1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page

Which hurricane caused the most damage?

Taking into account the changing value of the dollar over the years, the most property damage was caused by an unnamed hurricane (later dubbed the Great Miami Hurricane) that came ashore in southeastern Florida and Alabama in 1926. It produced $80,000,000,000 in damage. Hurricane Andrew, a category 4 storm (based on the Saffir-Simpson scale, on which category 1 is the weakest storm and category 5 is the strongest), ranks second on the list of most damaging hurricanes. In August 1992, Andrew hit the Bahamas (islands located southeast of Florida and north of Cuba), killing four people. Two days later the storm moved ashore near Miami, Florida, where it killed fifteen people and left one million others homeless. By the time Andrew died down over Louisiana, it had caused $36,000,000,000 in property damage.

Because meteorologists are better able to predict the course of...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Natural Disasters
   1. What are the largest volcanic eruptions in history?
   2. What were the deadliest volcanic eruptions in history?
   3. What is the strongest earthquake measured?
   4. What is the strongest earthquake in a city?
   5. What was the most damaging earthquake in history?
   6. How disastrous was the San Francisco earthquake?
   7. How often have tidal waves happened?
   8. Has a tidal wave ever hit the United States?
   9. What were the deadliest tropical storms in the world?
   10. What was the worst hurricane in U.S. history?
   11. Which hurricane caused the most damage?
   12. How long have hurricanes had names?
   13. Which country has the worst floods?
   14. When was the Johnstown Flood?
   15. What were the harshest blizzards to hit the United States?
   16. What was the Dust Bowl and what effect did it have?
   17. What were the worst famines in history?
   18. How much damage was done by the Great Fire of London?
2. Man-Made Disasters
   1. Was the Chicago fire really started by a cow?
   2. What was the impact of the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas?
   3. What happened at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge?
   4. What is the true story of the Titanic?
   5. Was the Titanic the most disastrous shipwreck in history?
   6. What effect did the sinking of the Titanic have?
   7. What happened to the Hindenburg?
   8. What is the worst airplane crash in history?
   9. What happened to the spacecraft Apollo 13?
   10. Why did the space shuttle Challenger explode?
   11. What was Love Canal?
   12. What happened at Three Mile Island?
   13. What was the worst industrial accident in world history?
   14. What caused the nuclear accident at Chernobyl?
   15. Was the World Trade Center bombing really part of a larger terrorist plan?
   16. Was the Oklahoma City bombing the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil?