Hurricane Katrina, which hit Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in 2005, was the deadliest hurricane recorded in mainland United States since 1951. It had a death toll of nearly 1,400 fatalities. Meanwhile, hurricane Helene, which hit the Southeastern United States in September 2024, was the second deadliest to make landfall in the continental U.S. this century.

The category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Galveston, Texas in 1900 was the deadliest to hit the United States, with a death toll estimated between 8,000 and 12,000. Since 1970, only one U.S. hurricane &#8211 namely Katrina, which hit in 2005 &#8211 made the ranking, with about 1,200 deaths.

In 2021, there were 68 fatalities due to hurricanes reported in the United States. Since the beginning of the century, the highest number of fatalities was recorded in 2005, when four major hurricanes – including Hurricane Katrina – resulted in 1,518 deaths.

The worst hurricanes in U.S. history
Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in August 2005, ranked as the third deadliest hurricane in the U.S. since records began. Affecting mainly the city of New Orleans and its surroundings, the category 3 hurricane caused an estimated 1,500 fatalities. Katrina was also the costliest tropical cyclone to hit the U.S. in the past seven decades, with damages amounting to roughly 186 billion U.S. dollars. Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, both of which made landfall in 2017, ranked second and third, resulting in damage costs of 149 and 107 billion dollars, respectively.

How are hurricanes classified?
According to the Saffir-Simpson scale, hurricanes can be classified into five categories, depending on their maximum sustained wind speed. Most of the hurricanes that have made landfall in the U.S. since 1851 are category 1, the mildest of the five. Hurricanes rated category 3 or above are considered major hurricanes and can cause devastating damage. In 2021, there were 38 hurricanes recorded across the globe, of which 17 were major hurricanes.

This statistic shows the ten natural disasters that resulted in the most fatalities in the United States from 1900 and 2016. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina (listed as storm) caused 1,833 fatalities in the United States.

Extreme heat was the deadliest weather condition in the United States in 2023, resulting in a total of 207 lives lost that year. This was followed by fire weather, having caused 103 fatalities. On the other side of the spectrum, only one life was lost due to ice in the North American country that year.

There were a total of 1,033 fatalities reported due to heat waves, wildfires, and drought in the United States in 2024. In total, there were about 1,576 fatalities due to severe natural disasters in the United States that year.

The United States experienced a significant surge in tornado activity in 2024, with 1,910 reported across the country. This marked a substantial increase from previous years, highlighting the unpredictable nature of these violent atmospheric phenomena. Fatalities and economic impact While tornado frequency increased, the death toll from such events remained relatively low compared to historical peaks. In 2023, 86 fatalities were reported due to tornadoes, a notable increase from the 23 deaths in 2022 but far below the 553 lives lost in 2011. Moreover, the economic impact of these storms was substantial, with tornado damage in 2023 amounting to approximately 1.38 billion U.S. dollars, nearly doubling from the previous year. However, this pales in comparison to the record-setting damage of 9.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2011. Comparison to other extreme weather events While tornadoes pose significant risks, hurricanes have historically caused more extensive damage and loss of life in the United States. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 remains the costliest tropical cyclone in recent decades, with damages totaling 200 billion U.S. dollars when adjusted to 2024 values. The impact of such extreme weather events extends beyond immediate destruction, as evidenced by the 1,518 hurricane-related fatalities recorded in 2005. As climate change continues to influence weather patterns, both tornado and hurricane activity may see further shifts in frequency and intensity in the years to come.

The statistic shows the leading causes of deaths due to tropical cyclones in the United States from 1963 to 2012. Total 8 percent of victims died because of wind effects during tropical cyclones.

In 2024, there were 42 hurricanes registered worldwide, up from 45 hurricanes a year earlier. This was nevertheless below the average of 47 hurricanes per year registered from 1990 to 2022. The years of 1992 and 2018 tied as the most active in the indicated period, each with 59 hurricanes recorded. The Pacific Northwest basin recorded the largest number of hurricanes in 2024. Most exposed countries to hurricanes With the Pacific Northwest basin being one of the most active for hurricanes in the world, there is perhaps no surprise that Japan and the Philippines were two of the countries most exposed to tropical cyclones in 2024, both West Pacific nations. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic was the most exposed country in the Atlantic Ocean and ranked first as the most exposed country worldwide during the same year. Effects of tropical cyclones From 1970 to 2019, almost 800,000 deaths due to tropical cyclones have been reported worldwide. In the past decade, the number of such casualties stood at some 19,600, the lowest decadal figure in the last half-century. In contrast to the lower number of deaths, economic losses caused by tropical cyclones have continuously grown since 1970, reaching a record high of more than 700 billion U.S. dollars from 2010 to 2019.

