Top 10 Worst Hurricanes of All Time

The Top Ten
1 Hurricane Katrina, 2005 Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating hurricanes to ever hit the United States. It made landfall on August 29, 2005, in Louisiana, causing catastrophic damage in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The storm caused extensive flooding and left over 1,800 people dead, making it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.

I was in Long Beach, MS when this hurricane hit. My house was about 200 feet from the water. My dad didn't think it was gonna be bad, ha! We almost died in our attic, and my neighbors drowned. I was only two when this storm hit the gulf coast, and I still remember my dad waking me up, before the storm, and water rushing in the house. My house actually collapsed, on the left side, but my dad's tractor held it up. If it wasn't for that tractor, I would be dead. Hurricane Katrina was the worst experience of my life.

Katrina DID NOT tie with Harvey for the costliest. If you adjust it for inflation, Katrina's cost is $160 billion.

2 Hurricane Harvey, 2017 Hurricane Harvey was a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Texas on August 25, 2017. It caused catastrophic flooding in Houston and other parts of southeast Texas, leading to the displacement of over 30,000 people and causing an estimated $125 billion in damages.

What was bad about Harvey is the fact that it stayed in place for days, dumping over 50 inches of rain over Houston and surrounding areas. The costliest hurricane in the US since Katrina

This storm tied Katrina as the costliest Atlantic hurricane. It deserved retirement.

Nope, InfinateSuperstorm. If you adjust it for inflation, Katrina's cost is $160 billion.

3 Hurricane Maria, 2017 Hurricane Maria was a Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. It caused extensive damage to the island, leading to widespread power outages and a humanitarian crisis. The storm resulted in an estimated 2,975 deaths and caused over $90 billion in damages.

No power for over two months in my case (although I know people who didn't have power for 156 days, literally), no water running for almost the same time (and when we actually got it, we were forced to reduce its use due rationing) and no signal in most of the island (my family and I actually had to drive to another town for signal to communicate with our loved ones). In my case I was able to get full signal back in about a month because we moved. We actually had to move because where we used to live was devastated plus getting actual food was impossible. My family and I ate canned saussages for weeks because there was nothing else. Ice was impossible to get and the lines for it (like the ones for getting gasoline) were infinite. We literally had to drive there at midnight to try and be the first one there and somehow there was *always* someone there already. We spent literally half a day on a line just for fuel and food. It was horrible.

4 Hurricane Mitch, 1998 Hurricane Mitch was a Category 5 hurricane that struck Central America in October 1998. It caused widespread destruction, particularly in Honduras and Nicaragua, resulting in an estimated 11,000 deaths and over $6 billion in damages. The storm was one of the deadliest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin.
5 Hurricane Andrew, 1992 Hurricane Andrew was a Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in Florida on August 24, 1992. It caused extensive damage, with an estimated $27 billion in damages and 65 deaths. The storm is particularly notable for its impact on the city of Homestead, which was nearly destroyed by the hurricane.

Don't know much of what happened, but the evacuation was bad in my area, and I think one area took a long time to recover, but I'm not completely sure.

Cat 4
If you were in this hurricane, let me know what it was like, I've always wanted to know.

It's sad because my name is Andrew. I really hate when people tease me about this.

6 Hurricane Irma, 2017 Hurricane Irma was a Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in the Caribbean and Florida in September 2017. It caused widespread destruction and resulted in over $50 billion in damages. The storm caused 134 deaths, including 92 in the United States.

Also, Irma only made landfall as a low Category 4 on the Keys, 2 days and 7 hours after its final time at 185 mph strength. While there was a lot of flooding, a lot of fear and many lives ruined, there have, believe it or not, been worse.

It wasn't a big deal in Florida. Just a lot of rain and wind, a lot of trees were knocked over but that was basically it.

Slightly worse than Harvey to me, I mean category 4, and potentially for very few a brutal 5 dear lord.

7 The Great Galveston Hurricane, 1900 The Great Galveston Hurricane was a Category 4 hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900. It is the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, with an estimated death toll of between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The storm caused massive destruction, with over 3,600 homes destroyed and a third of the city's population left homeless.

