What storms would be much worse if they happened today?

[Tekken_Guy]

What storms if repeated today would be much more destructive and/or deadly than they were at the time?

[Category5Kaiju]

Three come to my mind immediately.

1. The 1938 Yankee Hurricane

2. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane

3. The 1921 Tampa Hurricane

[Xyls]

Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635
1848 Tampa Bay Hurricane
Gale of 1878
1926 Miami Hurricane
1938 Long Island Express

[weeniepatrol]

1935 Labor Day for sure

[Ianswfl]

Three come to my mind immediately.

1. The 1938 Yankee Hurricane

2. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane

3. The 1921 Tampa Hurricane

What would Florida be like today IF we had an active Florida period like the 1920s through 1960s for South Florida major landfalls ??

[Astromanía]

It would be worse? Dont we are more prepared for these events now? Doesn't past hurricanes were more deadly than what we saw now? Don't sure, maybe they are more costly but deadly definatily not and that's more important for me

[Patrick99]

Three come to my mind immediately.

1. The 1938 Yankee Hurricane

2. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane

3. The 1921 Tampa Hurricane

What would Florida be like today IF we had an active Florida period like the 1920s through 1960s for South Florida major landfalls ??

It's crazy how that used to be fairly common, and now just.....doesn't seem to happen anymore.

[FireRat]

Three come to my mind immediately.

1. The 1938 Yankee Hurricane

2. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane

3. The 1921 Tampa Hurricane

What would Florida be like today IF we had an active Florida period like the 1920s through 1960s for South Florida major landfalls ??

Florida, especially South FL, would be a string of much sleepier beach towns, Miami-Ft Lauderdale wouldn't be anywhere near as populated as it is today. 1926 was perhaps the biggest reason that Miami's growth got quashed back then and the depression started early. Took decades just to recover from that devastating blow.

If the same pattern from back then had continued through now, many would reconsider living in this part of the state.

[Teban54]

I nominate the 1900 Galveston hurricane to the list.

Three come to my mind immediately.

1. The 1938 Yankee Hurricane

2. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane

3. The 1921 Tampa Hurricane

What would Florida be like today IF we had an active Florida period like the 1920s through 1960s for South Florida major landfalls ??

The fate of Indianola, TX may be similar to what would have happened to Florida in this scenario.

Quoted from Wikipedia:

In 1875, the city had a population of 5,000, but on September 15 of that year, a powerful hurricane struck, killing between 150 and 300 and almost entirely destroying the town. Indianola was rebuilt, only to be wiped out on August 19, 1886, by another intense hurricane, which was followed by a fire.

A railroad was intended to connect the port of Indianola to San Antonio. After the two storms, discouraged investors abandoned the venture and made Galveston the port of choice. After Galveston's hurricane, shipping traffic recentered over time to inland Houston.

After the 1886 storm, the county seat was moved to Port Lavaca. On October 4, 1887, the post office in Indianola was permanently closed and the town declared "dead". Today, almost nothing remains of the original Indianola, as, due to storm erosion, most of the site of the city is now under water.

(Source)

After the 1886 Indianola hurricane (which still ranks #8 among hurricanes with lowest pressures at US landfall, and #6 if only CONUS is concerned):

Many of Indianola's residents relocated farther inland after the storm. Five weeks later, in September 1886, another hurricane hit the Texas coast between Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Indianola was again flooded by rainwater and storm surge from Matagorda Bay. The remaining residents were evacuated. Following this storm the post office at Indianola was shut down, marking the official abandonment of the town. The old town's ruins sit just offshore under 15 feet of water in Matagorda Bay.

The storm ended the rivalry between Galveston and Indianola as the chief port of Texas. With the abandonment of Indianola and the unwillingness of the former residents to rebuild close to shore, Galveston became the most important Texan port until the catastrophic damage wrought there by the 1900 Galveston hurricane led to the rise of Houston as a major port on the Texan coast.

(Source)

Florida, or specifically SEFL (as many members on this forum seem to be referring to when talking about the drought of storms), will likely fare much better than Indianola did due to being a much bigger and more developed metro area, but there will likely still be major impacts on economic opportunities down the line if the events of 1920s-40s repeated themselves today.

[Iceresistance]

The Great Hurricane of 1780 would be the storm of the century

[Tekken_Guy]

The Great Hurricane of 1780 would be the storm of the century

Wouldn’t it just be a Maria clone?

