What was the worst Natural Disaster in U.S history?

[MGC]

I voted for the dust bowl. It effected many more people and likely caused as many deaths as the 1900 Galveston hurricane.....MGC

[Derek Ortt]

tough call ebtween Galveston and Katrina

Galveston killed many more. However, Katrina affected the nation as a whole in a severe manner (gas prices, a presidency in controversy over the levees, etc)

[vbhoutex]

With this being a straight up question without relative comparisons, dollar wise, etc. I have to go with The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 due to the death toll and total devastation of Galveston Island. Katrina is a very close second IMO also, but the death toll for Galveston tips the scale for me. Both affected/will affect lives for many years to come, just as the Dust Bowl of the '30's did. Tough choices and excellent poll Hurricane Floyd.

[Audrey2Katrina]

wasn't Galveston one of the larger areas population wise at the turn of the last century?

maybe I am wrong I thought I read something like that thats all

You're quite right, at least for that region of Texas, at that time. But the entire population of Galveston ca. 1900 was in the vicinity of 35,000. At the same time New Orleans was well over a quarter of a million. Just FYI.

A2K

[skysummit]

Of course I had to vote for Katrina, but it's a close one with the Galveston Hurricane. Since I experienced Katrina and have been working recovery now for 8 months, she takes the cake for me.

[weatherwoman132]

can someone explain what the dustbowl was?

[CHRISTY]

DUSTBOWL....





1930's dustbowl...

http://www.ptsi.net/user/museum/dustbowl.html

[Derek Ortt]

dustbowl was NOT a natural disaster though. It was enhanced significantly by over farming

[weatherwoman132]

oh gosh, that looks horrific.

[MiamiensisWx]

Drought enhanced it, too.

[Stephanie]

I'd have to say Katrina at this point considering the utter devastation to the city of New Orleans and along the Mississippi and Alabama coast. I think Galveston was my second choice.

The Superstorm of 1993 affected millions, but didn't devastate (thank God).

The Dust Bowl was another close choice for me.

[Aslkahuna]

The Dust Bowl was a manifestation of the 20 year Plains/Western US Drought Cycle which has plagued people living there since the end of the last Ice Age. The current drought is the same area is part of that cycle. In coverage and intensity it was one of the worst ever noted and essentially affected the entire Country betweeen the MS River and the Sierra during the period of 1930-1941. Poor land use practices exacerbated the effects of the drought leading to monster duststorms that sent clouds of dust all of the way to the ATL Ocean. But it was the Drought that resulted in crop failures and tremendous livestock losses in the area which greatly affected the Country's food supplies and severely aggravated the effects of the Great Depression. Many Farmes forced to quit their Farms due to foreclosures and lack of income joined in what is probably the largest Mass Migration within the US to the Central Valley of California to work as field hands. These "Okies" and "Arkies" as they were called were brutally mistreated in CA as told in the novel "The Grapes of Wrath" (which was also made into a movie). With billions of economic losses (1930 dollars) and with many people forced off their land, the Dust Bowl is hard to beat for losses and prolonged human suffering. The big problem with Drought as a disaster is that it occurs in slow motion and in silence with its effects piling up over the years of its occurrence quite unlike the flashy approach of a storm that does its worse in one day yet in the long term, Drought becomes the greater of the two.

Steve

[HurricaneHunter914]

Hurricane Katrina remains in the lead. I'm not suprised.

[Audrey2Katrina]

The Dust Bowl is a VERY complex element in the poll. It is actually a combination of natural conditions, human mismanagement, and mutual economic exacerbation. There have been other droughts since that of the early 1930's...one in the 50's, one in the 70's, and some feel we're in a tendency toward that again at this time. The Depression began BEFORE the dustbowl, and the two were mutually exacerbative of each other, extremely poor land management (largely due to large numbers of NON-cooperative crop rotation and leaving land fallow) only made conditions worse. I agree that in terms of human impact, the Dust Bowl years affected quite literally millions, but the dollar value cannot be attributed solely to an event wherein the two were of mutual aggravation to each other, and a huge human impact also played a large role. While a drought most assuredly was a major player in this event, I believe the very complex interaction of multiple other factors are what kept me from considering it as a purely "natural" disaster. Semantics? Perhaps, but that's the primary reason I looked to Galveston and Katrina ahead of the Dust Bowl, which I probably would have put at a distant third. I also agree that the insidious nature of a progression of events spanning a decade are much more difficult to assess as a single spectacular natural catastrophe when compared to something so devastating over a 24 hour period. I hear that China is headed for a Dust Bowl problem that has the potential to pale any other dust bowl period of record..FWIW.

A2K

[Aslkahuna]

In some parts of the Southern Plains, the 1950's Drought was worse than the Dust Bowl and also lasted 11 years from 1950-1961. The Drought of the 1970's didn't last as long. The current Drought began in W. TX/NM and AZ in 1996 and has been in progress since. Since we are in the 10th year of the current Drought it would seem that we could come out of it soon if the 1930's and 50's are any clue. However, I'm also mindful of the fact that Drought in the Plains and SW has lasted up to 40 years. Perhaps the greatest non biological human disaster in North America of a natural origin would have to be that drought which lead to the complete collapse of the Anasazi and other Pre Columbian civilizations in the SW US about 1000 years ago and those people were far better stewards of the land than the US Farmers of the 1930's.

Steve

[Audrey2Katrina]

Perhaps the greatest non biological human disaster in North America of a natural origin would have to be that drought which lead to the complete collapse of the Anasazi and other Pre Columbian civilizations in the SW US about 1000 years ago and those people were far better stewards of the land than the US Farmers of the 1930's.

I would have to concur. Although that wouldn't be a U.S. historical event, it was undoubtedly cataclysmic for the Anasazi...I've always been fascinated by the history of these and other Pueblo tribes.

A2K

[Jim Cantore]

I could make somewhat of a case for all of these and those are the only ones I put on, ones that I could make a case for. Personally I'm torn between Galveston, Katrina, and the Dust Bowl.

After not much thought I went with Katrina because of this

Galveston had a high death toll
The Dust Bowl created massive Human Suffering
Katrina had both

[Steve]

I voted for Hurricane Katrina due to the displacement of over 300,000 people. I don't think that could be duplicated unless a fault opened up in the middle of Los Angeles and destroyed hundreds of square miles of homes. Hopefully no one will have to go through anything that major (plus the aftermath - manmade/FEMA disasters) again in a large metropolitan area. Having said that, 1900 Galveston did erase 4x the number of people off the earth. It was major, but as many have said, it more or less hit without warning during more-or-less of a pre-media era. And while this is an "American" poll, there's nothing in the that can ever top the East Pakistan/Bangledsh Hurricane Bhola in 1970 where over 500,000 people perished. Of course the 2004 Tsunami has death-toll estimates around 300,000. I don't think we're likely to see that kind of death-toll in America, but it does happen.

Steve

[Weatherfreak14]

Tossup btw Katrinia and galveston but IMO katrinia won. Why, well because of really of all the havoc it called. But still got to respect 1900 for the great loss of life. But if katrinia came in to NOLA at the same time it would be around the same effect.

[alicia-w]

dont forget the flood of 1927 because of the widespread impact; financial impact is in then-year dollars:

16.5 million acres flooded in seven states
637,000 people dislocated
$102 million in crop losses
162,000 homes flooded
41,000 buildings destroyed
6,000 boats used in rescue
250 to 500 deaths.