INDUBITABLY the deadliest and CLEARLY the worst hurricane EVER! It changed Galveston's history forever, and killed an estimated 8,000 PEOPLE! While Katrina cost the most out of any hurricane ever, and though 2,000 people died in Katrina, making it overall worse, one could argue that life is invaluable, therefore superceding any financial loss.

This one should be number one. If you haven't heard about it you need to.

How is this not number one? It was the deadliest hurricane in history!

8 Hurricane Sandy, 2013 Hurricane Sandy was a Category 3 hurricane that struck the eastern United States in October 2012. The storm caused extensive damage in New York and New Jersey, resulting in 159 deaths and over $68 billion in damages. Sandy is notable for its impact on New York City, where it caused massive flooding and power outages.

I say Superstorm/Hurricane Sandy is the worst hurricane EVER. It was like a bucking bronco that just never got tired. It only got more powerful. More powerful and more deadly. Bad old Sandy deserves to be retired.

I was celebrating the Fourth of July, then there was a bunch of wind and we ran inside and stayed there until we left later that day, and there was still storms.

I was in my apartment when this happened I was just two washing trees fall in cars. Half of New York City's power got wiped out

9 The Great Hurricane of 1780 The Great Hurricane of 1780 was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Caribbean in October 1780. It is the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, with an estimated death toll of between 22,000 and 27,500 people. The storm caused catastrophic damage to the islands of Barbados, St. Lucia, and Martinique.

The deadliest hurricane in the Atlantic basin. Estimated 22,000 to 27,000 fatalities.

This was worse than the Galveston hurricane and Hurricane Mitch.

10 Hurricane Florence, 2018 Hurricane Florence was a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in North Carolina in September 2018. It caused extensive flooding and wind damage, resulting in 53 deaths and over $24 billion in damages. The storm caused significant damage to the Carolinas and Virginia, particularly in coastal areas.

May have been a Cat. 1 at landfall, but it's stalled, like Harvey, and it's killed around 20 people so far.

The fact that I made jokes about this hurricane when I was in a youtuber phase with a fictional is something I still laugh about till this day but I still feel sorry for the trauma this hurricane had affected people in the carolinas.

The Contenders
11 Hurricane Ike, 2008 Hurricane Ike was a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Texas on September 13, 2008. It caused extensive damage, particularly in the cities of Galveston and Houston, resulting in 112 deaths and over $29 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

This hurricane hit Houston head on as a cat 2-3 and since it was my first hurricane it was kinda scary. The worst parts? It struck us all at night and there were these winds that sounded just like high squealing (pich of noise) tornadoes all around were I live, sounding not to far away at all and boring down on me as I sat there listening to them. Yeah sure it was very cool to get to be in a hurricane but now since Harvey is here I kinda don't want to be in a hurricane or very near one ever again. Sucks. Truly does. Plus the worst thing is that Everyone goes ballistic with, "oh no! The world is ending! " Crap. -_-

12 Hurricane Michael, 2018 Hurricane Michael was a Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in the Florida Panhandle in October 2018. It caused extensive damage, particularly in the cities of Panama City and Mexico Beach, resulting in 74 deaths and over $25 billion in damages. The storm was the strongest hurricane on record to hit the Florida Panhandle.

I was praying for everyone in the panhandle to make sure they came out of that monster storm alive that to make my friends not cry anymore about their loved ones in the panhandle, I started making dark humor jokes about hurricane michael and andrew that it cheered them up and I was glad to make them happy but even I felt terrible after I saw the aftermath that michael had left in the panhandle.

While Andrew and Irma were worse for Florida as a whole, Michael was the worst storm to affect the areas it destroyed.

13 Hurricane Hugo, 1989 Hurricane Hugo was a Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in South Carolina on September 21, 1989. It caused extensive damage, particularly in Charleston, resulting in 49 deaths and over $10 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cat 3
If you were in this hurricane, let me know what it was like, I've always wanted to know.

14 Hurricane David, 1979 Hurricane David was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Caribbean in August 1979. It caused extensive damage in the Dominican Republic, resulting in over 2,000 deaths and $1.5 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

2,000+ dead in the Caribbean. The WMO made a great choice retiring this name, though I'm not a huge fan of it's replacement, Danny (no offense intended).

