Current Table

Top 10 Deadliest Mainland U.S. Hurricanes (1)

 

Rank Year Hurricane/location Category Deaths
1 1900 Texas (Galveston)   4 8,000 (2)
2 1928 Florida (Southeast; Lake Okeechobee)   4 2,500 (3)
3 2005 Hurricane Katrina (Southeast Louisiana; Mississippi) 3 1,200
4 1893 Louisiana (Cheniere Caminanda)   4 1,100-1,400 (4)
5 1893 South Carolina; Georgia (Sea Islands)   3 1,000-2,000
6 1881 Georgia; South Carolina  2 700
7 1957 Hurricane Audrey (Southwest Louisiana; North Texas) 4 416
8 1935 Florida (Keys)   5 408
9 1856 Louisiana (Last Island)   4 400
10 1926 Florida (Miami, Pensacola); Mississippi; Alabama 4 372

(1) Direct deaths, based on a National Hurricane Center analysis of mainland tropical cyclones from 1851-2010.
(2) Could be as high as 12,000.
(3) Could be as high as 3,000.
(4) Total including offshore deaths is near 2,000.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center.