Let’s take a look at the Hurricanes’ stats here.
September 24-27, 2024 – Hurricane Helen
Category 4 storm. It was the first Category 4 storm to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, creating a 500-mile path of destruction with devastating flooding, wind damage, and power outages.
The storm directly caused at least 175 deaths and was the worst hurricane to hit the continental United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
September 23-30, 2022 – Hurricane Ian
Category 4 storm. It first landed in Cuba as a Category 3. It made landfall on the southwestern coast of Florida as a Category 4, and made its second U.S. landfall in South Carolina as a Category 1.
This storm directly caused at least 66 deaths in Florida.
August 26 – September 1, 2021 – Hurricane Ida
Category 4 storm. It first made landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane, and as a Category 4 hurricane it hit the Louisiana coast near Port Fourchon.
The storm directly caused at least 55 deaths in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut.
October 7-11, 2018 – Hurricane Michael
Category 5 storm. Landed in Florida near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base.
The hurricane was classified as a Category 4 storm when it made landfall in Florida, but post-storm analysis showed winds reaching 160 miles per hour, prompting an upgrade by the National Hurricane Center. Category 5 storms rarely hit the continental United States.
At landfall, the atmospheric pressure was 919 millibars, making it the third lowest pressure on record for a hurricane to hit the United States in modern times.
The town of Mexico Beach was devastated by the storm. Of the 1,692 buildings in the town, 1,584 were reported to have been damaged, of which 809 were reported to have been destroyed. At Tyndall Air Force Base, all buildings on the facility were reported to have sustained damage.
The storm directly caused at least 16 deaths in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia.
September 16-30, 2017 – Hurricane Maria
Category 5 storm. It made landfall in Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane and in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane.
The official death toll in Puerto Rico after the storm was 64, but investigations by CNN and other news organizations indicate there may have been more than 1,000 storm-related deaths on the island.
Puerto Rico’s government raised Maria’s death toll from 64 to 2,975 after George Washington University researchers released a report on the storm’s death toll in August 2018.
An academic report published earlier in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated that 4,645 people died in the storm and its aftermath. The article’s authors said Puerto Rico’s official death toll of 64 was a “significant underestimate.” However, the death toll cited in the article is an interim estimate based on a limited survey of 3,299 households. The number of people killed in the storm’s aftermath could range from 793 to 8,498, according to the study.
Additionally, 31 people died in Dominica as a direct result of the storm. Deaths were also reported on St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Three people drowned in rip currents off the coast of New Jersey, and a fourth drowning was reported in Florida.
It caused extensive damage to the aging power grid, causing widespread power outages that lasted for months.
August 30 – September 12, 2017 – Hurricane Irma
Category 5 storm. It made landfall seven times, including four times as a Category 5 hurricane, on islands in the northern Caribbean Sea. It hit the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm and made landfall in Southwest Florida as a Category 3 storm.
More than 6 million Floridians were ordered to evacuate ahead of the storm.
In the United States, Irma killed at least 10 people and caused an additional 82 indirect deaths.
August 17-September 1, 2017 – Hurricane Harvey
Category 4 storm. It first made landfall near Lockport, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane and raged for four days along the Texas coast, causing devastating flooding. The wreckage later landed again in southwestern Louisiana.
51 inches of rainfall was recorded in areas of Texas, setting a record for the most rainfall from a tropical cyclone in the continental United States. An estimated 27 trillion gallons of water fell on Texas and Louisiana over six days.
At least 68 people were reported to have died directly from the hurricane in Texas, making it the deadliest death toll from a hurricane in the state since 1919.
October 22-29, 2012 – Hurricane Sandy
Category 3 storm. Landed in Cuba as Category 2. It hit New Jersey as a post-tropical storm.
The route included Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, and the coastlines of New Jersey and New York.
A very large storm with tropical storm force winds extending 870 nautical miles in diameter.
At least 147 people were directly killed, including 72 in the United States, 54 in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, three in the Dominican Republic, two in the Bahamas, one in Canada, one in Jamaica, one in Puerto Rico, and two at sea.
August 20-29, 2011 – Hurricane Irene
Category 3 storm. It made landfall in eastern North Carolina as a Category 1.
The direct death toll from Irene was 48, including 5 in the Dominican Republic, 3 in Haiti, and 40 in the United States.