In 2024, there were roughly 18,100 reported fatalities caused by natural disaster events worldwide. This was well below the 21st-century average and significantly lower than the fatalities recorded in 2023, which were driven by the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on February and became the deadliest catastrophes in 2023, with nearly 60,000 reported deaths. Economic losses due to natural disasters The economic losses due to natural disaster events worldwide amounted to about 368 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Although figures in recent years have remained mostly stable, 2011 remains the costliest year to date. Among the different types of natural disaster events, tropical cyclones caused the largest economic losses across the globe in 2024. What does a natural disaster cost? Hurricane Katrina has been one of the costliest disasters in the world, costing the insurance industry some 102 billion U.S. dollars. The resilience of societies against catastrophes have been boosted by insurance industry payouts. Nevertheless, insurance payouts are primarily garnered by industrialized countries. In emerging and developing regions, disaster insurance coverage is still limited, despite the need for improved risk management and resilience as a method to mitigate the impact of disasters and to promote sustainable growth.

The total costs of Hurricane Katrina amounted to 125 billion U.S. dollars at the time the disaster occurred in 2005. While this is around the same total cost of Hurricane Harvey, when adjusted for inflation the former is more expensive, with the cost being the equivalent of 194 billion U.S. dollars in 2023 (compared to 155 billion U.S. dollars for Hurricane Harvey).

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana on August 9, 2005 and displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The death toll reached almost 2,000 people. Katrina was also the most expensive U.S. catastrophe since 1992 in terms of property loss.

Harvey, Maria and Irma Katrina was responsible for the spike in insured losses caused by natural disasters globally in 2005. Harvey, Maria and Irma also made quite the impact in 2017 when they hit central America and then made land on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The frequency and intensity of such natural disasters are increasing.

Flood can be categorized as flash floods, river floods, and coastal floods. The most lethal type of flooding is flash floods usually are usually contributed to by rainfall intensity and duration. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused 1,833 deaths and the flooding from the storm is considered one of the deadliest floods in U.S. history.

Since 2000, hurricanes were the natural disasters with the highest estimated economic losses in the Caribbean. Hurricane Ian, which affected several islands in the Caribbean (especially Cuba) and the southeast of the United States (specially Florida and the Carolinas) in September of 2022, caused overall losses for approximately 100 billion U.S. dollars. Hurricane Maria in 2017 ranked second, with an economic impact estimated at 68.6 billion U.S. dollars, in this case including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, and Haiti.

The aftermath of Hurricane Dorian

The Bahamas was the country most severely affected by Hurricane Dorian, which hit in late August 2019, lasting until September 9. This storm, a category 5 hurricane, claimed a total of 65 lives and was labelled the worst cyclone and natural disaster to ever occur in the Bahamas. That year, this island nation received the highest extreme climate risk score in the whole Latin American and Caribbean region.

The death toll of natural disasters in the Caribbean

The magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti on August 2021 has been the deadliest natural disaster in Latin America and the Caribbean from 2018 to 2022, estimated to have killed 2,248 people. Regarding tropical cyclones, hurricane Eta in 2020 has been the deadliest in the region during the same period with approximately 183 victims.

This statistic shows the number of earthquakes in the United States from 2000 to 2012. 2,342 earthquakes were recorded in the United States in the year 2000.

In 2023, severe convective storms caused the most expensive damage in the United States. Severe convective storms, for instance, caused overall losses of 72 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, wildfire, drought, and heatwaves, resulted in economic losses of 20 billion U.S. dollars. Tropical cyclone damage amounted to under five billion U.S. dollars in 2023, a significant dropdown from a previous high in 2022. Impact of severe thunderstorms in the U.S. Severe thunderstorms pose a great risk to public safety and often results in fatalities. People can be harmed in many ways during a thunderstorm, such as directly struck by lightning or hurt when a building collapses/tree falls down. In 2019, 70 people were killed as a result of severe thunderstorms. Lightning strikes alone caused 20 deaths and 100 injuries in that year. How much was paid out due to thunderstorms? The high risk of damage posed by thunderstorms means that insurance cover is an important tool in reducing the losses incurred. In 2020 alone, approximately 71,500 homeowner insurance claims were paid due to lightning losses.

Hurricanes in the Bahamas have affected more than 25 thousand people since the beginning of the century, with hurricane Irene alone affecting some 10 thousand people. More recently, hurricane Dorian - which hit the Caribbean island in 2019 - caused 365 deaths. Meanwhile, hurricane Matthew three years earlier caused around 600 million U.S. dollars' worth of damage.