Part of the first time we alternated between male and female names.

15 Hurricane Rita, 2005 Hurricane Rita was a Category 3 hurricane that struck Texas and Louisiana in September 2005. It caused extensive damage, particularly in the cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur, resulting in 120 deaths and over $18 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in the Florida Keys.
16 Hurricane Gilbert, 1988 Hurricane Gilbert was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Caribbean and Mexico in September 1988. It caused extensive damage, resulting in over 300 deaths and $7.1 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in Jamaica and Honduras.

Cat 5
If you were in this hurricane, let me know what it was like, I've always wanted to know.

The most intense hurricane in the Atlantic basin at the time.

17 Hurricane Dorian, 2019 Hurricane Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Bahamas in September 2019. It caused catastrophic damage, particularly on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama, resulting in 74 deaths and over $3.4 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in North Carolina, particularly in the Outer Banks.

Damage from Barbados to Newfoundland.

18 Hurricane Nate, 2017 Hurricane Nate was a Category 1 hurricane that made landfall in Louisiana on October 7, 2017. The storm caused flooding and power outages in several states along the Gulf Coast, resulting in 46 deaths and over $1 billion in damages.

Costliest hurricane to hit Costa Rica, even if Joan was worse for the country at the time.

19 Hurricane Hazel, 1954 Hurricane Hazel was a Category 4 hurricane that struck the eastern United States and Canada in October 1954. It caused extensive damage, particularly in Toronto, resulting in 95 deaths and over $300 million in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in North Carolina and Virginia.

Cat. 5.
If you were in this hurricane, let me know what it was like, I've always wanted to know.

Could have killed up to 1,000+ people.

20 Hurricane Iniki, 1992 Hurricane Iniki was a Category 4 hurricane that hit the Hawaiian Islands in September 1992. It caused extensive damage, particularly on the island of Kauai, resulting in six deaths and over $3 billion in damages. Iniki was the strongest hurricane to hit Hawaii in over a century at the time.
21 Hurricane Wilma, 2005 Hurricane Wilma was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Yucatan Peninsula and Florida in October 2005. It caused extensive damage, particularly in the cities of Cancun and Cozumel, resulting in 87 deaths and over $29 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in Cuba and the Bahamas

Never lived through this hurricane but I did hear stories about my grandmother's door almost falling down to how strong wilma's winds were and how my aunts working at the corner store quickly ran home and tried to help keep the door intact before the wind knocked it down.

The most intense hurricane in the Atlantic basin.

22 Hurricane Matthew, 2016 Hurricane Matthew was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Caribbean and southeastern United States in October 2016. It caused extensive damage in Haiti, resulting in over 1,000 deaths and $1.9 billion in damages. The storm also caused significant damage in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

Me being the dumbest kid I was, I decided to start to hide under my covers and thought that a category 3 hurricane was going to kill me but I knew how much damage it caused for haiti and areas that had been affected so I still send my prayers to those affected by this hurricane.

23 Hurricane Isabel, 2003 Hurricane Isabel was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the eastern United States in September 2003. The storm caused extensive damage, particularly in Virginia and North Carolina, resulting in 16 deaths and over $3 billion in damages. Isabel was notable for its high storm surge and widespread power outages.

Hurricane Isabel was one of the most costlist hurricane of all time. At winds up to 168 mph. It hit over 20 citys.

24 Hurricane Ivan, 2004 Hurricane Ivan was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Caribbean and southeastern United States in September 2004. The storm caused extensive damage, resulting in 124 deaths and over $23 billion in damages. Ivan was notable for its destructive storm surge and widespread power outages.

Easily the most destructive storm of 2004 in terms of damage caused and how widespread it was. Although can someone add Jeanne of 2004 as well? She killed over 3,000 people in Haiti alone.

25 Hurricane Camille, 1969 Hurricane Camille was a Category 5 hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 1969. It caused significant damage, resulting in 259 deaths and over $1.4 billion in damages. Camille was notable for its high storm surge and destructive winds.
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