September 1-14, 2008 – Hurricane Ike
Category 4 storm. Landed in the Turks and Caicos Islands as a Category 4. Landed on Galveston Island, Texas as a Category 2 ship.
Routes include the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cuba, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
The direct death toll was 103 in Hispaniola, Cuba, and across the U.S. Gulf Coast.
October 15-25, 2005 – Hurricane Wilma
Category 5 storm. It landed over Cozumel, Mexico as a Category 4 aircraft. It later landed near Cape Romano, Florida as a Category 3 storm.
The direct death toll from Wilma was 23, including 5 in the United States, 12 in Haiti, 4 in Mexico, 1 in Jamaica, and 1 in the Bahamas.
September 20-24, 2005 – Hurricane Rita
Category 5 storm. It made landfall near the Louisiana-Texas border as a Category 3 storm.
The number of deaths directly attributable to Rita was seven.
August 25-29, 2005 – Hurricane Katrina
Category 5 storm. Hit Florida as Category 1. Hits Louisiana Brass as a Category 3.
The path included Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
The direct and indirect death toll in the United States was 1,392.
September 2-24, 2004 – Hurricane I-One
Category 5 storm. Hit Grenada as Category 3.
Areas affected include the U.S. Gulf Coast, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Caribbean islands.
Ivan directly killed 92 people: 25 in the United States, 39 in Grenada, 17 in Jamaica, 4 in the Dominican Republic, 3 in Venezuela, 2 in the Cayman Islands, 1 in Tobago, and 1 in Barbados.
August 25 to September 8, 2004 – Hurricane Francis
Category 3 storm. The Bahamas will be hit by a Category 3 storm and Florida will be hit by a Category 2 storm.
Areas affected included Florida and Caribbean islands.
Seven deaths were directly attributable to Francis, six in the United States and one in the Bahamas.
August 9-14, 2004 – Hurricane Charlie
Category 4 storm. Landed in Cuba as a Category 3. Landed in Florida as a Category 4.
Routes include Grand Cayman Islands, Cuba, Florida and South Carolina.
The direct death toll from Charlie in the United States was 10.
August 16-28, 1992 – Hurricane Andrew
Category 5 storm (reclassified in 2005). It was initially considered to be a Category 4.
This route included the northwestern Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana.
Direct deaths were 26:23 in the United States and 3 in the Bahamas.
September 10-22, 1989 – Hurricane Hugo
Category 5 storm. As a Category 4, it made landfall in both the Leeward Islands and later in South Carolina.
The path included the Caribbean Islands (Puerto Rico), South Carolina, and North Carolina.
The direct death toll from Hugo was 49, 26 of which occurred in the continental United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Major hurricanes (Category 3, 4, 5) from 1851 to 2024: 98
Category 5:4
Category 4:30
Category 3:64
Category 2: 86
Category 1: 125
Total: 309
The government began naming storms in 1953.
Location – Year – Category – Number of direct deaths
1. Galveston, Texas – 1900 – 4 – 8,000 to 12,000
2. Southeast Florida – 1928 – 4 – Between 2,500 and 3,000 people
3. Louisiana/Mississippi (Katrina) – 2005 – 3 – 1,500
4. Louisiana – 1893 – 4 – 1100-1400
5. South Carolina/Georgia – 1893 – 3 – 1000-2000
6. Georgia/South Carolina – 1881 – 2 – 700
7. Louisiana/Texas (Audrey) – 1957 – 4 – 416
8. Florida Keys – 1935 – 5 – 408
9. Louisiana – 1856 – 4 – 400
10. Florida – 1926 – 4 – 372
Based on 2024 Consumer Price Index adjusted cost
Name – Year – Category or Type – Damage
1. Katrina – 2005 – 3 – $201.3 billion
2. Harvey – 2017 – 4 – $160 billion
3. Ian – 2022 – 4 – $119.6 billion
4. Maria – 2017 – 4 – $115.2 billion
5. Sandy – 2012 – 1 – $88.5 billion
6. Aida – 2021 – 4 – $84.6 billion
7. Helen – 2024 – 4 – $78.7 billion
8. Irma – 2017 – 4 – $64 billion
9. Andrew – 1992 – 5 – $60.5 billion
10. Ike – 2008 – 2 – $43.2 billion