[Category5Kaiju]

The Great Hurricane of 1780 would be the storm of the century

Wouldn’t it just be a Maria clone?

Not exactly. The 1780 hurricane was speculated to have hit Barbuda at Category 5 strength. Maria did not do that (it hit up further north, Dominica, at that strength).

[tolakram]

Very hard to tell what would be worse. More building on or near the coast certainly ramps up the danger, plus more people, a LOT more people. Building codes are better now, but bad in the later 1900's. Were they better in the late 1800's? There's a romantic notion that they were, but I doubt most homes would survive even a low end hurricane.

So I'd go with every storm would be worse.

[Ianswfl]

I nominate the 1900 Galveston hurricane to the list.

Three come to my mind immediately.

1. The 1938 Yankee Hurricane

2. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane

3. The 1921 Tampa Hurricane

What would Florida be like today IF we had an active Florida period like the 1920s through 1960s for South Florida major landfalls ??

The fate of Indianola, TX may be similar to what would have happened to Florida in this scenario.

Quoted from Wikipedia:

In 1875, the city had a population of 5,000, but on September 15 of that year, a powerful hurricane struck, killing between 150 and 300 and almost entirely destroying the town. Indianola was rebuilt, only to be wiped out on August 19, 1886, by another intense hurricane, which was followed by a fire.

A railroad was intended to connect the port of Indianola to San Antonio. After the two storms, discouraged investors abandoned the venture and made Galveston the port of choice. After Galveston's hurricane, shipping traffic recentered over time to inland Houston.

After the 1886 storm, the county seat was moved to Port Lavaca. On October 4, 1887, the post office in Indianola was permanently closed and the town declared "dead". Today, almost nothing remains of the original Indianola, as, due to storm erosion, most of the site of the city is now under water.

(Source)

After the 1886 Indianola hurricane (which still ranks #8 among hurricanes with lowest pressures at US landfall, and #6 if only CONUS is concerned):

Many of Indianola's residents relocated farther inland after the storm. Five weeks later, in September 1886, another hurricane hit the Texas coast between Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Indianola was again flooded by rainwater and storm surge from Matagorda Bay. The remaining residents were evacuated. Following this storm the post office at Indianola was shut down, marking the official abandonment of the town. The old town's ruins sit just offshore under 15 feet of water in Matagorda Bay.

The storm ended the rivalry between Galveston and Indianola as the chief port of Texas. With the abandonment of Indianola and the unwillingness of the former residents to rebuild close to shore, Galveston became the most important Texan port until the catastrophic damage wrought there by the 1900 Galveston hurricane led to the rise of Houston as a major port on the Texan coast.

(Source)

Florida, or specifically SEFL (as many members on this forum seem to be referring to when talking about the drought of storms), will likely fare much better than Indianola did due to being a much bigger and more developed metro area, but there will likely still be major impacts on economic opportunities down the line if the events of 1920s-40s repeated themselves today.

Or those sub 900 MB Dorian and Irma runs into SEFL. Remember when the Euro and GFS were giving crazy 890mb Irma into Miami and up the spine of FL? A few of them also stalled Dorian right over SEFL as a strong cat5. A slow moving 185mph Dorian would cause catastrophic building failures in Miami.

[Bocadude85]

1928 West Palm Beach/Okeechobee Hurricane.
1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane.

[Hammy]

Donna hitting today would be quite a costly storm given it scraped the entire East Coast, and remained fairly strong the entire time.

[Cachondo23]

The Great Hurricane of 1780 would be the storm of the century

Wouldn’t it just be a Maria clone?

Not exactly. The 1780 hurricane was speculated to have hit Barbuda at Category 5 strength. Maria did not do that (it hit up further north, Dominica, at that strength).

FYI, Dominica is way south of Barbuda. Maybe you meant Barbados?

[Category5Kaiju]

Three come to my mind immediately.

1. The 1938 Yankee Hurricane

2. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane

3. The 1921 Tampa Hurricane

What would Florida be like today IF we had an active Florida period like the 1920s through 1960s for South Florida major landfalls ??

It's crazy how that used to be fairly common, and now just.....doesn't seem to happen anymore.

I wonder if there indeed has been some sort of pattern change that is causing this. Sure, it may be just luck, but maybe the more thought-provoking question is "why exactly has the East Coast of Florida been this lucky?"