- Devastating hurricanes can cause billions of dollars worth of damage
- The Hurricane Katrina devastation is well known, and almost two thousand people died and hundreds of billions in damages were caused
- There have been a number of devastating hurricanes to hit the United States in the last hundred years
1. Hurricane Katrina
This hurricane was one of the most devastating hurricanes in American history, if not the most. This hurricane started out on August 23, 2005 and by the time it was done almost two thousand people were dead and damage estimates could be as high as two hundred billion dollars. In both lives and money, this was one of the most devastating hurricanes for the United States ever. As far as hurricane categories go, Katrina was a five.
2. Hurricane Andrew
This hurricane was a category five storm that hit South Florida on August 24, 1992. Winds were clocked at one hundred and sixty five miles per hour, and caused thirty billion dollars in damage at the time. South Florida was devastated, and many buildings and homes were completely demolished. At the time Hurricane Andrew was considered the costliest hurricane ever to hit the USA.
3. Hurricane Wilma
This hurricane is another of the devastating hurricanes during the 2005 season. It started on October 15, 2005, and landed on top of Cape Romano in Florida with winds of one hundred and twenty five miles an hour. This category five storm killed thirty one people in America left millions without power, and caused billions in damage.
4. Hurricane Rita
This hurricane started on September 17, 2005, and hit the southern US just one month after Katrina. More than one hundred people died trying to evacuate, and the storm killed another fifty four. Damage estimates for this hurricane run around six billion dollars.
5. Hurricane Camille
This storm, measuring five in hurricane categories, landed in Mississippi on the date August 18, 1969, and had winds that were as high as one hundred and eight miles an hour. By the time this storm ended more than two hundred and fifty people lost their lives, and the cost of the damage was at one and a half billion dollars at the time.
6. Hurricane Donna
This hurricane in 1960 hit the Florida Keys before moving on to the Gulf of Mexico, Fort Myers, Florida, and then skirting the land before landing in North Carolina, then going over New England and then into Long island. This storm had a whopping one billion dollar cost in 1960, and more than fifty people died.
7. Hurricane Charley
This was one of the most devastating hurricanes of all time until the 2005 hurricane season. This storm hit Port Charlotte, Florida on the date August 13, 2004, and devastated the city. This hurricane had winds as high as one hundred and forty five miles per hour, and caused fourteen billion in damage and more than thirty five deaths. This storm took weather forecasters and storm watchers by surprise because it was unpredictable.
8. Hurricane Hugo
This hurricane was one of the more devastating hurricanes, with seven billion dollars worth of damage. This storm landed in South Carolina, and had winds of one hundred and thirty five miles an hour. This storm hit in September of 1989, and before the 2005 season was the second costliest storm in the US.
9. Hurricane Celia
This hurricane landed in the area of Corpus Christi, Texas in 1970, and proceeded to do more than four hundred and fifty billion dollars in damage in current dollars by the time it was done. Eleven people died, almost five hundred were injured, over nine thousand homes were completely destroyed, and more than fifty thousand more homes and buildings suffered damage.
10. Hurricane Eloise
This hurricane started in September of 1975, and was responsible for twenty one deaths and more than one billion dollars at the time. Winds reached one hundred and fifty six miles an hour, and this was the first serious hurricane that had managed to affect this area, so it was unexpected.