What was the worst Hurricane in U.S history

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Can't answer unless you define "worst". Caused the greatest impact on the U.S. economy? Killed the most people? Had the strongest wind? Highest storm surge? What is worst?

Economy? Katrina. Deaths? Galveston. Strongest? Galveston*(though strong winds from Katrina affected a huge area), Storm surge? Katrina.

Yes I agree with this also.

[southerngale]

Back in the day of the 1900 hurricane Katrina would of killed tens of thousands. But today we got warning. Katrina all the way.

Wrong. Back in 1900 New Orleans would've been very sparsely populated, and also remember that initally the city was built on the highest ground in the area (the French Quarter). Then the city expanded to the Lower 9th Ward and that's when the sinking problems began, worsening the situation.

One must recall that in 1900 much of Galveston Island (a barrier island must I remind you) was barely above sea level. Look at what Ivan did to Grand Cayman and that's what the 1900 storm did to Galveston. Look at damage pics of Galveston - everything was WIPED OUT.

I believe the HIGHEST elevation in 1900 was 8.7 feet above sea level, much of the island, lower. The entire island was inundated with storm surge.

[southerngale]

Unless you specifically say "worst as in winds" or "worst as in cost" then worst to me is number of deaths, so I voted Galveston 1900. A strong hurricane with a high storm surge can hit a less populated area than a bit weaker hurricane with a smaller storm surge and the 2nd hurricane will do more damage, in dollars. But the 1st hurricane would still be worse in the areas it did affect. Number of deaths directly relates to how many got out of harm's way, although every single death is horrible and each one leaves behind loved ones who miss them dearly. One is too many.

[quandary]

I personally think Katrina is worse than the Galveston storm. Life is precious, but it is not unquantifiable precious in my opinion. I think people often say they value life more than they actually do. In addition, a significant impact on millions is often much more significant in the end than the death of one, which is not at all to say that we should kill any one person even if it should benefit millions, but instead to say that, when an event impacts millions upon millions of people, many of them significantly, but even more in small ways, the sum of those impacts greatly exceed the impact that is one or even several hundred deaths. What I have been saying is... the importance of life is great, but not so great that all other value becomes infintessimal next to it. So, to measure the impact of either Katrina or the Galveston storm, one must sum up all the impacts. When I sum up the impacts, I feel that the overall impact of Katrina, from hundreds of millions of people having their gas prices increased, to tends of millions seeing an impact on their job safety and those deeply invested in certain areas of the US economy, to the millions that lost power or had their lives profoundly impacted by Katrina as she passed through, to the hundreds of thousands who lost their livelihoods, their entire lifestyle, to the tens of thousands who have lost loved ones and additionally suffered excessively thorugh the incident, to the thousands who have died...

When we sum this up, I believe that Katrina's impact may be larger; not knowing exactly the magnitude of the peripheral impacts of the 1900 storm, I would say that my answer may only be justified by the fact that the population of the whole nation, which has suffered together and had suffered together, though both indicidents, has increased, so the suffering too has increased that way many times.

[Jim Cantore]

if Katrina hit in 1900 we'd in my opinion have 50,000 dead

if it hit New Orleans as a 5 then 100,000+ dead

[southerngale]

if Katrina hit in 1900 we'd in my opinion have 50,000 dead

if it hit New Orleans as a 5 then 100,000+ dead

The population of Galveston was only about 37,000 then and an estimated 6,000 - 12,000 of those died. (per NHC)

[f5]

if Katrina would of went slightly west of NO as a 5 we would be comparing her to the south asia Tsunami rather than Galveston beacuse the deaths would be 100,000+

[Tri-State_1925]

This thread has quite a morbid feel to it...

You know if Andrew hit NO directly with the type of winds it had in South Florida...

[MiamiensisWx]

After much grappling, I have now voted Katrina.

[swampdude]

I think history will show us that Galveston's future was changed 180 degrees on September 8, 1900. Galveston was Texas' most populous city and seaport. It was poised for great things. It was wiped out a mere four months and two days before the beginning of the Texas oil boom which began on January 10, 1901 in Beaumont, Texas. Galveston's destruction was physical, financial, and emotional which prevented the city from benefitting from the huge changes ignited in Texas and around the world from the Spindletop Gusher that ushered in huge benefits for those in the right position. With bigger, richer Galveston crippled, a little town called Houston became the center of the petroleum universe. In this context, Galveston has never recovered from that hurricane. History literally was forever changed. New Orleans will recover. It may take 20 years, but N.O. should be in position to continue their place in history.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Wrong. Back in 1900 New Orleans would've been very sparsely populated, and also remember that initally the city was built on the highest ground in the area (the French Quarter). Then the city expanded to the Lower 9th Ward and that's when the sinking problems began, worsening the situation.

Wrong: I happened to have lived in a double shotgun in the lower 9th ward, and still have the original blueprints of my old home. It was built in 1884, which means it would have been quite settled, albeit not as densely by 1900--and the city was hardly "sparsely" populated as it was the unrivaled larges city in the South at the time. A Katrina storm hitting New Orleans at that time would have wreaked havoc and a death toll that defies imagination.

I don't think there's any doubt that Galveston had the "worst" death toll; and let's remember that some 4,000 plus are still missing in the Katrina stricken areas 4 months after the storm. It'll never approach the Galveston total; but I feel when the final numbers are in (and I sincerely don't mean that to sound as callous as this medium makes it appear), Katrina will be alone in the number two slot, and when one adjusts for all the other factors, Katrina fits the bill as the overall "worst" in US History.

[Audrey2Katrina]

I think history will show us that Galveston's future was changed 180 degrees on September 8, 1900. Galveston was Texas' most populous city and seaport. It was poised for great things. It was wiped out a mere four months and two days before the beginning of the Texas oil boom which began on January 10, 1901 in Beaumont, Texas. Galveston's destruction was physical, financial, and emotional which prevented the city from benefitting from the huge changes ignited in Texas and around the world from the Spindletop Gusher that ushered in huge benefits for those in the right position. With bigger, richer Galveston crippled, a little town called Houston became the center of the petroleum universe. In this context, Galveston has never recovered from that hurricane. History literally was forever changed. New Orleans will recover. It may take 20 years, but N.O. should be in position to continue their place in history.

I hope you're right, swampdude; but personally I think the history of this area has also been irrevocably changed forever. The population of New Orleans is less than 1/3 what it was before this storm. I feel a similar scenario for Baton Rouge becoming the "queen city" of Louisiana as it's already now well larger in population. New Orleans has its unique culture, and like Galveston, it will "come back" but it will never be the same. I talk to the natives everyday; most will never return, or will move across the lake to higher ground. History here has been given a new tack "forever" as well.

[f5]

NO recovering depends on 1 thing the construction of category 5 levees

[JonathanBelles]

what do u mean by worst ?
all around i voted Katrina

[Jim Cantore]

By worst I mean all around