10 Biggest, Deadliest, Most Destructive Hurricane's EVER!! By jeff419  [3 more lists]

The year was 1900, the place was Galveston Texas. On September 4th a warning was released saying a large tropical storm had just passed Cuba and was headed west across the Gulf of Mexico.

Even though the US Weather Bureau had warning that a large storm was on its way their policy at the time was to avoid pesky words like "hurricane" or "tornado" to avoid giving people a chance to escape oops, I mean to avoid panic.

In this case panic is really what the people of Galveston should have done as there was a big ass storm on it's way and they were grossly unprepared.

In 1900 Galveston was only about 9 feet above sea level which was a bit too low. When the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on September 8th it brought a 15 foot tall storm surge along with 135mph winds, making it a category 4 hurricane. The surge was so powerful it washed over the entire island, knocking buildings off their foundations and then pounding them into scraps of wood. In total over 3600 houses were destroyed.

The Galveston Hurricane is the deadliest natural disaster to ever hit the US, claiming over 6,000 lives. The total damages exceeded $20 million in 1900 dollars, which is over $500 million in todays dollars (inflation is no joke!).

Hurricane Ike is in the top 3 for most destructive hurricane's to ever hit with $24 billion (2008 USD) in the United States, with additional damage of $7.3 billion in Cuba, $200 million in the Bahamas, and $500 million in the Turks and Caicos, amounting to a total of $32 billion in damages.

Hurricane Ike results in at least 195 deaths all the way from Haiti to Galveston and many places in between.

Holding the record as the deadliest Atlantic hurricane this storm devastated Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Lesser Antilles, Bermuda, and possibly Florida and other States.

While the total damages are unknown the death toll was well over 22,000 people, more than any other decade of Atlantic hurricanes.

Hurricane Andrew was the only named hurricane for the 1992 season but boy did it make it's mark. Wreaking havoc across the northwestern Bahamas, southern Florida and southwest Louisiana. Andrew caused $26.5 billion (USD 1992) in damage though some sources place this number closer to $34 billion.

Even with all the destruction caused by Hurricane Andrew the death toll was very low, with 26 deaths caused directly by the hurricane and 39 as secondary deaths.

Still fresh in the memories of American's, especially those from New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina was the costliest hurricane in US history as well as one of the 5 most deadliest ever recorded. Knocking out levies in Louisiana Katrina caused over 80% of New Orleans to flood before moving into the northeastern United States dumping rain all across the area.

By far the largest natural disaster to ever hit the US Hurricane Katrina is $80 billion (2008 USD) in damages and killed 1,836 people with 705 still missing.

One thing that stands out about the Katrina disaster is the utter failure of FEMA or any other government agency to provide support and rescue services to the areas. Lawlessness was rampant with police shooting innocent civilians and going door to door confiscating guns from American citizens in dry areas just trying to defend their homes.

The remnants of Hurricane Katrina are still evident in New Orleans even as efforts to rebuild the city are still under way.