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Science

Backgrounder: What Was the Worst Hurricane in US History?

Jul 23, 2010 – 4:40 PM
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(July 23) -- The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was the worst storm in terms of loss of human life. The Category 4 storm hit Texas on Sept. 8, 1900, killing 8,000.

In terms of strength, only three storms have hit the United States as Category 5 storms since record keeping began: the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, which killed 600 people after slamming into the Florida Keys; Hurricane Camille, which hit the Mississippi coast in 1969; and Hurricane Andrew, which ravaged parts of South Florida in 1992.

Hurricane Katrina reached Category 5 strength in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 but hit the Gulf Coast as a Category 3. It was the costliest natural disaster in history, leaving behind $75 billion worth of damage and killing some 1,200 people.
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