Â鶹APP

Forest fire by Michael Held –

10 of the Deadliest Natural Disasters that happened in the United States

A natural disaster is a sudden event that always causes widespread destruction, major collateral damage, or loss of life, brought about by forces other than the acts of human beings. A natural disaster might be caused by earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption, landslide, hurricanes, etc. To be classified as a disaster, it will have a profound environmental effect and human loss and frequently causes financial loss. 

However, thanks to historical records and journals, historians can at least estimate the number of fatalities linked to disasters that occurred in the common era. According to such records, the following natural disasters are the deadliest of all time in the United States.

1. The 1900 Great Galveston hurricane

The Great Galveston Hurricane remains the deadliest natural disaster in US history, claiming the lives of between 6,000 and 12,000 people. It began as a standard tropical cyclone in the Caribbean Sea but by 6 September when it hit Galveston Texas, it had become a Category 4 hurricane with winds of up to 145mph.

The island of Galveston had not received adequate warnings, nor did they believe they were in danger, having become somewhat complacent from a series of previous storms that had never caused much damage.

As a result, around 1/4 of the island’s population perished and a further 10,000 were left homeless, with every home in the town damaged by the storm. Aid took several days to arrive as the hurricane had downed the telephone wires and destroyed all bridges to the mainland.

2. The 1936 North American heatwave 

Forest Fire by Malachi Brooks –

The 1936 heatwave affected the whole of North America, setting record temperatures across the continent. Part of the Dust Bowl phenomenon of the 1930s, temperatures exceeding 38°C hit the Midwest in June, and droughts spread across the continent, as far north as Canada and stretching from coast to coast.

Temperatures peaked in July, setting high-temperature records which still exist in 13 states today. Harvests were destroyed and the ground was parched, taking years to fully recover.

It’s thought that up to 5,000 people died from heatstroke and exhaustion over the summer. Air conditioning scarcely existed and many of the elderly, particularly those who lived in dense urban areas, struggled to cope. It remains the most destructive and widespread heatwave in American history.

3. The 1899 San Ciricao hurricane 

The 1899 San Ciricao hurricane is the longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record, as well as one of the deadliest. Beginning near the Cape Verde Islands, it made its way westwards, striking multiple Caribbean islands including Guadeloupe, Monserrat, St Kitts, and Nevis, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and finally hitting North Carolina on the mainland.

The hurricane left 250,000 without food, clean water, and shelter, with over 3,000 Puerto Ricans dead. Over 23 inches of rain fell in 24 hours in some places and widespread flooding occurred across the island. The hurricane also wiped out many of the year’s crops, including valuable coffee crops, devastating livelihoods further. It’s thought the hurricane lasted for nearly a month, and the death toll across the areas affected by the hurricane from the Azores to North Carolina is estimated to have been just under 4,000.

4. The Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake 

A volcano by Gary Saldana –

The 1906 earthquake lasted around a minute and was measured as having a magnitude of approximately 7.9 on the Richter Scale. The earthquake caused huge amounts of damage to the city, destroying about 80% of it. The official death toll is now recognized to have been around 3,000: originally the number of casualties in Chinatown was not taken into account by official tolls. Well over half of San Francisco’s 400,000 strong population was left homeless.

San Francisco’s officials downplayed the damage done, desperate not to lose business or investment as a result of the earthquake. Reconstruction efforts were largely completed by 1915: an extremely speedy recovery and one which changed the face of the city.

5. The 2017 Hurricane Maria 

Hurricane Maria has been recognized as one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the United States. It is also the third costliest, causing billions of dollars worth of damage. The main impact of the Category 5 Hurricane Maria was felt in the Caribbean, with the damage sustained in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. 

This led President Trump to declare a major disaster. North Carolina also caught the tail of the hurricane, with power outages and storm surges causing major damage. The US government faced heavy criticism for its slow response to the disaster. Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, saw 64 deaths in the hurricane itself, followed by well over 2,000 in the aftermath thanks to inadequate response times and a lack of medical facilities on the island

6. The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane

Flooding on a road by jim gade –

The Okeechobee hurricane also hit Caribbean islands including Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas before arriving in Florida with winds of up to 145mph. Fortunately, timely hurricane warnings had allowed many to evacuate the most vulnerable areas, but over 15,000 households were made homeless and huge numbers of farms and crops were destroyed.

The storm surges proved bigger than predicted, washing away whole houses from their foundations, flooding the area, and causing hundreds to drown.

7. The 1889 Johnstown Flood

The Johnstown Flood occurred after the failure of the South Fork Dam in Pennsylvania. Heavy rainfall in the area led the Conemaugh River, which ran through Johnstown, to swell dangerously, and workers awoke in the early hours of the morning to find water almost overflowing the dam.

Eventually, the dam breached, unleashing 14.55 million cubic meters of water which gained speed as it rushed downhill, picking up debris as it did so. Towns in the path of the swell were hit by water traveling at 45mph with swells that rose up to 60ft high. On its way down the valley, the water hit an ironworks, picking up meters of barbed wire as it did so, which proved deadly for those who were faced with it later in the water’s path.

8. The 1893 Chenière Caminada hurricane

Jacksonville Landing demolition with bridge view by Jarrett Mills –

Also known as the Great October Storm, the Chenière Caminada hurricane destroyed much of the island of Chenière Caminada in Louisiana, killing an estimated 2,000 people. Many of the deaths were attributed to the powerful storm surge, rising up to 16ft, which came with the hurricane.

Approximately half of the island’s population was killed in the hurricane, around 780 people, and many of the crops were completely destroyed, wreaking further devastation on farmers. A large number of ships and schooners which happened to be in Louisiana and Mississippi at the time were also sunk.

9. The 1871 Peshtigo Fire

The Peshtigo Fire is the deadliest forest fire in recorded history, claiming the lives of between 1,500 and 2,500 people in Wisconsin and Michigan and burning well over 1 million acres of forest.

Unlike many forest fires, the Peshtigo Fire occurred in October. Small fires had been laid to clear forest for construction purposes, but strong winds from an oncoming cold front fanned the flames, quickly sending them spiraling out of control.

Despite being so deadly, the Peshtigo Fire has been largely overlooked in American history because it occurred at the same time as the Great Chicago Fire, which killed far fewer people but had a much more widely felt and reported on impact.

10. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina is best known for the damage it caused in New Orleans, where it flooded 80% of the city thanks to structural issues in the levees around the city which were meant to protect it from exactly these eventualities. Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida were also all badly affected.

Over 1 million people were displaced following Katrina: efforts to bring relief to the devastated area and clear up the aftermath took months and years in some places. Further issues were caused by oil spills and difficulty removing floodwater from the affected areas. To date, it remains the costliest natural disaster financially in US history. It’s thought approximately 1,836 people perished in the hurricane, floods, and aftermath.