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10 Natural Disasters in US History

Today, few hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes come without warning, thanks to modern technology. That technology, however, cannot harness the power Mother Nature has to cause great destruction. U.S. history is filled with examples of natural disasters that took thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars in damage.

  1. The Galveston Hurricane

    • For most Americans, Hurricane Katrina ranks as the top natural disaster in U.S. history, but the storm that hit Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900, took many more lives. An estimated 8,000 people died when waves as high as 15 feet swept over the island. City officials had regrettably decided not to invest in a seawall, which would have limited the devastation.

    The Okeechobee Hurricane

    • Many Lake Okeechobee, Florida, residents who lost their lives in the hurricane on September 16, 1928, might have survived had they been a little more cautious. The hurricane arrived later than anticipated, and many residents returned to their homes assuming the storm had missed them, and the danger was over. More than 2,500 people died in the weeks of flooding that followed the hurricane.

    The Johnstown Flood

    • An estimated 2,200 people died in the Johnstown flood of May 31, 1889. A poorly maintained dam and a powerful rainstorm combined to cause 20 million tons of water to crash down onto the Pennsylvania city.

    Cheniere Caminada Hurricane

    • On October 1, 1893, a hurricane hit the small Louisiana island of Cheniere Caminada, killing 779 people -- half the population of the town. In the end, the deaths of 2,000 Louisiana residents were attributed to the storm.

    Hurricane Katrina

    • On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck communities across Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. An estimated 1,836 lives were lost, and damages from the storm totaled more than $125 billion.

    The Heat Wave of 1980

    • In the central and southern states, temperatures stayed above 90 degrees Fahrenheit for most of the summer in 1980. A massive drought caused $48 billion in damage to crops. The official heat-related death count was 1,700, but it's likely the true number exceeded 5,000.

    The Peshtigo Fire

    • Breaking out on the same day as the better-known Great Chicago Fire, this fire ravaged Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and spread to 12 other towns, causing more than 1,200 deaths. The fire began on October 8, 1871, after an outbreak of prairie fires brought on by a severe drought. A windstorm then spread the fire over one million acres.

    The Great San Francisco Fire and Earthquake

    • The earthquake that hit San Francisco on April 18, 1906, lasted only a minute, but broken natural gas mains led to fires, and damaged water mains hampered efforts to put them out. In the end, more than 500 city blocks were burned and 3,000 people died. Another 225,000 people were left homeless.

    The Tri-State Tornado

    • On March 18, 1925, a deadly tornado caused 695 deaths in Illinois, Missouri and Indiana. Additionally, more than 15,000 homes were destroyed.

    The Dust Bowl

    • A 10-year drought and the clearing of land for cash crops left the Great Plains seriously eroded in the 1930s. Windstorms developed and turned dry soil into dust, which was eventually carried all the way to the Atlantic Coast. A half million people were left homeless.

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