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Hurricane Records

The Deadliest Hurricanes in History

The deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record is the Great Hurricane of October 1780, which killed between 22,000 and 27,500 people in the Lesser Antilles. The deadliest to hit the United States is the Galveston hurricane of September 8, 1900, which killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people on the Texas coast.

Below are the ten deadliest Atlantic hurricanes. Most struck before satellites and modern warnings, and death tolls from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are estimates, so many are given as a range.

RankHurricaneAreas HitDeaths
#1Great Hurricane1780Barbados, Martinique, St. Eustatius22,000–27,501
#2Hurricane Mitch1998Honduras, Nicaragua11,374+
#3Hurricane Fifi1974Honduras8,210–10,000
#4Galveston hurricane1900Texas8,000–12,000
#5Hurricane Flora1963Haiti, Cuba7,193
#6Pointe-à-Pitre hurricane1776Guadeloupe6,000+
#7Okeechobee hurricane1928Caribbean, Florida4,112+
#8Newfoundland hurricane1775Newfoundland4,000–4,163
#9Monterrey hurricane1909Mexico4,000
#10San Ciriaco hurricane1899Puerto Rico3,855

Atlantic basin only. Where a death toll is a range, the hurricane is ranked on the lower figure.

What was the deadliest hurricane in US history?

The 1900 Galveston hurricane. It struck as a Category 4 and pushed a storm surge of more than 15 feet over Galveston Island, whose highest point was then 8.7 feet above sea level. Between 8,000 and 12,000 people were killed, more than in any other natural disaster in US history.

What are the deadliest hurricanes to hit the US?

After Galveston in 1900, the deadliest are Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017 (2,975 deaths), the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane in Florida (at least 2,500 deaths in the US), and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (1,392 deaths). Two hurricanes in 1893, in Louisiana and the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia, each killed more than 1,000 people.

Why is Hurricane Maria's death toll disputed?

Puerto Rico's government first reported 64 deaths. A study by George Washington University estimated that 2,975 more people died than expected in the six months after the storm, largely linked to the months-long power outage and disrupted medical care. Puerto Rico adopted 2,975 as its official figure in 2018.

How many people died in Hurricane Katrina?

The National Hurricane Center puts the death toll at 1,392. That figure was revised down in January 2023 from the earlier estimate of about 1,833, based on later studies of the death records.

How These Are Ranked

Hurricanes are ranked by total deaths, including deaths outside the United States. Where sources give a range, the hurricane is ranked on the lower end. Counts for storms before 1900 come from historical accounts and are approximate.

More Hurricane Records

Sources & Citations

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