visible in this list

Deaths per major hurricane have dropped since 1900 due to warnings and evacuations.
But dollar damage has risen dramatically due to coastal development.
Freshwater flooding (Agnes, Diane, Ivan, Harvey, Ian, Helene) increasingly the deadly component.
Cat 5 landfalls remain rare but concentrated in specific decades.
Rapid intensification more frequent since 2017.
Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands often overlooked in continental listings.

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